Psychological Foundations: Intelligence, Development, and Personality Theories

Posted on Oct 5, 2025 in Psychology and Sociology

Eminent Giftedness and High Achievement

  • Renzulli (2002): Giftedness is the intersection of three factors:
    1. Intelligence
    2. Exceptional motivation
    3. High creativity
  • Simonton (2001) – Drudge Theory: Gifted individuals push themselves harder and benefit more from intensive practice.
  • Winner’s Perspective: Hard work may be a result of inborn ability; the gifted are more likely to find efforts rewarding and thus work harder.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Environmental Factors

Cumulative Deprivation Hypothesis

Children raised in substandard environments experience a gradual decline in IQ as they get older because other children will be progressing more rapidly.

Adoption Studies

Studies of adopted children show similarity to biological parents, but a better environment also has a positive effect on IQ scores.

Reliability and Validity of IQ Tests

  • Exceptionally Reliable: Correlations typically into the .90s.
  • Qualified Validity: Valid indicators of academic and verbal intelligence.
  • Correlations with Success:
    • .40s–.50s with school success.
    • Deary et al. (2007, n = 70,000 Ss): r = .70.
    • .60s–.80s with number of years in school.
  • Occupational Attainment: Cognitive ability tests are considered the best predictor of Job Performance (Schmidt & Hunter’s meta-analytic studies; r = .50). Correlation varies depending on job complexity but is not zero even for low-level jobs.

Structure of Intelligence: Unitary or Multi-dimensional?

Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory

  • Uses factor analysis (a data reduction technique).
  • g – General Mental Ability: A common core shared by highly inter-correlated intelligence test items.
  • “Special” abilities (e.g., numerical reasoning, spatial ability).

Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities

  • Developed a test that evolved into the SAT.
  • Focuses on seven distinct primary mental abilities.

Stages of Prenatal Development

1. Germinal Stage (First 2 Weeks)

  • Zygote is created through fertilization.
  • Rapid cell division takes place.
  • Mass of cells moves to the uterus for implantation.
  • The placenta is formed.

The placenta brings oxygen and nutrients to the fetus from the mother’s bloodstream and allows wastes to pass out to the mother.

2. Embryonic Stage (2 Weeks – 2 Months)

  • Formation of vital organs and systems (heart, spine, brain).
  • This is a Time of Great Vulnerability.
  • Most miscarriages take place during this stage.

3. Fetal Stage (2 Months – Birth)

  • Bodily growth continues, movement capability begins, and brain cells multiply.
  • Sex organs develop in the 3rd month.
  • Age of Viability: Between 22–26 weeks.
    • Probability of survival: 14–26% (22–23 weeks)
    • 25 weeks: 67%
    • 26 weeks: 80–83%

Individuals who are born near the age of viability often have developmental problems.

Core Concepts in Developmental Psychology

Motor Development Trends

Motor development is the progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities.

  • Milestone: Walking (12–13 months).
  • Cephalocaudal Trend: Head to foot (gain control over the upper part of their bodies before the lower parts).
  • Proximodistal Trend: Center-outward (gain control over torsos before extremities).

Developmental Research Designs

Longitudinal Studies

Study the same group over a long period of time.

  • Advantages: Eliminates cohort effects and is more sensitive to developmental influences.
  • Disadvantages: May be distorted by drop-outs; difficult and expensive to conduct.

Cross-sectional Designs

Compare groups of differing ages at a single point in time.

  • Advantages: Easier and cheaper.
  • Disadvantages: Susceptible to cohort effects; cannot observe individual developmental change.

Attachment Theory and Research

Harlow’s Monkey Studies

  • Constructed surrogate “mothers” made of wire or cloth.
  • Monkeys were randomly assigned to wire or cloth mothers, one of which was equipped with a feeder.

Key Theorists

  • John Bowlby: Argued that there is a biological basis for attachment which is adaptive for survival (evolutionary perspective).
  • Mary Ainsworth: Examined attachment patterns in infants (12–18 months) using the “strange situation” procedure.

Ainsworth’s Attachment Patterns

Ainsworth found three main patterns:

  • Securely Attached: Children use their mother as a “secure base” to explore the environment and are happy when she returns.
  • Anxious-Ambivalent or Resistant: Anxious when the mother is near, but protest when she leaves.
  • Avoidant: They are not distressed when the mother leaves and do not seek contact upon her return.

Major Theories of Personality

The Five-Factor Model (OCEAN)

The model demonstrates cross-cultural validity and variability, often discussed in the context of Independence (Individualism) versus Interdependence (Collectivism).

The five factors, measured by the NEO-PI (Costa and McCrae), are:

  1. Extraversion
  2. Neuroticism
  3. Openness to experience
  4. Agreeableness
  5. Conscientiousness (Note: Highly conscientious people tend to live longer!)

Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology

  • Personal and Collective Unconscious: A storehouse of memory traces inherited from our ancestral past.
  • Archetypes: Images and thought forms that have universal meaning (Example: Characters in “Star Wars”).
  • Jung construed libido as more broadly “life energy.”
  • Believed in Ego Strength.
  • Mandala: Symbol of the unified self and self-realization (harmonious blending of various aspects of the personality, e.g., male/female aspects).
  • Personality develops as we age; middle age is considered the most important period.
  • Introversion/Extroversion concepts are used in the Myers-Briggs Personality Test.

Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology

  • Striving for Superiority: The universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life’s challenges.
  • Compensation: Converting an imagined or actual weakness into a strength (e.g., Teddy Roosevelt).
  • Inferiority Complex: Excessive feelings of inferiority caused by pampering or neglect.
  • Overcompensation: Similar to a Freudian defense mechanism, where feelings of inferiority are channeled into false status and avoidance of developing a productive lifestyle.
  • Importance of Social Interest in order to derive a life goal.
  • Adler was one of the first psychologists to work successfully with juvenile delinquents.
  • Focus on the influence of Birth Order.

B.F. Skinner’s Behaviorist View

  • Skinner did not theorize or postulate internal (conscious or unconscious) personality constructs, viewing the individual as an “empty organism.”
  • Personality is learned behavior acquired over the course of the lifespan.
  • Conditioning and response tendencies acquired through experience account for the stability of behavior, and they are tied to specific stimuli.
  • Environmental Determinism: Behavior is fully controlled and modified by environmental stimuli.

Humanistic Theories and Positive Psychology

Humanistic theories are credited with highlighting the importance of a person’s subjective view of reality. They are also applauded for focusing attention on the issue of what constitutes a healthy personality.

They are criticized for lacking a strong research base, poor testability, and what may be an overly optimistic view of human nature.

Positive Psychology is a relatively new field which extends humanistic psychology in a more empirical way.