Intelligence

July 26, 2012 by Dr. Tangen Leave a Comment

Neurons are a lot like toilets

Why do smart people do stupid things?

Intelligence is both easy and difficult to define. It is easy if you define it as a score on a test. It is difficult if you define it as abiity.

We’re not very good at measuring ability. We can predict school behavior (sitting still, using words, etc.) but not success in life. And certainly not the value of a person. People have lots of different skills and abilities. School is only one of them.

Here’s what is included in this lesson:

IQ, day dreaming, top-down processing
ADHD, dyslexia & Asperger’s
baboons, chimps & parrots
language

Read chapter 14 of Kalat’s Biological Psychology

Video clips:

Here are the resources you need:

cluster
slides
terms
notes
quiz
video

SLIDES

TERMS

[dropdown_box expand_text=” Terms To Know” show_more=”More” show_less=”Less” start=”hide”]

2-word phrases
ADHD
alertness
Alex
aphasia
Asperger’s
attention
autism
babbling
baboon language
basketball & gorilla
brain injuries
Broca’s aphasia
cardiovascular control
childhood disintegrative disorder
chimpanzees
chromosomal abnormalities
chronic disability
consciousness
cortical arousal
daydreaming
developmental disability
differences caused by ability
dyslexia
echoing
essentials for speech
FOXP2 gene
fundamental brain characteristics
games that increase IQ
gene frequency
genetic differences
geographical proximity
gluten-free diet
habituation
hyperactive-impulsive
hyperactive-impulsive & inattentive
hyperactivity (over-activity)
hyperactivity-impulsivity
hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms
impulsivity
inattention
inattentive symptoms
intelligence
IQ
irreversible coma
lack of empathy
language
language abnormalities
lateral prefontal cortex
mirror neurons in autism
pain modulation
polygenic trait
pontomesencephalon
poverty of stimulus
predominantly inattentive
production problem
putamen
race & intelligence
reticular formation
Rett syndome
sleep & consciousness
somatic motor control
spaced out
top-down processes
vaccines
Wernicke aphasia
Williams Syndrome

[/dropdown_box]

NOTES

[dropdown_box expand_text=” For You” show_more=”Notes” show_less=”Less” start=”hide”]

IQ
- To predict school success
  - Good predictor but not perfect
  - Not a measure of ability
- Measure school skills
  - Ability to sit still
  - Language skills
- Doesn’t underestimate academic performance of ethnic subjects
- Folks generally believe indicates
  - 1. genetic differences
  - 2. fundamental brain characteristics
    - Efficiency, neural speed
  - IQ does correlate with socio-econ level
    - Sometimes
Race & Intelligence
- Some studies show IQ dif in
  - Asian
  - White
  - Black
- Racial IQ Gap
  - Only as group data
  - Lots of overlap
  - Individuals from all levels
- Options
  - 1. differences caused by ability
    - genetics+
  - 2. differences caused social-econ-environ
  - 3. differences don’t exist
    - Wrong use of test
  - 4. race & intel. poorly defined
    - Differences are meaningless
- Define populations by
  - 1. Race
    - Races are not sub-species
    - Not evolutionary lineages
    - Heritability only within groups
    - Can’t compare across groups
  - 2. Gene frequency
    - Polygenic trait
    - Hundreds of genes, possibly thousands
    - Variations account for 1% of the variance in IQ (prediction)
  - 3. Geographical proximity
    - Look for correlation between geographic ancestry and cognitive abilities
    - No evidence true
- No gene linked to intelligence
- No genetic link of race & intelligence
Environmental Enrichment
- Deprivation isn’t good
- During development
- Thicker cerebrum
- Dendrite arbors
- Infancy
- Games that increase IQ
Attention
- Attention & Arousal
- Reticular formation
  - Extends from medulla
  - Into forebrain
  - Regulates sleep-wake
  - Filters incoming irrelevant $
  - Damage decrease arousal
- 1. Somatic Motor Control
  - Connect M1 to spine
  - Maintain tone, balance, posture
  - Relays eye & ear signals to cerebellum
- 2. Cardiovascular Control
- 3. Pain Modulation
  - Regulates which pain signals from lower body reach cortex
  - Descending analgesic paths
- 4. Sleep & Consciousness
  - Sends signals to thalamus
  - Regulates input to cerebrum
  - Alertness
- 5. Habituation
  - Steady state information
  - Ignore repetitive $
  - Part of reticular activation system
    - Damage
    - Irreversible coma
Pontomesencephalon
- Cortical arousal
- Awakens sleeping person
- Increases alertness if already awake
Locus coeruleus
- Structure in pons
- Inactive at most times
- Meaningful event comes in
- Emits impulse
- Releases norepinephrine
- Important for storing information
- Inactive when you sleep
Basal forebrain
- Anterior & dorsal to hypothal.
- Essential for sleep
- Release GABA
Consciousness
- About the same as attention
- All or nothing, at least reporting is
- Don’t say “partially see that”
- Reporting
  - Present two $
  - Report A = conscious of it
  - Not report B = unconscious of it
- Impacted by:
  - $ brightness
  - Motion
  - Relative size
  - “Top-down” processes
Inattention blindness
- Don’t notice change
- Person behind counter
- Basketball & gorilla
- Giant mirror
Language & Dyslexia
- Language
- Chimpanzees
  - Use some sign language
  - Seldom use symbols in new original combinations
  - No productivity
  - Almost always make requests
  - Rarely use to describe
  - What & Who questions
  - Moderate understanding
  - Can answer
- Baboon language
  - Resembles humans more
  - Understand more than produce
  - Use symbols to name & describe, even when not requesting
  - Request items don’t see
  - Occasionally describe past event
  - Frequently make original, creative requests
  - Why better than chimps:
    - More language potential
    - Younger than chimp studies
    - Observational learning
      - imitation not formal training
- Alex
  - Could say words for objects
- Humans
  - Is language genetic?
    - Maybe
  - Poverty of stimuli
  - Children learn it easily
    - Don’t hear enough examples
    - Yet learn grammatical structure
  - Byproduct of Intelligence?
  - Normal IQ, impaired language
    - Study of 30 in a family
    - All have normal IQ
    - 16 of 30 had severe lang. prob.
    - Presumably a dominant gene
    - Some genetic conditions can hurt language
    - But not other aspects of IQ
  - Williams Syndrome
    - Mental retarded but OK language
    - Rare disorder
    - Mentally retarded; skillful use of language
    - Caused by deletion of several genes from chromosome 7
  - Not Evolution?
    - Language as a Specialization
  - Alternate theory
    - Brain has built-in devise
    - Specialized processor
  - Children do learn easily
    - Don’t hear enough examples
    - Grammar
      - “poverty of stimulus”
  - Genetic?
    - FOXP2 gene
    - Impacts jaw development
    - Impacts throat development
    - Essentials for speech
- Critical Period
  - Why younger better
  - Adults memorize vocab. better
  - Children better at pronunciation
  - Children better at grammar
  - Not true native speaker after 12
  - Bilingual home
    - substantial bilateral brain activity during speech
    - for both languages
  - Thicker temporal & frontal lobe
  - Time sensitive
- Sensitive Period for Learning?
  - Adults better memorizing vocab
  - Children better at pronunciation and grammar
  - Better off the younger you start
  - Never fully fluent if start after 12
  - Grow up in bilingual home
  - More bilateral brain activity during speech
  - For both languages
  - Temporal & frontal cortex are thicker than average
Aphasia
- Wernicke = not understandable
- Broca = can’t articulate
- Broca’s Aphasia
  - Small part of frontal lobe
  - Left cerebral cortex
  - When damaged
  - Can understand language
  - Can’t produce it
  - Production problem
  - Not a muscle problem
  - Omit pronouns, prepositions & conjunctions
  - Also can’t understand them
Dyslexia
- More common in boys
- Inability to read
- Adequate vision
- Adequate intelligence
- Linked to at least four genes
  - deficits in hearing or cognition
- Likely bilaterally symmetrical cerebral cortex
- Theories of Dyslexia
  - Subtle hearing impairment
  - Attentional differences
  - Problem detecting temporal order of sounds
  - Problem converting vision to sound or vice versa
- Music & Language
  - Musicians better than average learning 2nd language
  - Both language and music
  - Alter timing and volume
  - Add emphasis, express emotion
  - English =.5 to .7 sec. between stressed syllables
  - Prefer music with.5 to .7 seconds between beats
  - Greek and Balkan languages
  - Less regular rhythms than English
  - Their music has irregularly spaced beats
ADHD
- Developmental Disability
- 3-5 % of children (worldwide)
- 8-10% of school children
- Chronic disability
  - 30% have problems as adults
- 2-3x more likely in boys
  - Genetics or bias of teachers?
- Pathophysiology
  - Unclear
  - Reduction of brain volume
    - Particularly in left prefrontal cortex
    - Also cerebellum?
  - 4 regions (interconnected)
    - Lateral prefontal cortex
    - Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex
    - Caudate
    - Putamen
- Delay in development of frontal and temporal lobes
  - Up to 3 years delay
- More mature motor development
- Dopamine D4 receptor
  - “7-repeat” variant
  - Accounts for 30 percent of genetic risk
- Unusual thin in right cortex
  - Normal by time were teens
- Reduced blood circulation
- Significantly higher concentration of dopamine transporters
  - Might not be excess transmitter
  - Maybe low levels of dopamine
    - “reward” mechanism only works for ADHD folk when task is inherently motivating
  - Might be lower levels of glucose metabolism
- Symptoms
  - difficulty staying focused
  - paying attention
  - difficulty controlling behavior
  - hyperactivity (over-activity)
- Subtypes
  - 1. Hyperactive-impulsive
    - 6+ hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms
    - <6 inattention symptoms
  - 2. Predominantly inattentive
    - 6+ inattentive symptoms
    - >6 hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms
    - less likely to act out (probs. with children)
    - sit quietly, not pay attention
    - may not notice has ADHD
  - 3. Hyperactive-impulsive & inattentive
    - 6+ inattention
    - 6+ hyperactivity-impulsivity
    - Most common type in children
    - No cure
    - Treat symptoms
    - Can be successful in school & life
- Diagnosis
  - Must have symptoms for 6 or more months
  - Inattention:
    - Easily bored unless doing something enjoyable
    - Trouble completing homework assignments
    - Frequently switch from activities
    - Difficulty focusing on one thing
    - Difficulty following instructions
    - Difficulty completing tasks
    - Difficulty organizing
    - Often losing things
    - Easily distracted
    - Easily confused
    - Daydreaming
    - Forget things
    - Miss details
- Hyperactivity:
  - Run around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
  - Hard to sit still (dinner, school, story time)
  - Difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities
  - Fidget and squirm in their seats
  - Constantly in motion
  - Talk nonstop
- Impulsivity
  - Blurt out comments, emotions
  - No regard for consequences
  - Can’t wait turns in games
  - Interrupt conversations
  - Want everything now
  - Impatient
- Diagnosis Difficulties
  - Can think hyperactive and impulsive have emotional or disciplinary problems
  - Can miss inattentive symptoms because quiet and less likely to act out
  - Get along better than other ADHD kids
  - Sit quietly and seem to work
- Causes
  - Genetics
  - Thinner brain tissue
    - Not permanent
    - Grows thick as get older
  - Environmental factors
    - Smoking & alcohol during pregnancy
    - Exposure to high levels of lead
  - Brain injuries
    - Similar symptoms to ADHD
    - Brain injuries are not common in ADHD kids
  - Sugar
    - Popular belief
    - Not supported by research
    - But if told kids had sugar, rated higher
    - Artificial Coloring
    - Preservatives
- Symptoms appear early in life
  - Often between 3 and 6
  - Often noticed in school
  - Not follow directions
  - “Spaced out”
- No single test
- Treatment
  - Reduce symptoms
  - Medications
  - Stimulants
  - What works for one child might not work for another
  - Side effects
  - Dosage levels
Autism
- Developmental disorder
- Symptoms 1-3 years old
- Symptoms by 18 months
- Seek help about 24 months
- Social & communication skills
- Symptoms
  - Boys more than girls
  - Difficulty with pretend play
  - Poor social interactions
  - Poor verbal & nonverbal skills
  - Lack of empathy
  - Overly sensitive to $
  - Refuse to wear “itchy” clothes
  - Distress if routines changed
  - Repeated body movements
  - Unusual attachment to objects
  - Vary from moderate to severe
  - Not startle at loud noises
  - Heightened response to sounds
  - Miss language milestones:
    - Babbling by 12 months
    - Wave bye-bye by 12 months
    - Say single words by 16 months
    - 2-word phrases by 24 months (not just echoing)
  - Some parents try:
    - Gluten-free diet
    - Casein-free diet (milk-cheese)
- Causes
  - Unknown
  - Genetics
    - Identical twins are much more likely than fraternal twins
    - Relatives more like to have:
      - Language abnormalities
      - Chromosomal abnormalities
  - Diet?
    - Mercury poisoning?
    - Inability to properly use vitamins and minerals?
  - Vaccines
    - Not the cause
    - Can take single-dose forms
    - Don’t contain added mercury
  - Mirror Neurons in Autism
    - No empathy
- Generally includes:
  - Asperger’s (good language skills)
  - Rett syndome (for girls)
  - Childhood disintegrative disorder
  - Learn and then lose skills
  - Atypical (misc.)

Intelligence

Why do smart people do stupid things?

SLIDES

TERMS

NOTES

QUIZ

VIDEO

DISCUSSION ITEM

Why do smart people do stupid things?

SLIDES

TERMS

NOTES

QUIZ

VIDEO

DISCUSSION ITEM

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