Elena L. Grigorenko

The organisation of Luo conceptions of intelligence: A study of implicit theories in a Kenyan village

This article examines the organisation of concepts of intelligence among the Luo people in rural Kenya. In particular, it discusses what the components of these concepts are; how these components are expressed in the DhoLuo language, how they are interrelated, how they are used in judgements of other people, and how these components of Luo conceptions of intelligence are related to Western conceptions of intelligence. Peer, teacher, and adult in the community ratings of children on Luo components of intelligence are correlated with performance on conventional ability tests and with school achievement. The Luo concept of intelligence is primarily expressed in the DhoLuo vocabulary by four concepts (rieko, luoro, paro, and winjo), which appear to form two latent structures, social-emotional competence and cognitive competence. Indicators of only one of these concepts (rieko) and only one latent structure (cognitive competence) correlate with scores on conventional Western cognitive ability tests and with school achievement in English and mathematics. The article also presents a novel method for analysing data from people’s ratings of each other’s intelligence that is useful when not every one who is providing the ratings knows everyone who is to be rated, and when Likert rating scales are inapplicable.

The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise: The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise

Preface Robert J. Sternberg 1. Trait complexes, cognitive investment and domain knowledge Philip Ackerman and Margaret E. Beier 2. Intelligence as adaptive resource development and resource allocation: a new look through the lenses of SOC and expertise Ralf T. Krampe and Paul B. Baltes 3. Developing childhood proclivities into adult competencies: the overlooked multiplier effect Stephen Ceci, Susan M. Barnett and Tamoe Kanaya 4. The search for general abilities and basic capacities: theoretical implications from the modifiability and complexity of mechanisms mediating expert performance Anders Ericsson 5. On abilities and domains Michael W. Connell, Kimberly Sheridan and Howard Gardner 6. Expertise and mental disabilities: bridging the unbridgeable? Elena L. Grigorenko 7. The early progress of able young musicians Michael J. A. Howe and J. W. Davidson 8. Expertise, competence, and creative ability: the perplexing complexities Dean K. Simonton 9. Biological intelligence Robert J. Sternberg 10. What causes individual differences in cognitive performance? Richard E. Mayer.

The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise: Frontmatter

The goal of this book is to characterize the nature of abilities, competencies, and expertise and to understand the relations among them. The book therefore seeks to integrate into a coherent discipline what formerly have been, to a large extent, three separate disciplines. Such integration makes both theoretical and practical sense because abilities represent potentials to achieve competencies and, ultimately, expertise. Chapter authors (a) present their views on the nature of abilities, competencies, and expertise; (b) present their views on the interrelationships among these three constructs; (c) state their views on how these three constructs can be assessed and developed; (d) present empirical data supporting their positions; (e) compare and contrast their positions to alternative positions, showing why they believe their positions to be preferred; and (f) speculate on the implications of their viewpoints for science, education, and society.

Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom: Roads Not Taken, New Roads to Take: Looking for Creativity in the Classroom

A river runs through a village somewhere. And for many years, it is just a river, feeding the rice paddies, carrying away waste, silt, pebbles, and the occasional dog or cat. But one day, without even consciously trying, someone realizes that it is a road, a way out. And later that someone wonders why he or she did not see it before – that the river is a road and that the road can be a river – even though it had been there all along. And so we are beginning to realize with creativity that it has always been in the classroom but hidden in plain sight. It is not that creative behavior, creative thinking, and creative learning never existed before in classrooms. A colleague recalls once proposing an unconventional subject of study for a senior project in high school. While his classmates took up the ubiquitous topics of various sports, medicine, feminism, and other well-recycled subjects, he decided to review the history and legitimacy of parapsychology. His topic was firmly rejected. However, being a persistent fellow, he undertook it anyway, approached it seriously, and presented an interesting and worthy paper in the end that earned a high mark. But why was his innovation and unconventional thinking not recognized initially as a form of creativity? In this chapter, we examine the evolving and exploratory relationship between teachers and creativity in the classroom. Our emphasis in the chapter is that teachers’ implicit theories of creativity are often at variance with explicit theories of creativity – that is, what the teachers may value as creative behaviors are actually noncreative, and what they devalue as not creative behaviors may be creative. As a result, teachers may think they are developing creativity when, in fact, they are suppressing it. In the hands and minds of researchers and theoreticians, creativity has been viewed through many lenses and explored in a variety of lights for the last 60 years. But what effect has this had on teaching in the classroom? And has it helped teachers identify and nurture creative behavior in the context of school?

Explorations in Giftedness: Contents

This book is a scholarly overview of modern concepts, definitions, and theories of intellectual giftedness, and of past and current developments in the field of gifted education. The authors consider, in some detail, the roles of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom in giftedness and the interaction between culture and giftedness, as well as how giftedness can be understood in terms of a construct of developing expertise. The authors also review and discuss a set of key studies that address the issues of identification and education of children with intellectual gifts. This volume may be used as a summary overview of the field for educators, psychologists, social workers, and other professionals who serve intellectually gifted children and their families.

Explorations in Giftedness: Index

This book is a scholarly overview of modern concepts, definitions, and theories of intellectual giftedness, and of past and current developments in the field of gifted education. The authors consider, in some detail, the roles of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom in giftedness and the interaction between culture and giftedness, as well as how giftedness can be understood in terms of a construct of developing expertise. The authors also review and discuss a set of key studies that address the issues of identification and education of children with intellectual gifts. This volume may be used as a summary overview of the field for educators, psychologists, social workers, and other professionals who serve intellectually gifted children and their families.

Explorations in Giftedness: Frontmatter

This book is a scholarly overview of modern concepts, definitions, and theories of intellectual giftedness, and of past and current developments in the field of gifted education. The authors consider, in some detail, the roles of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom in giftedness and the interaction between culture and giftedness, as well as how giftedness can be understood in terms of a construct of developing expertise. The authors also review and discuss a set of key studies that address the issues of identification and education of children with intellectual gifts. This volume may be used as a summary overview of the field for educators, psychologists, social workers, and other professionals who serve intellectually gifted children and their families.

Explorations in Giftedness: Identifying the Gifted

How are the gifted identified? In Chapter 1 we presented the pentagonal theory for identifying the gifted (Sternberg & Zhang, 1995). In this chapter we will review the methods most frequently used in the United States. There are many different techniques, but one of the most widespread is through the use of standardized tests. We will then present in some detail three studies in which we used alternate methods of assessment. STANDARDIZED TESTS A standardized test is a test given to many individuals, often across the nation, to develop appropriate content and scoring comparisons. It is administered and scored according to uniform procedures. Uniform, or standardized procedures are the key to the definition of a standardized test. Constructors of these tests try to assure that every student taking the test has a similar experience. Standardized tests are usually purchased from test publishers. They sell the tests only to those qualified to use them. Not all tests purchased from publishers are standardized. For example, textbook publishers often offer banks of test questions. The publisher, in this case, does not try to standardize the experience of every student who is tested. Teacher-made tests are not standardized. Instead, they are created by, or for, individual teachers who use them on only a limited number of students. Each teacher scores the tests he or she creates in an individual way. Ideally, all tests of achievement should be closely tied to the learning that students have done (Dochy & McDowell, 1997).

Applied Intelligence: Advanced Problem-Solving Steps

We will now discuss the final three components that can improve planning and decision making. SELECTING A MENTAL REPRESENTATION FOR INFORMATION An important part of many kinds of problem solving is the way that information is represented mentally. Such a mental representation might be in the form of a picture, a list of ideas, an algebraic equation, or yet some other format. Problems that could be solved easily using one form of mental representation are often solved only with difficulty or not at all using another. Sometimes, you will need to supplement your mental representation with an external representation of information. So, for example, in solving a mathematics problem, you may find it helpful to draw a diagram or to set up a series of equations that represent the terms of the problem. Such diagrams can then help your problem solving, especially the way in which you proceed to represent information about the problem in your head. Psychologists studying mental representations have learned some interesting things about them. Examples One psychologist studying mental representations, Patricia Linville (1982), looked at the relation between the way in which we represent information about other people and our stereotypes about and prejudices toward these people. One of her most interesting findings is that simple mental representations tend to lead toward extreme judgments about people, whether favorable or unfavorable. The converse also holds: Extreme judgments tend to imply simple representations about people.