Good article by Sheryl Ubelacker about Jiaying Zhao's research, plus the
further (excellent) comments by Jiaying's former mentor, Eldar Shafir. What
was particularly interesting to me is that an invisible thread of the newly
discovered field of epigenetics ran right through the experimental
situation. If the subjects had been told that they faced real job repairs,
and not fictional ones, then I'm sure that the subsequent decrement in
cognitive function would have been greater than a 13-point drop in IQ.
Perhaps this is something that Prof Shafir can explore when choosing
research topics for his second degree candidates.
Keith
P.S. I agree with Mike S's comments about future IQ requirements, etc.
At 19:42 30/08/2013, you wrote:
<http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Poverty+lowers+brain+power+making+harder+figure+ways+escape/8849250/story.html>http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Poverty+lowers+brain+power+making+harder+figure+ways+escape/8849250/story.html
Recently, Mike S. posted a personal piece on intelligence and future job
security. He holds the view that those without at least 120 I.Q. will have
difficulties finding good work. More recently, I read Canadian stats
suggesting the joblessness rate for university grads is only 1.7% lower
than for high school grads. The reality of poverty affecting intelligence
has come up before, but this was in the morning paper. The study finds
that intelligence levels very much appear to be circumstance-related, and
not fixed. Though a better system of assessment would more carefully
validate creative abilities, old assessment tools are in need of revision.
Natalia
Poverty lowers brain power, making it harder to figure out ways to escape:
study
By Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press August 29, 2013
TORONTO - Dealing with poverty takes up so much mental energy that the
poor have less brain power for making decisions and taking steps to
overcome their financial difficulties, a study suggests.
The research, published Thursday in the journal Science, concludes that a
person's cognitive abilities can be diminished by such nagging concerns as
hanging on to a place to live and having enough money to feed their families.
As a result, there is less "mental bandwidth" left over for education,
training, time-management and other steps that could help break the cycle
of poverty, the researchers contend.
"Previous accounts of poverty have blamed the poor for their personal
failings, or an environment that is not conducive to success," said
Jiaying Zhao of the University of British Columbia, who led the study,
conducted while she was a graduate student at Princeton University.
"We're arguing that being poor can impair cognitive functioning, which
hinders individuals' ability to make good decisions and can cause further
poverty," she said.
The study had two parts. In the first, about 400 people at a New Jersey
mall were randomly selected to take part in a number of standard cognitive
and logic tests. The participants' annual family income ranged from
$20,000 to $160,000, with a median of $70,000.
Subjects took the computer-based tests after being presented with a
hypothetical financial problem that they would later have to solve: how
they would come up with the money to pay for having their car fixed when
the cost was either $150 or $1,500.
With the lower amount on their minds, those with low incomes fared as well
on the tests as better-off participants. But when the amount was 10 times
higher, low-income subjects performed far more poorly on the tests, said Zhao.
On average, a person preoccupied with money problems showed a reduction in
cognitive function equivalent to a 13-point drop in IQ or the loss of a
night's sleep.
"It's a big jump," she said of the dip in IQ. "It pushes you from average
(intelligence) to borderline (mental disability)."
In the second study, the researchers went into the field to test their
theory in a real-life situation with about 460 sugarcane farmers in 54
Indian villages who earn all their yearly income at the time of the annual
harvest.
"That creates interesting dynamics because in the months before the
harvest, they're really poor, they're running out," Zhao said. "Whereas,
in the months right after the harvest, they're rich.
"So you can literally look within the same individual at how he or she
performs when poor versus when rich."
The researchers found that farmers showed diminished cognitive performance
before getting paid for their harvest, compared to after the sugarcane
crop was gathered in, when they had greater wealth.
They said these changes in cognitive abilities could not be explained by
differences in nutrition, physical exertion or stress.
"So the very context of not having enough resources impedes your cognitive
function," Zhao said. That reduces a person's mental ability to address
elements that could help them break out of poverty, for instance, a higher
level of education, a better-paying job and enrolment in social programs
to help attain those goals.
"You are simply unable to notice those things when you are preoccupied by
poverty concerns."
The fallout from neglecting other areas of life can exacerbate already
trying financial woes, said co-author Eldar Shafir, a professor of
psychology and public affairs at Princeton.
Late fees tacked onto unpaid rent and other bills or a job lost because of
poor time management can make an already-tight money situation worse,
Shafir said in a statement. And as people become more impoverished, they
tend to make decisions that perpetuate their financial hardship, such as
excessive borrowing, he added.
The researchers suggest that services for the poor shouldn't "cognitively
tax" them. Positive measures could include simpler aid forms, more
guidance for receiving assistance, and more flexibly structured training
and educational programs.
"When (people living in poverty) make mistakes, the outcomes of errors are
more dear," Shafir said. "So, if you are poor, you're more error prone and
errors cost you more dearly. It's hard to find a way out."
Dennis Raphael, a professor of health policy and management at Toronto's
York University , said the findings are consistent with previous research
on the effects of a lack of "attentional resources" among the poor.
"The stuff is concrete, it's biological and it has consequences," Raphael,
who was not involved in the study, said Thursday. "The good news is it
draws the attention of people and it points out that these things are real
and that they're not a result of lifestyle choices.
"So it has the potential for placing these individuals and group
difficulties into a broader perspective."
The downside of the paper is contained in the authors' recommendations
that "services for the poor should accommodate the dominance that poverty
has on a person's time and thinking ... so that a person who has stumbled
can more easily try again," he said.
"It draws attention away from the broader public policy and societal
issues that many argue are setting the stage for these kinds of problems,"
including low wages, poor job security and an inadequate social safety net.
From:
<http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/Psy301/Salinas/09Intelligence.htm>http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/Psy301/Salinas/09Intelligence.htm
Gardner's Frames of Mind
Howard Gardner (1983) proposed a theory of independent multiple
intelligences, originally seven of them:
* Linguistic: abilities to use vocabulary, do verbal analysis,
understand metaphors, and comprehend and produce verbal material
* Musical: understanding and expressing oneself through music and
rhythmic movements or dance, or composing, playing, or conducting music
* Logical-Mathematical: involves numbers and computing skills,
recognizing patterns and relationships, timelines, ability to solve
different kinds of problems through logic
* Visual-Spatial: involves visual perception of the environment,
ability to create and manipulate mental images, and the orientation of
the body in space
* Bodily-Kinesthetic: physical coordination and dexterity, using fine
and gross motor skills, and expressing oneself or learning through
physical activities
* Interpersonal: understanding how to communicate with and understand
other people and how to work collaboratively
* Intrapersonal: understanding one's inner world of emotions and
thoughts, and growing in the ability to control them and work with them
consciously
C. Sternberg's Triarchic Theory
Robert Sternberg (1985) proposed in his Triarchic theory that there
are three forms of intelligence: analytical, creative and practical. In
Sternberg's views current intelligence testing does not test all three
forms of intelligence. He holds that current psychometric tests only
appreciably tap analytical intelligence which allows an individual to
quickly break down problems and be able to see solutions. This form of
intelligence also consisted of numerous subcomponents which enabled this
analytical ability, but the key is that they all serve the process of
analyzing problems. While people high in this form of intelligence can
break down problems they do so from the basis of their acquired
knowledge. They may not necessarily be good at creating new ideas or
knowledge Creative intelligence involves synthetic thinking, the ability
to put together knowledge and understanding in new and intuitive ways.
Often, individuals with the highest conventionally measured IQs are not
good at this form of thinking. And people with high levels of creative
intelligence, such as artists, are often unidentified by conventional IQ
tests because there are not currently any tests that can sufficiently
measure the attributes involved in creating new ideas and solving new
problems. In practical intelligence is basically related to street smarts
or common sense. It involves the ability to apply creative and
analytical intelligence to everyday situations. Those high in practical
intelligence are superb in their ability to succeed in any setting. Even
if they are limited in their creative and analytical intelligence, they
are able to use these skills to their best advantage. In the end,
Sternberg reminds us that an individual is not necessarily restricted to
having excellence in only one of these three intelligences. Many people
may have integrated all three very well and even have high levels of all
three intelligences.
Gardner came to his point of view because he had come to consider
standard tests or other assessments used to measure IQ to be
inconclusive. He argued the IQ number did not predict or reflect school
outcomes or success in life. Gardner holds each individual has varying
levels of these different intelligences, and this accounts fro each
person's unique cognitive profile. In a sense, comparing his point of
view to Spearman's, Gardener would say there is no G, only S's and those
S's are more than just a skill or ability, but an independent form of
intelligence unto themselves.
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