Intelligence Module 4 Psychology

Objectives
1. Appreciate how our understanding of the concept has shaped our use of I. tests.
2. Describe the influence of both hereditary and environmental factors on intelligence.
3. Critically evaluate the utility and predictive validity of IQ tests
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of early child learning programmes on intellectual
functioning and later life achievement: particularly in disadvantaged children
5. Explain the meaning of observed group differences in performance on some IQ tasks

Keep in mind: Concept of intelligence testing = American practice. In UK = cognitive tests.

We call them IQ tests simply because of the history around it, but they are simply tests of
cognitive and mental processing.

What is intelligence?
¶ Many different variables we look at when we look at intelligence.
¶ Cognitive performance is one part of intelligence, but there are several domains
¶ For people to function in societies, they need a wide variety of skills – concept has
expanded to include all these variables.

Broad definition
¶ Ability to solve problems
¶ Ability to understand and learn complex material
¶ Ability to adapt one’s environment
¶ Mental quickness
The ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively and to deal adaptively
with the environment.

Thus from this definition…

Intelligence is a socially
constructed concept
Skills necessary for success vary from culture to culture, thus what constitutes intelligence is
culturally specific:
¶ May vary across cultures
¶ May vary within a culture (subcultures – i.e., what a gang of thugs regards as
intelligence would be different from other groups)
¶ May vary across time

Uses of IQ tests
Tests of mental skills have become an important part of our lives
If these tests are to be used, must adhere to proper psychometric ways of using them. Use
localized norms to compare individual performance
¶ Educational: policies, requirements to enter certain programs
¶ Occupational: who suits what jobs?
¶ Clinical
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¶ Social policy decisions

Intelligence from a historical

perspective
Past problems with IQ tests
û Did not consider extraneous variables
û Did not account for cultural/ socio-economic differences
û Used to discriminate and classify groups of people as inferior/ superior
û One culture imposed their own notions of intelligence on other communities:
unfamiliar items, qualities etc.
Early misuse
To prove social and political ideologies and consolidate stereotypical beliefs.
¶ Eugenics
¶ SA – racial segregation policies informed the development and use of IQ tests
F 1925 – Stanford Binet test normed for use on white children – Fick Scale –
later used on black, coloured, Indian and white children.
F Bantu education was based on notions of black intellectual inferiority based on
Fick’s test. Effects linger today: consequent racial, socioeconomic and cultural
stereotyping.

Early work traced to Sir Francis Galton and Alfred Binet

Francis Galton
Genetics/ Eugenics
& His idea was that imminence and genius ran in families and was heredity
& He thought certain inherited mental capacities made eminent people more fit for
thinking. Prominent people in society – Royal family; ruling class
& To investigate his hypothesis – he made physical and sensory measurements on
members of eminent family trees: reaction speed; hand strength; sensory acuity; skull
size.
& Results had poor predictive power but triggered a tradition of controversy
& What are the weaknesses in Galton’s methodology?
F Didn’t consider extraneous/ confounds i.e., skull size influenced by nutrition,
not intelligence
F Not properly controlled: Eminent people have access to resources – good
nutrition etc that would make them perform better than others.
F His research not methodologically sound

Alfred Binet (1857 – 1911)

¶ Mental abilities test
¶ His task was to develop an objective intelligence test for school children – Help
people who were slow by restricting their learning environment
¶ Key: Quantification of a child’s current performance.
¶ Produced the first workable intelligence test in 1905
¶ How concept of “norming” started.
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Binet’s approach was simple

1. Test large numbers of children of various age groups
2. Establish average scores (norm) for each age group
3. Compare a child’s performance to the norms.

¶ He proposed that if majority of children of a given age can complete a task, that task
requires that mental age (MA).
¶ They noticed that the fast learners seemed give answers to questions that older
children might give, whereas the slow learners gave answers that were more typical of
a younger child.

Binet’s approach was based on two assumptions

F Mental abilities develop with age.
F The rate at which people gain mental competence is stable: it’s a characteristic of the
person and is consistent over time.

 He Surveyed Teachers on what children could do at particular ages to come up with

items for his test.
 Testing became cheap and common place.
 They were used to separate people who could benefit from education or military
training, and those who would be incompetent.
 Led to general acceptance of the notion that these tests could differentiate people in
terms of leadership ability, social competence, race and ethnic background. Statistics
were used to support bogus claims.

Intelligence tests
William Stern
Expanded the concept of MA to a relative intelligence score (IQ) for different ages.
IQ = ratio of mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100 (IQ = MA/CA x 100)
F Child A: performing at her age level would score 100
F Child B: CA (8) and MA (10); IQ = (125)
F Child C: CA (16) and MA (20); IQ = (125)

 Allows some limited comparisons across age groups

Stanford-Binet Test
¶ Based on Binet’s test; revised by Lewis Terman (Did a lot of work with gifted
children) for use in the USA
¶ Contained mostly verbal items and yielded a single IQ score
¶ Became a common standard measure in Clinical psychology, Psychiatry, Educational
counselling
¶ At the bottom of it all was an assumption that intelligence was largely hereditary and
stable.
¶ The concept of MA is not very useful for adults - It’s better to judge performance
against normative scores (an ind’s standing in a normative group of the same age).
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¶ Relied mostly of verbal functions~: Problem as this is only one aspect of cognitive
functioning.

What are the advantages of using normative

scores?
Imagine your MA is similar to that of your lecturer, is your IQ higher than his? Some mental
skills decline with age. Does having a certain mental age means you function at that age in all
aspects of your life?

David Wechsler (1896 – 1981)

¶ Noted that the SB relied too much on verbal skills and had single score items and
timing more suitable for children, did not consider that intellectual performance can
deteriorate as a person grew older.
- Especially with fluid intelligence – certain cognitive functions can
deteriorate with age (even faster with dementia).
- Some aspects of mental functioning are likely to improve i.e.,
vocabulary.
¶ WAIS-R, WISC-IV, WPPSI-R

Measures of both verbal and nonverbal abilities

He believed in a single factor of intelligence, but thought that it consisted of specific,
interrelated elements
1. Verbal Scale IQ
2. Performance Scale IQ (Less affected by language and culture)
3. Full Scale IQ (to get a measure of overall intelligence, simply aggregate the
capabilities on each of the separate elements)
Useful in clinical work = working with specific cognitive domains. Can create a
neurocognitive profile of patients. I.e., executive functions and language functions.

Structure of the WISC-IV

 The WISC-IV has four specific cognitive domains (Indexes) which together
contribute to the Full Scale IQ
 Each of the four Index scores is derived from a number of subtest scores.
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WISC-IV subtests
¶ Verbal Comprehension Subtests
¶ SIMILARITIES (SI)
Explain how two words that represent common objects or concepts are similar.
¶ VOCABULARY (VC)
Name pictures, define words
¶ COMPREHENSION (CO)
questions requiring an understanding of social situations, reflecting common sense,
social judgment, behaviour and conventional standards.

Matrix reasoning

Digit Span letter and number sequences

Tests in SA
¶ The Senior South African Individual Scale (SSAIS-R): 7-16years 11mths. (Verbal
and non-verbal performance)
¶ The Junior South African Individual Scale (JSAIS-R): 3-7years 11mths.
¶ The South African Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (SAWAIS) 16-69 years
11mnths.

Socioeconomic factors also affect performance

Some people may have lower scores simply because they may not be familiar with certain
concepts. Even the concept of being tested itself may be unfamiliar with some people and
influence their performance.

Impact of using names common to different cultures (local names):

Related to how our memories work: Store information better if we can relate it to information
that we are familiar with. Effects how we encode information, store it and retrieve it. Use of
local names impacts performance.

A Socio-economic Deprivation Questionnaire (SED Questionnaire) can be used to assist

psychologists in determining which norm group to use.
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The nature of intelligence

Tests are derived from how we conceptualize things: If I think intelligence is this, this is how
I am going to measure it. Theoretical frameworks = based on what scientists think
intelligence consists of. Is intelligence a general domain or made up of different aspects of
cognitive functioning that can be isolated?
Two major approaches:
1. Psychometric Approach: attempts to map the structure of intellect and to
discover the kinds of mental competencies that underlie test performance
2. Cognitive Processes Approach: studies the specific thought processes that
underlie those mental competencies

The psychometric approach

Psychometrics: the statistical study of psychological tests
1. How many mental abilities underlie performance?
2. What is their nature?
One way to answer these questions is to administer an array of ITs and correlate them but too
many correlations are difficult to visually examine.

Factor Analysis: a statistical technique that

reduces a large number of measures to a
smaller number of clusters, or factors.
Capacities tend to cluster into distinct
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factors. I.e., someone good at maths likely to be good in other areas that require number
processing.
¶ Each cluster contains variables that correlate highly with one another but less highly
with variables in other clusters
¶ We then decide or infer what factor could be underlying the cluster.
¶ Does intellectual functioning cluster into a single factor? Or are there sub-factors?
Correlations among tests in a cluster indicate that the tests may be reflecting on related
mental abilities.

The ‘g’ factor: Charles Spearman (1923)

Observed that school grades for different subjectss had +ve correlations: If you have a high
score in one subject, likely to have a high score in another.
¶ Argued that intellectual performance is determined partly by a general intelligence
factor (‘g’)
¶ And partly by whatever special (specific) abilities
might be required to perform a particular task (‘s’).

Argued that ‘g’ constitutes the core of intelligence

¶ Important predictor of both academic and job
performance
¶ Lubinski (2004): G is clearly the most important
dimension uncovered in the study of cognitive abilities

Its rare to find tests that don’t share some correlation. Is

intelligence a general mental capacity or made up of separate specific abilities?

Horn-Cattell’s two factor theory

Broke down Spearman’s G into 2 subcomponents:
1. Crystallized intelligence (gc)
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F Factual knowledge and learnt skills (Arithmetic facts, Knowledge of the

meaning of words, State capitals)
2. Fluid intelligence (gf)
F Novel problem-solving situations that
need inductive reasoning and creativity
– street smarts – adaptive
• Requires the abilities to reason
abstractly, think logically, and
manage information in working
memory (executive functions)
• Why older people struggle with
new things – rely on crystallized
intelligence.

¶ gc tests tends to improve during adulthood and remain stable into late adulthood
¶ Performance on gf tests decline as people enter late adulthood

Louis Thurstone (1887 – 1955) – Primary

Mental Abilities
¶ Argued there was weak evidence for ‘g’. (weak r between tests)
¶ Proposed that human mental performance depends on seven distinct primary mental
abilities
- In what ways do you think this ‘many abilities’approach would
be useful in school/ clinical settings?
- We find individuals might be good in some cognitive domains
and not others i.e., autistic child with excellent S ability.
- Useful in Neuropsychology
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Carroll’s Three-Stratum Model

Based on factor analysis of more than 460 data sets
Three levels of mental skills:
1. General: g factor
2. Broad: gf and gc plus 6 other basic cognitive functions
3. Narrow: nearly 70 specific skills
Carroll’s hierarchal theory is essentially a compromise between general and distinct abilities
view of intelligence. Some critics still find it unsatisfactory because it ignored the research
and theory on cognitive development.

People moving away from the concept of intelligence that is a general capacity to something
that consists of several specific domains.

The Cognitive Process Approaches

Cognitive Process Theories
¶ Understanding mental processes that go into intelligence
¶ explore the specific information-processing and cognitive processes that underlie
intellectual ability.
¶ Try to explain why people differ on intelligence or how they process information.

Robert Sternberg: Triarchic theory of

intelligence
Divides cognitive processes into three specific components

1. Metacomponents
 higher-order processes (executive functions): plan and regulate task performance,
source of individual differences in fluid intelligence
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2. Performance Components
 actual mental processes used to perform a task: perception, memory retrieval,
response generation.

3. Knowledge-Acquisition Components
 allow learning from experiences, storage of information in memory, and combining
new insights with previously acquired information. Underlie individual differences in
crystallized intelligence.

Sternberg also proposes three different forms of

intelligence
Analytical Intelligence
¶ academically-oriented problem-solving skills
¶ measured by traditional intelligence tests
Practical Intelligence
¶ skills needed to cope with everyday demands, manage oneself and other people
effectively.
Creative Intelligence
¶ the mental skills needed to deal adaptively with novel problem

Can apportion these components to different brain areas: 1. Frontal cortex, 3. Posterior,
temporal cortex etc.
The diverse forms that intelligence can take, and the psychological processes involved in
intelligent behavior

Broader Theories: Howard Gardener’s

multiple intelligences
1. Linguistics - sensitivity to the meanings and sounds of words, mastery of
syntax, appreciation of the ways language can be used
2. Logical-Mathematical - Understanding of objects and symbols and
of actions that be performed on them and of the relations between these actions,
ability to identify problems and seek explanations
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3. Spatial - capacity to perceive the visual world accurately, to perform

transformations upon perceptions and to re-create aspects of visual experience in the
absence of physical stimuli
4. Musical - Sensitivity to individual tones and phrases of music, an understanding
of ways to combine tones and phrases into larger musical rhythms and structures,
awareness of emotional aspects of music
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic - Use of one’s body in highly skilled ways for
expressive or goal-directed purposes, capacity to handle objects skillfully
6. Interpersonal - Ability to notice and make distinctions among the moods,
temperaments, motivations, and intentions of other people and potentially to act on
this knowledge
7. Intrapersonal - access to one’s own feelings, ability to draw on one’s
emotions to guide and understand one’s behavior, recognition of personal strengths
and weaknesses
8. Naturalistic - sensitivity and understanding of plants, animals, and other
aspects of nature
9. Existential - sensitivity to issues related to the meaning of life, death, and
other aspects of the human condition

The question arises… should we use the word intelligence to describe all valuable skills like
doing calculus, speaking 6 different languages, being able to score a penalty kick? If we do…
then Gardner is correct… people do have many unrelated kinds of intelligence. Now we have
changed the definition and meaning of intelligence

Emotional intelligence
Emotion and cognition are interlinked – emotions are under cognitive control
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Emotional competence involves the abilities to:

¶ read others’ emotions accurately
¶ respond to them appropriately
¶ motivate oneself
¶ be aware of one’s own emotions
¶ regulate and control one’s own emotional responses

The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT)

Four Components of Emotional Intelligence:
¶ Perceiving Emotions
¶ Using Emotions to Facilitate Thought
¶ Understanding Emotions
¶ Managing Emotions

The measurement of intelligence

1. Do ITs work?
2. Should we measure Aptitude or Achievement?

To answer these questions, we must examine Reliability and Validity

How valid are IQ scores in predicting: Academic performance, Job performance,
Income & Longevity?

¶ Why would IQ scores relate to these variables?

¶ Other variables like motivation can influence performance and therefore predictive
value.
¶ ITs have better predictive value for extreme performance
¶ There is utility in IQ tests, but we need to make them more fair

Psychometric standards
Intelligence is a psychological construct. (Test items that measure this construct are its
operational definition).
¶ The test items should correctly sample targeted intellectual ability. This is a big
challenge!
¶ We need to control for unwanted factors that could influence performance.
What are some of the factors that may influence performance on intelligence tests?

Reliability: Stability of test scores over time.

ü Test re-test: administer test to same participants on two or more separate occasions
and correlate scores.
- If the construct being measured is stable, scores should be
consistent over time.
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ü Internal consistency: within test consistency.

- All the items on a test should measure the same thing
- Items should correlate highly with each other
ü Inter-judge: consistency of measurement when different people score the same test.

Validity: test should measure what it’s supposed to measure

Construct: test should assess the psychological construct it is designed to measure.
ü Should be +ve r/ship between test scores and other behaviours (tests) that it should be
related to.
1. Content: whether items on a test measure all the knowledge or skills that are
assumed to underlie the construct of interest
2. Criterion: test scores should correlate with meaningful criterion measures.
- predict present or future outcomes that are influenced by the
construct being measured.

Standardisation of tests
¶ Creating normative scores: standards against which all test takers will be exposed to.
¶ Give test to large random sample whose characteristics are similar to the people the
test is intended for use.
¶ Establish consistent testing environment

Most intelligence test score form a normal curve

Assessing intelligence in non-western cultures

¶ Cole et al (1971) studied the Kpelle tribe in west Africa
F adult participants were asked to sort items into categories.
F Instead of sorting items into taxonomic categories (e.g. "fruit" for apple), they
sorted into functional categories (e.g. "eat" for apple).
F Researchers then asked how a “stupid” person would do the task.
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F The Kpelle then sorted items into taxonomic categories

Traditional IQ tests draw heavily on skills needed to succeed in a Western type society/
cultural bias
Difficult to compare concepts of intelligence across cultures
F Wise, sensible, smart, bright, clever
It could be impossible to create a test that is completely free of cultural bias
Option is to create culture fair tests with less language loading.

How would you ensure that western intelligence tests give you a valid
assessment in South Africa?
1. Choose reasoning problems that are not tied to any particular culture.
2. Create measures that are tailored to a specific culture

Testing conditions
¶ Static Testing: traditional approach to testing; emphasizes similarity in testing
conditions
¶ Dynamic Testing: standard testing is followed up with an interaction with the
examiner
F Examiner gives the respondent guided feedback on how to improve
performance
F Examiner then observes how the person utilizes the information
F Examiner asks person to justify their answers

What kind of situations would dynamic testing be helpful? – cross-cultural contexts

Factors influencing intelligence

Factors related to the child
¶ Genetics
¶ Genotype–Environment Interaction
¶ Gender

The Immediate Environment

¶ Family Environment (some sort of structure)
¶ School Environment

The Society’s Influence

¶ Poverty
¶ Race/Ethnicity

Heredity, Environment and

Intelligence:
Nature or Nurture
Genetic factors can influence the effects
produced by the environment
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¶ Accounts for 1/2 to 2/3 of the variation in IQ

¶ No single “intelligence gene”
¶ The greater the degree of genetic relatedness, the stronger the correlation is between
the IQ scores of those persons.

Gender
¶ Boys and girls tend to be equal in most aspects of intelligence
F The average IQ scores of boys and girls is virtually identical but extremes are
over- represented in boys
¶ Girls as a group:
F Tend to be stronger in verbal fluency, in writing, in perceptual speed and
precise manual tasks (starting as early as the toddler years)
¶ Boys as a group:
F Tend to be stronger in visual-spatial processing, in science, tests of targeted
directed skills and in mathematical problem solving (starting as early as age 3)

Small differences seen in pattern of performance on certain types of tasks, not in general
intelligence

Reasons
¶ Socialization experiences: societal messages regarding gender-appropriateness of
different intellectual pursuits or peer pressure.
¶ Beliefs (self/others)
¶ Evolutionary sex role specialization
¶ Biological effects of sex hormones on brain development
¶ Hormonal influences in adulthood
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Group differences: Effects of social environment

¶ Stereotype Threat :The belief that performing on certain tasks would confirm a
negative stereotype in the minds of others
¶ This evokes anxiety and undermines performance
¶ Women (vs men) and maths problems
¶ Afro-Americans (vs Whites) and “intelligence” tasks

Poverty and schooling

¶ The more years children spend in poverty, the lower their IQs tend to be
Children from lower- and working-class homes average 10-15 points below their
middle-class age mates on IQ tests
¶ In many countries, children from wealthier homes score better on IQ test than children
from poorer homes
The greater the gap in wealth in a country the greater the difference in IQ scores
¶ Attending school makes children smarter
F Children from families of low SES and those from families of high SES make
comparable gains in school achievement during the school year
¶ What about during summer break?
F Children from families of low SES have a drop in achievement scores
F Children from families of high SES have achievement scores that stay
constant or rise slightly
¶ Chronic inadequate diet can disrupt brain development
Chronic or short-term inadequate diet at any point in life can impair immediate
intellectual functioning
¶ Reduced access to health service, poor parenting, and insufficient stimulation and
emotional support can impair intellectual growth

During the academic year schools provide children of all backgrounds with the same
stimulating intellectual environment. Over the summer, children from low-SES families are
less likely to have the kinds of experiences that would maintain their academic achievement.
Going to school more days of the year better for achievement scores. Attending school
increases IQ scores and specific academic skills (such as increased mastery of reading and
math).

What factors have a strong

influence in the SA context
¶ Exposure to formal schooling
¶ Quality of formal schooling
¶ Medium of instruction
¶ Urbanisation
¶ Exposure to ideas and items in tests

The bell curve

Herrnstein and Murray claimed LSE is a result of inherited low IQ
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¶ Cultural background, educational experiences and socio-economic factors have more

influence than ‘race’.
¶ Misunderstood the meaning of IQ Test scores and correlations, and may have
overestimated intelligence heritability.

Understanding the success of

London’s schools
¶ White British children tend to perform lower than children from other ethnic groups
in England
¶ Children of relatively recent immigrants typically have greater hopes and expectations
of education and are, on average, more likely to be engaged with their school work.

Early childhood interventions

Sure Start Local Programs (UK)
¶ Targets local areas rather than individuals to reduce stigmatisation
¶ Results:
ü Less household chaos
ü More positive parenting
ü Less behavioural problems
ü Greater social confidence

Head Start
¶ Half-day program
¶ Implemented after age 4
¶ Results
ü IQ increased but declined overtime: Children performing at the same level as
those outside the programme within 2 years
ü No long-term effect on IQ

The High/Scope Perry pre-school program

¶ High risk children (2-3 years old matched participants)
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¶ 3 year intervention
¶ Results:
ü Lower crime rates
ü Less welfare assistance
ü Better academic performance and progress
ü Higher income and home ownership

The Abecedarian Project

¶ Healthy infants from poor backgrounds
¶ 6 months – 5 years
¶ Effects on achievement tests
¶ Main effect where mother had learning disabilities
¶ Delayed entry (5-8 years) special programme participants showed no benefits

Enabling preschool environment

¶ Verbal responsivity (stressed mothers might not have the capacity to address their
childrens’ incessant talking/ questions)
¶ Caregiver’s involvement with child
¶ Avoidance of restriction
¶ Organization of schedule
¶ Access to materials
¶ Variety
Summary
1. Intelligence is Malleable,
2. Timing: Critical or Sensitive Period
3. Intensity: Success influenced by how much time is spent in the program.
4. Direct provision of academically oriented learning experiences

Extremes of intelligence
Gifted
¶ IQ of 130 or higher places one in the top 1% of the population
¶ What lies behind this?
Many individuals are enormously talented in one area but average in others
¶ Achieving eminence (Renzulli, 2002)
Highly developed mental abilities specifically related to one’s chosen field
Ability to engage in creative problem solving
Motivation and dedication

Lewis Terman studied intellectually gifted

children (Terman’s ‘Termites)
¶ Successful as adults.
¶ More successful ‘Termites’ had a consistent sense of self earlier in life than those who
were less successful.
People have long held many false beliefs about people who are very, very intelligent
(insane, weird, awkward, weak etc) Lewis Terman’s study demystified these beliefs.
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Learning disabilities
Four-level classification based on IQ scores
¶ Mild (50-70 IQ)
¶ Moderate (35-50 IQ)
¶ Severe (20-35 IQ)
¶ Profound (>20 IQ)

Individuals with mild intellectual disability may not be recognised as having deficits in the
conceptual domain until they reach school age.
Will require some support.

Potential Causes of intellectual disability

¶ Biological/Genetic abnormalities (approx. 28% of all cases)
¶ Profound retardation is more likely to be caused by genetic accidents and does not run
in families
¶ Accidents at birth (oxygen deprivation, etc.)
¶ Drugs/alcohol intake by the mother
¶ Diseases (rubella, syphilis, hiv etc.)
¶ Undetectable environmental causes
¶ Foetal alcohol syndrome, and fragile X syndrome (defect in a gene on the X
chromosome of the twenty-third pair in males leading to a deficiency in a protein
needed for brain development).

DSM V: APA 2013

Level of severity is now based on the level of adaptive functioning and the
level of support that the individual requires (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Diagnosis of intellectual disability is based on deficits in intellectual
functioning, determined by standardised intelligence tests and clinical assessment,
which impact on adaptive functioning across three domains:
1. Conceptual domain (memory, reasoning, language, reading, writing, mathematics
and other academic skills)
2. Social domain (empathy, social judgement, interpersonal communication, and other
skills that impact on the ability to make and maintain friendships.
3. Practical domain (self-management skills that affect personal care, job
responsibilities, school, money management and other areas)

Later development
Positive Effects
ü Further education
ü “Cognitive exercising” – reading, puzzles
ü Physical exercise
ü Nutrition

Negative Effects
û Drinking
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û Drug usage
û Brain disorders

Conclusions
¶ Intellectual functioning can vary
F Across individuals
F Across tasks
F Across time and lifespan
¶ The GxE interaction is poorly understood.
¶ Studies on intelligence tend to be mostly correlational
F Traditionally focused on differences among people rather than intelligence per
se.
¶ Probably the question should be on ‘how humans come to think intelligently’?