Text 2 Theories About Intelligence

Exxercise 1. Learn the new words and word-combinations:

1. ability / capacity – способность / обычно умственная способность;

2. to argue – доказывать, утверждать;

3. behaviour – поведение;

4. to believe – верить, думать, полагать;

5. to denote – отмечать, обозначать;

6. to agree / disagree – соглашаться / не соглашаться;

7. intelligence – интеллект;

8. to identify – устанавливать, определять;

9. reasoning – мышление.

Exercise 2. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:

intellect, intelligence, intelligent, intellectual, abstract, mechanical, spatial, perceptual, induction, deduction, judgement, essential, to identify.

Exercise 3. Read and translate the following words and word-combinations using the dictionary:

high intelligence, abstract intelligence, mechanical intelligence, a general intellectual capacity, spatial abilities, perceptual abilities, mental abilities, verbal relations, thought processes, will power, a gifted person.

Exercise 4. Read the text and translate it.

Psychologists disagree about the nature of human intelligence. Binet and Simon believed that the ability of a person to make sound judgements is the most important factor.

Edward L. Thorndike believed that there are three intelligences rather than a single one. He identified them as abstract, mechanical, and social.

Carl Spearman argued that there is a general intellectual capacity, which he called g, essential to all effective behaviour. He also believed every individual has a number of specific abilities. He identified as c a group factor that has to do with quickness of thought processes. An ability he called w denotes will power, self-control, or the capacity to persist in the face of difficulties.

L.L. Thurstone identified several basic factors in intelligence. These, which he called primary mental abilities, are spatial, perceptual, numerical, verbal relations, memory, vocabulary, induction, reasoning, and deduction.

J.P. Guilford identified different kinds of potentials among people of high intelligence. Some gifted people, he believed, are best at thinking up new ideas, or creating. A number of people succeed in putting into new relationships the ideas originated by others. In addition, some gifted people are especially competent in organization of information. Guilford argued that altogether there are more than 30 kinds of high intelligence.

1. judgement – утверждение.

Exercise 5. Match the terms with their definitions:

1) spatial ability is the ability to perform arithmetical operations

quickly and accurately;

2) perceptual ability is the ability to generate a rule or relationship that

describes a set of observation;

3) numerical reasoning is speed in recognizing single and isolated words;

quickly and accurately;

4) verbal reasoning is the ability to recall a list of words, numbers and

other material;

5) word fluency is the ability to recognize spatial relationships;

(vocabulary)

6) memory is understanding the meaning of words and verbal

concepts;

7) inductive reasoning is the quick and accurate detection of visual detail.

Exercise 6. Choose the proper pronoun.

1. There are (many, much, a little) people waiting for the interview.

2. Hurry up! We have only (much, few, little) time left.

3. I’ve met him so (much, many) times and I still can’t remember his name!

4. There were quite a lot of people but only (few, little) of us saw what happened.

5. Paul isn’t coming to the theatre tonight because he’s got too (many, much, little) work to do.

6. I see (much, a little, little) use in continuing with this discussion.

7. I don’t earn (many, much) money but I enjoy my job.

8. There are only (a few, a little, little) days left before we leave for France.

Exxercise 7. Write all types of questions to the following sentences. Ask them to your partner.

1.Testing is perhaps the most widely used method in psychology.

2.Testing one person usually takes from 30 to 90 minutes.

3.Psychologists construct group tests for schools, colleges, industries, and government personnel offices.

Exxercise 8. Fill in the blanks with the verb “to be” in Present or Past Indefinite. Translate the text in writing using the dictionary.

In 1904, Binet and Simon … asked by the French government to devise a test, which would identify those children who wouldn’t benefit in an ordinary school because of their inferior intelligence. The result … the Simon-Binet test in 1905, generally accepted as the first intelligence test.

In 1910, Terman, at Stanford University in California, began adapting the Simon-Binet test for use in the USA. The test … known as the Stanford-Binet test, and … still referred to in this way. The first revision … published in 1916. It … designed for individuals up to the age 16.

The most recent revision of the intelligence test … published in 1986, which … designed for people from two years up to 23 years.

In the 1986 revision, the items … grouped into four broad areas of intellectual ability: 1) verbal reasoning; 2) abstract/visual reasoning; 3) quantitative reasoning, and 4) short-term memory.

Text 3