Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 270

At its simplest, intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to adapt to the world. Of course, different people have different levels of intelligenc—an example of the concept of individual differences or variation from one individual to another. Intelligence tests are used to measure these differences; they include questions that measure memory, pattern recognition, verbal knowledge, quantitative abilities, and logical reasoning. Measuring intelligence in infancy is challenging because, as noted earlier, infants cannot answer questions. Instead, researchers who study infant intelligence rely on an assortment of nonverbal tasks—the same kinds of methods that are used to study cognitive development. There are two general approaches to studying intelligence in infancy. As discussed next, the testing approach emphasizes standardized tests that compare infants with age-based norms. A second approach, the information processing approach, examines specific processing skills.