Hey Guys! I am currently in year 9 and have just been set an EE (Extended Essay), this is an optional piece of work. This is the first year that it has been set for year 9s as it has only previously been set for year 10s. I have to write about 4000 words on a topic of my choice. I narrowed my choice down to the brain and what makes up a human being. From there I have decided to either do "What makes a person intelligent? or "What makes a paralympic athlete want to win?". I am currently swaying towards the intelligence topic as I think it would be very interesting and different. I would like to know what people think would be the best/most interesting topic to proceed. Also if anyone is acquainted/is someone with knowledge in one of these areas please leave me a PM with your e-mail address and what topic you are knowledgeable in. Thanks, Rotcrack.
I would go for the paralymics mate. Dam you could have a field day with that This bloke is a legend "Oscar Pistorius"
just to help -> write a 3000 word essay, then write a 500 word ending saying what you have written about and your conclusions, then write a 500 word intro saying what you will (but have already done ) do
My mother who is a graduate of IB Diploma Programme told me that extended essay (EE) is a mandatory core component for them. With regards to your essay title, I think that was very academic. “What makes a person intelligent?” the most common responses will often note a person’s ability to solve problems, utilize logic, and think critically.
Thanks for registering just to reply to my post. I am about halfway through now and its all looking good.
QFMFT. I've studied a good bit of philosophy, and even just the philosophy of intelligence (let alone the psychology) is deeeeep. Avoid like a kick in the balls.
although that is only 'measuring' a persons so called intelligence quotient (iq) there are other 'types' of intelligence recognised ie physical quotient emotional quotient social quotient spiritual quotient and that is not counting having that very useful ability known as 'common' sense and a finely tuned 'bullsh*t' detector, which often prove invaluable
He he.... no.. let him try... We'll see his head explode from here Here are some pointers: Spearman Thurstone Gardner Sternberg. 4000 words.. GO!
Personally I don't think it's possible to measure intelligence directly; there's just too many factors and you ultimately have to ask what intelligence is and whichever definition you come to everyone will ultimately disagree.
Very late update, heres my essay which was awarded a major prize - remember I was only 14 when I wrote this! Intelligence A Discussion Intelligence, derived from the Latin word intelligentia, is a commonly talked about subject within psychology however there is no standard definition for what intelligence actually is. What is intelligence? Theories In 1923 Charles Spearman (1863-1945) developed a concept of general intelligence referred to as the G factor. Spearman’s theory is that G is a particular quantity which is derived from certain statistical problems or tests. The tests or problems actually gives two factors, G or the General Factor which is always the same i.e. cannot change and the specific factor which is variable i.e. a value that changes depending on the test. G is essentially a score, which affects certain activities. G is dominant in activities such as learning Latin or reasoning while it is less so in distinguishing one tone from another. G is also impossible to train; Spearman compares it to training someone to be taller. G can be factored as a mental age. * In contrast Louis Thurstone (1887-1955) developed a model where intelligence was not viewed as a single general ability. His intelligence is defined by the seven Primary Mental Abilities (PMAs). Turnstone opposed the idea of a mental age as he believed it didn’t accurately represent intelligence. Someone could have a higher than average score in 6 PMAs but a very low score in one PMA. Using the mental age theory this person would be below average intelligence. Thurstone instead believed that some PMAs contributed to intelligence more than others and should affect intelligence in different ways. The seven PMAs used by Thurstone were verbal comprehension, reasoning, word fluency, perceptual speed, number facility, spatial visualization and associative memory. * A theory that has recently been suggested by Howard Gardner (1943- ) is the theory of multiple intelligences. Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as “the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting”. The different intelligences are: Linguistic– The ability to use language both in thinking and in communication. Logical-Mathematical– The ability to think logically and to solve mathematical problems. Spatial intelligence– The ability to use images that represent spatial relations (for example imagining whether a new sofa would fit in your living room). Bodily-Kinesthetic– The ability to learn and execute physical movements. Musical– Sensitivity to and understanding of pitch, rhythm and other aspects of music. Interpersonal– The ability to communicate and engage in effective social relationships with others. Intrapersonal– The ability to understand oneself. Howard Gardner has since added four other possible intelligences: Naturalist intelligence is the ability to identify patterns in nature and to determine how individual beings or objects fit into them. Existential intelligence is the intelligence of a concern with “ultimate issues”. Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence that explores the nature of existence. Moral intelligence is intelligence of concern for rules, behaviours and attitudes. An example of the theory is someone having a large score in mathematic/logical but not rhythmical/musical. This means that the person generally performs better in mathematics than music. This correlates directly to the most effective ways for someone to learn. For our model the person would find it easy to learn via equations or patterns but would find it difficult or impossible to learn via singing or rhythmic beating. Gardner says that intelligence is defined at birth but can also be changed with enough practice. He emphasises that raw talent takes an education to be transformed into practical capability. * Robert J. Sternberg (1949- ) formulated the theory of Triarchic Intelligence. In the Triarchic theory there are three parts; componential, experiential and contextual. The analytical part is the ability to analyse problems and see uncommon solutions. The creative part is how well a task is performed according to how often it is performed. This is split into two separate parts: novel and automation. A novel situation is one that is new to you and has never been experienced before. People that are good in a novel situation can take the task and solve it in new and ingenious ways. An automated situation or task has been performed many times and can be done now with no or little thought. Once a problem is automated it can be run simultaneously with other processes. An example is in mathematics, where basic addition is learnt early on. By the time you get into secondary school and onto problems requiring multiple additions you can run many together simultaneously. The third part, practical, is made up of three processes; adaption, shaping and selection. These are all required to fit into a context, i.e. adapting, shaping and selecting parts of yourself to emphasise or perfect in response to location or situation stimulation. Adaption occurs when you change yourself to better adjust to surroundings e.g. when it is cold people put on more layers. Shaping occurs when you change your environment to better suit your needs e.g. a teacher invoking a new rule, so that the lesson proceeds with minimum disruption. Selection occurs when a new environment is found to replace a less than satisfactory environment e.g. a person moving to a new country because in the old one they were met with social or/and economic hardships. Measuring Intelligence The first attempt to measure intelligence was by Galton in the 1880s using a series of tests, these tests included both physical measures like the strength of a hand squeeze and behavioural measures like reaction times. He believed that intelligence was an underlying trait that on all tasks, would influence a person’s performance i.e. whatever the task, a person with a higher intelligence would perform better. He also believed that a person’s status and their intelligence were connected. Binet and Simon, two French psychologists, published tests in 1905 which they claimed could identify children who were failing to make progress in school. Many of the tasks, which made up the tests, were based on school tasks such as vocabulary, comprehension of facts and mathematical and verbal reasoning. Binet’s and Simon’s original tasks were later revised by Terman at Stanford University. He described a child’s performance in terms of a score called an Intelligence Quotient later shortened to IQ. This is calculated by taking the ratio of mental level to chronological age then multiplying it by 100. Mental AgeChronological Agex 100=IQ IQ score calculations are now based upon a direct comparison of a child’s performance with the average performance of a large group of other children of the same age with a score of 100 being average. IQ test scores have been rising steadily over the past 50 years. The test makers for modern IQ tests periodically restandardise the tests so that the average remains at 100. There are many types of modern IQ tests for different ages with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale being the most commonly used. What makes someone intelligent- nature or nurture? Are children born intelligent or not? Nature versus nurture (hereditary versus environment) is a continuing debate which is also of political issue. Twin studies and studies of adopted children show strong hereditary influences on IQ scores. Identical twins are more like one another in IQ scores than fraternal twins are, and the IQs of adopted children are better predicted from the IQs of their natural parents than those of their adoptive parents. Gender does not play a part in overall IQ test score but they do differ in some sub skills, the largest differences are on the measure of spatial reasoning on which males are consistently better. Parents of children who have higher IQ scores or have scores that increase with age tend to do several things. They provide an interesting and complex physical environment, which includes appropriate play materials. They are emotionally responsive to and involved with their children. They talk to their children often using language, which is diverse, descriptive and accurate. When they play with or interact with their children they aim their conversation, questions, and assistance at a level that is just above the level the children could manage on their own. They avoid excessive restrictiveness, punishment, or control, instead giving their children room to explore and even opportunities to make mistakes. They expect their children to do well and develop rapidly; they empathise and encourage school achievement. Studies on adoptive children show that adoptive parents who behave in the ways listed above have adopted children who score higher on IQ tests. Middle class families often have children with a higher IQ than poor families because they can afford more appropriate play materials than poorer families. Another example of environmental influence can be seen in the differences between Asian and American children in mathematical tests. These differences result not from genetic differences in capacity but from differences of cultural emphasis on the importance of academic achievement with the Asian culture getting consistently higher results. One-way to explain the interaction of hereditary and environment is with the concept of reaction range. Hereditary factors determine some range of potential but environment determines the level of performance within that range. Artificial Intelligence Jean Piaget (1896-1980) developed a theory that states a child has to pass through different stages of a learning process. His work was used while developing the logo programming language, which we currently use in school. His work also helped the development of the Dynabook programming system concept which was discussed within the Xeorox PARC. These led to the development of an Alto prototype which had the first Graphical User Interface (GUI) which influenced all modern GUIs. He also developed a theory that intelligence was like plastic in that it can stretch, grow and increase. In the 1950s AI researchers forecast that a computer would be the world chess champion by 1968, it took a couple more decades than that. Even so AI experts are still optimistic and are predicting that by the middle of the 21st Century AI intelligent robots and household appliances will be part of everyday life. The use of AI in everyday items has already begun! Fuel injection systems learn using special algorithms and jet turbines are designed using genetic algorithms. Every mobile phone call and email sent is routed by the use of artificial intelligence. Even reading X-rays is done using AI. Jobs that were used to be done by intelligent humans are now done by computer, this is called narrow AI, and it is narrow because the AI only operates within a specific area. By 2050 our lives will be populated by many different kinds of intelligent robots, robots that Hoover, cook and iron for us. Many scientists say though that despite the rapid increase of advanced technology the process of AI will be gradual.
My previous post looks a bit silly now. (I'm joking a bit; there's much more on the topic than what you've previously mentioned, obviously 4000 words is a tight constraint so kudos to working to that restriction so well.)
Not really. Intelligence is difficult to measure directly. If we disregard the usual measurement errors for a bit, there are issues of construct validity, various forms of test reliability, culture bias and motivation/effort factors, just to name a few off the top of my head.
This is exactly why I would've chosen it over the paralympics question. Lots of things to be said. It would be an incomplete work, either overlooking a lot or trying to include too much, but as long as you lampshade shortcomings in the work itself ("space does not allow a deeper assessment of this response, suffice to note that..." etc.) they generally don't mind. Not in philosophy, anyway, they seem to value ambition and scope over actual academic groundwork. Not so sure about...wait, year 9? What the hell are they doing setting you questions like this in year 9?!
