Testing for Intelligence

Blog Assignment week 6

Testing for Intelligence

I believe that rather than focusing on IQ and testing for a Childs’ intelligence we should focus on the child’s learning style and build up from there. I looked on the web for ‘left brain right brain’ learning styles and found this to be interesting:

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

Definition

This theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two different sides of the brain control two different “modes” of thinking. It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode over the other.
Discussion
Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following table illustrates the differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking:

Left Brain		Right Brain
Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts		Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes

Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.

How Right-Brain vs. Left-Brain Thinking Impacts Learning
Curriculum–In order to be more “whole-brained” in their orientation, schools need to give equal weight to the arts, creativity, and the skills of imagination and synthesis.
Instruction–To foster a more whole-brained scholastic experience, teachers should use instruction techniques that connect with both sides of the brain. They can increase their classroom’s right-brain learning activities by incorporating more patterning, metaphors, analogies, role playing, visuals, and movement into their reading, calculation, and analytical activities.
Assessment–For a more accurate whole-brained evaluation of student learning, educators must develop new forms of assessment that honor right-brained talents and skills.

Reading
Bernice McCarthy, The 4-MAT System: Teaching to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques.
The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates. http://www.funderstanding.com/content/right-brain-vs-left-brain

Are you right brained dominant or left brained dominant? Check this link or cut and paste, to find your brain’s learning style.

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/hemis.html

In searching the web on ways school aged children are assessed worldwide I came across several articles on ADHD and how other countries view this condition.  This article as follows described it well:

 Clinical & Research News

ADHD Diagnosis, Treatment Differ Across the Glob

 Leslie Sinclair

Economic, historical, and political forces and cultural values affect the implementation of treatment for ADHD worldwide.

In Israel, highly active children are well tolerated in the classroom, making it difficult to distinguish high activity from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) manifestation. In Brazil, light physical punishment is considered by a large number of teachers to be “therapeutic,” and physical exercise is considered a viable alternative to medication for children with ADHD. In Canada, health professionals view ADHD as an impairing, often lifelong disorder that requires careful assessment and multimodal intervention.

These are just a few of the insights that came out of a meeting of 18 international leaders in developmental psychopathology research who met in Berkeley, Calif., in March 2010. The members represented nine countries—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States—all specifically selected because they were known to have either low or high rates of diagnosis and treatment of youth with ADHD. The group published a report in the May Psychiatric Services.

Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., lead author of the report, is a professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, former president of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and a member of the International Advisory Board on Stigma and Discrimination in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on mental disorders affecting children and adolescents, particularly ADHD.

“With our limited resources for this initial look at the issue, we concentrated on high versus low,” Hinshaw told Psychiatric News. “Ideally, larger investigations can further examine the whole range of rates of diagnosis and treatment. We were attempting a first-pass, qualitative, and quantitative analysis; we knew our results would be suggestive, not definitive.”

The group considered these questions when they met:

·             What system is used to diagnose ADHD, and which professionals are most involved in assessment and diagnosis?

·             What is the treated prevalence of ADHD in terms of medication?

·             Which medications are used, what is the relative share of each, and which professionals are involved in medication treatments?

·             Which psychosocial treatments are used, what is the treated prevalence, and what is the relative share of each?

·             What payment systems are used for treatments, and where are treatments “located” in the service-delivery system?

·             What are the predominant beliefs in the education system with respect to assessment and treatment of ADHD?

·             For adult ADHD, what are current trends in prevalence and treatment?

·             What key cultural, historical, or national influences are related to ADHD treatment?

They found that although the prevalence of ADHD varies across nations, largely due to disparate diagnostic practices and algorithms, far larger international variability exists with respect to treated prevalence and treatment procedures.

“The most surprising finding from this collaboration is the incredible range of ADHD service-delivery systems internationally, from highly organized and integrated on the one hand to barely acknowledging the existence and importance of ADHD on the other,” said Hinshaw.

Even as all nations have witnessed large increases in use of medication for ADHD, and even as evidence-based psychosocial treatments have gained credence, there is still a major struggle to provide care, said the group.

“Initial feedback to this effort indicates strong interest,” said Hinshaw. “Many out there are wondering how to span basic science, clinical trials, and policy efforts to provide evidence-based, comprehensive care for those with ADHD.”

Work on the report was partly supported by an Investigator Award in Policy Research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Additional funds were provided by the Center for Child and Youth Policy, the Nicholas C. Petris Center, and the Department of Psychology, all of the University of California, Berkeley.

Psychiatric News June 3, 2011 Volume 46 Number 11 Page 20 © American Psychiatric Association.

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/11/20.1.full