Human brain vs. The computer

Charles Pearson

The human brain and the computer are often compared to one another because they can both perform many similar tasks.

__ Both the brain and a computer use electricity in order to send signals. However, the electricity sent through the brain is based solely on the wiring of the computer, while the human brain uses chemicals like sodium and potassium to transmit electrical signals. The computer powered only by electricity, while the brain requires an assortment of vitamins and minerals in order to continue functioning.

__ Computers can continue to store memories as long as more RAM is added. The information never goes away unless the data is damaged or corrupted in some way. The computer also stores information in a more organized way than the human brain. Also, the memory never changes. However, the human brain sometimes fails to store information, struggles to locate buried information, loses information and sometimes remembers things incorrectly.

__ The human brain adapts to new circumstances and learns new ideas more quickly than the computer, since many new tasks for a computer have to be coded and sometimes must have new hardware developed in order to correspond with the task. However, a computer can manage several tasks simultaneously without error, while some people struggle to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. The computer can perform calculations faster than the human brain, although the brain has the ability to interpret information, come up with new ideas and be imaginative.

__The computer can be continually upgraded and advanced through the development of technology, while the human brain currently cannot be upgraded and can only be strengthened through nutrition and brain exercises. Currently, however, the brain is capable of performing a variety of tasks automatically such as regulating breathing, heartbeat, body temperature and interpreting sensory data while censoring unimportant information. The brain is also able to intuitively adapt to different settings. For instance, an individual can completely shift his tone and wording when moving from a formal to an informal situation.

UNIT 4

History of intelligence testing

The first intelligence tests were created already in the 19th century, but they measured general knowledge rather than intelligence as it is understood today. French psychologist Alfred Binet is regarded as the author of the first professional IQ test. In 1905, doctor Theodor Simon and he created a set of tests aiming to research children’s intellectual development. The tasks were tailored to different age groups. Binet and Simon introduced the notion of a mental age. A ten-year-old child who managed to correctly solve tasks dedicated to a year older age group was in fact eleven in terms of his or her mental age.

A few years later, a German scientist, William Stern, slightly improved the Binet’s IQ tests and introduced a new term to the world of science – intelligence quotient (IQ in short). In order to calculate it, one should use the following formula: divide a person’s mental age by his or her age and multiply the result by 100 in order to avoid troublesome fractions. In this way, a ten-year-old child with the intellect of an eleven year old would have the IQ of 110, in accordance with the (11/10)*100 formula.

Binet’s intelligence tests were useful when researching children, but did not make it possible to examine adults’ intelligence. It resulted from the fact that the concept of a mental age is useless for adults, as they do not develop mentally as fast as children. This process stops already at the age of 16. An American psychologist, David Wechsler, decided to overcome this obstacle and in 1939 devised his own IQ test based on totally different assumptions. He found out that a distribution of intelligence in the population had features of the normal distribution (known as the Gaussian curve). An average intelligence quotient is the most popular, while the number of people with high or low intelligence changes in an inversely proportional manner to the diversion of their IQ levels from the norm.

In the Wechsler scale, the score of 100 is regarded as an average one. Results below 85 mean low intelligence. People with an over-average intelligence level attain scores between 115 and 130. People with high intelligence reach scores between 131 and 145, while geniuses − above 146. In order to become a member of Mensa, i.e. an organization gathering the most intelligent 2% of the population, one should present an intelligence quotient of at least 130.

UNIT 5