Discovering
Psychology: Testing & Intelligence
I. PSYCHOMETRICS: mental testing
A. Cognitive Tests: measure various aspects of
your mental abilities (e.g., intelligence and IQ tests, academic abilities and
SAT).
B. Personality Tests: measure noncognitive
aspects of personality (e.g., interests, values, and personality traits).
ii. intelligence
A. The History Of Intelligence Testing
1.
Sir Frances Galton (1822-1911):
tried to establish the hereditary basis of intelligence.
a. He believed that highly successful people perceive the world more accurately than less successful people. Therefore, the eyesight of successful people should be keener and their reactions quicker than less successful people. The results of his studies did not support this hypothesis.
2. Alfred Binet (1857-1911) & Theophile Simon: In 1905
they produced the 1st workable intelligence test
a. purpose:
To measure the intellectual performance of school children so that teachers
could separate and classify mentally retarded children from normal children and
so that slower learners could get special classes (Public School System). Testing was meant to replace subjective
evaluations of teachers with objective evaluations.
b. Binet believed that his test did not measure innate
intelligence and that the test results should only be used to identify those
areas in which children needed special help.
c. Quantification of student performance via norms (the
average score for an age group). Each
child’s score could then be compared to the norm for various age groups to
determine his/her mental age.
3. The Stanford‑Binet Intelligence Scale
a. Lewis Terman (1877-1957): revised the Binet-Simon Scale
and developed the intelligence quotient
(IQ) an extension of work done by William Stern.
4. The Wechsler Scales:
intelligence tests for adults and added nonverbal sections to IQ tests for
younger children and people whose verbal abilities (English) are limited (David Wechsler)
a.
WIPPSI, WISC, WAIS
B. Principles Of Psychological Tests
1. Reliability: consistency of the
measuring instrument
a. Test‑retest,
alternate forms are examples
2. Validity: Degree to which the test measures what it
purports to measure.
a. Construct validity – is the variable as we our measuring
it a good representation of the
construct of interest.
b. Predictive validity – does it adequately predict
performance in the area alleged (e.g., SAT ® GPA, police employment exam
® performance as an officer)
3. Standardization:
Administration is the same across groups, settings, times.
a. Norms should be based on the population for which the
test will be used later on (generalizability).
b. Norms provide a reference for interpretation of an individual’s
score on a test.
c. Normal curve describes Population distribution
C. Kinds Of Intelligence:
Intelligence
as a multidimensional construct
1. Spearman's Model
a. General
intelligence (g), some specific abilities (s)
2. Sternberg's model
a. Triarchic theory of intelligence (see text book)
(1) Analytical intelligence
(2) Creative intelligence
(3) Practical intelligence – the ability to adapt to existing
environments: (1) ability to go into a new environment and learn what you need
to know in it and then work effectively, (2) ability to change environment to
make more suitable for your abilities, interests, and needs, and (3) ability to
select a new environment.
a. Prediction level of traditional IQ test for practical or real world intelligence is low.
3. Gardner's multiple intelligences
a. Seven distinct kinds of intelligence are proposed (see textbook)
D. Misuse Of Intelligence
Tests
(see text)
1. Eugenics, immigrant testing, labeling reflects negligent use of
tests
E. Hereditary And Environmental
Determinants Of Intelligence
1. Hereditary
determinants
a. Heritability estimates
of intelligence range from 50 to 80 percent
b. Identical and fraternal
twins, adoptees used to study this issue
2. Environmental
determinants of intelligence
a. Environmental stimulation contributes to intellectual
performance
F. Neuropsychological Test
Of Intelligence
1. Measure brain response as it adjusts to interruptions by sudden
stimuli using EEG recordings.
2. Certain brain waves (P300) are particularly sensitive to these
interruptions.
3. Theory: The brain in more intelligent people will have smaller
P300 waves over time because it adjusts faster to the interruptions and absorbs
new inputs more readily.
4. This theory is related to another theory regarding the rate
of habituation in young infants.
G. Explaining Differences
In Intelligence Tests Scores
1. Richard Lewontin (1976): If we take a bag of seeds and
plant half in fertile soil and the other half in barren soil what can we
conclude about differences that occur within and between groups? The difference among seeds within a each
group may be due to heredity, but the average difference between the two groups
reflects environmental factors.
2. Are the tests biased?
That is, do the tests tell us that a person is not capable of doing
something (e.g., earn a college degree) when in fact he/she is capable?
3. Cultural biases:
a. Overvalue some attributes (e.g., verbal ability and social conformity) and undervalue others (e.g., creativity and common sense)
b. Test developed on white children and adults, but used to test
all people.
4. Steele & Aronson (1995): Some groups of individuals
(e.g., African Americans and women) have the added pressure that poor
performance can be interpreted as confirmation of negative stereotypes about
that group.