1. Measuring intelligence

Question 1

Innate

Answer 1

Relating to a behaviour, ability, disposition or characteristic that is present from birth rather than being acquired through experience.

Question 2

Craniometry

Answer 2

The study of people’s intellectual abilities based on the shape and size of their head.

Question 3

Neurology

Answer 3

The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system.

Question 4

Confirmatory bias

Answer 4

When a scientist’s expectations unconsciously influence the outcome of their research. This occurs because of the tendency to pay most attention to those features of a phenomenon that appear to confirm prior expectations.

Question 5

Psychometrics

Answer 5

A field of study in psychology concerned with psychological measurement of things like attitudes, personality traits, mood or intelligence.

Question 6

Personality

Answer 6

A person’s stable and enduring traits and characteristics which lead them to behave in a steady way over time

Question 7

Personality types

Answer 7

Outgoing
Assertive
Perceptive
Emotional

Question 8

Individual differences

Answer 8

Any characteristics that are susceptible to variation between individuals (ex. Personality or Intelligence)

Question 9

Battery of tests

Answer 9

A series of tests aimed at measuring the same thing, such as intelligence.

Question 10

Scale

Replaces the term “test” in the context of intelligence research

Answer 10

Set of questionnaire items or tasks which combine to measure a bigger construct that cannot be measured directly, such as intelligence or personality.

Question 11

Test norm

Answer 11

Benchmarks used to assess an individual’s performance on intelligence tests. They offer insight into how a person’s test score compares with the scores of other test takers from the same population.

Question 12

Test standardisation

Answer 12

The process of establishing test norms by administering the test to a large sample of the population for which the test is intended.

Question 13

Correlation

Answer 13

A measure of an association between two events or things. In the case of an intelligence test, this means that those who perform well on one task will also do well on another.

Question 14

General intelligence (g)

Answer 14

The factor believed to underpin performance on different tasks in an intelligence test.

Question 15

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 15

A score on an intelligence test which indicates how a person’s intellectual ability compares to the general population.

Question 16

Normal distribution

Answer 16

The assumption that characteristics which vary between people will be distributed across the population in such a way that values at or close to the average will be more frequent than extreme ones

Question 17

Working memory

Answer 17

The kind of memory that is used for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out a task.

Question 18

Fluid intelligence

Answer 18

The ability to think logically and solve problems, which is independent of acquired knowledge or experience.

Question 19

Crystallised intelligence

Answer 19

The ability to apply acquired skills, knowledge and experience to novel situations.

Question 20

Theory

Answer 20

A set of propositions about a psychological phenomenon (e.g. intelligence) which forms the basis of an explanation.

Question 21

Validity

Answer 21

The extent to which a test measures what it has been designed to measure.

Question 22

The term “intelligence” in the Middle Ages

Answer 22

Was used to describe what differentiates “dull” and “bright” students

Question 23

“Intelligence” in Ancient Greece

Answer 23

Philosophers debated extensively whether this ability is innate or the outcome of learning.

Question 24

What tasks did Sir Francis Galton think help analyse intelligence?

Answer 24

Physical tasks:

• eyesight
• strength of grip
• colour vision
• hearing
• hand preference

Question 25

Galton’s approach to intelligence

Answer 25

He believed that by measuring the size of a person’s head, as well as the performance on physical tasks he can draw conclusions about intelligence.

Question 26

What was the ‘anthropometric laboratory’?

Answer 26

The mental testing laboratory created by Sir Francis Galton with the purpose of measuring humans where he charged visitors for the privilege of having their intelligence tested.

Question 27

Who is Jean Martin Charcot?

Answer 27

Founder of modern neurology

Question 28

Binet began working in 1895 on a battery of tests

Answer 28

They were designed to measure individual differences in intelligence, or what he referred to as “higher mental power”

Question 29

Why did the French government pay Simon and Binet a commission in 1904?

Answer 29

So they will devise a reliable way of identifying children with special educational needs, which resulted in them creating the Binet-Simon test in 1905.

Question 30

The purpose of the Binet-Simon test

Answer 30

To help identify children who, in term of their intellectual development, lagged behind their peers.

Question 31

Binet-Simon test’s structure

Answer 31

Contained 54 short tasks such as following commands, naming objects in pictures, defining abstract words, memorising spoken numbers, comparing lines of unequal lengths etc arranged in order of difficulty

Question 32

The legacy of Alfred Binet

Answer 32

His innovative work on intelligence resulted in the first modern test of intelligence. It served as a blueprint for subsequent tests.

Question 33

What do the different items in the Binet-Simon test represent?

Answer 33

The different items in the test appear to assess different abilities

Question 34

How is the short-term memory tested in the Binet-Simon test?

Answer 34

By repeating digits or sentences

Question 35

How is the verbal ability tested in the Binet-Simon test?

Answer 35

Naming objects, defining familiar words and describing a picture are tasks that are used to test verbal ability and good command of language.

Question 36

How is the numerical skill tested in the Binet-Simon test?

Answer 36

The task used to test numerical skills was counting pennies

Question 37

How is the general knowledge tested in the Binet-Simon test?

Answer 37

The general knowledge was tested with simple questions such as naming colours, statin correctly one’s gender, or distinguishing between morning and afternoon.

Question 38

How is the non-verbal reasoning tested in the Binet-Simon test?

Answer 38

The non verbal reasoning was tested with questions that required drawing objects or solving puzzles involving shapes.