1. Measuring intelligence Flashcards
Innate
Relating to a behaviour, ability, disposition or characteristic that is present from birth rather than being acquired through experience.
Craniometry
The study of people’s intellectual abilities based on the shape and size of their head.
Neurology
The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system.
Confirmatory bias
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.
Psychometrics
A field of study in psychology concerned with psychological measurement of things like attitudes, personality traits, mood or intelligence.
Personality
A person’s stable and enduring traits and characteristics which lead them to behave in a steady way over time
Personality types
Outgoing
Assertive
Perceptive
Emotional
Individual differences
Any characteristics that are susceptible to variation between individuals (ex. Personality or Intelligence)
Battery of tests
A series of tests aimed at measuring the same thing, such as intelligence.
Scale
Replaces the term “test” in the context of intelligence research
Set of questionnaire items or tasks which combine to measure a bigger construct that cannot be measured directly, such as intelligence or personality.
Test norm
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.
Test standardisation
The process of establishing test norms by administering the test to a large sample of the population for which the test is intended.
Correlation
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.
General intelligence (g)
The factor believed to underpin performance on different tasks in an intelligence test.
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
A score on an intelligence test which indicates how a person’s intellectual ability compares to the general population.
Normal distribution
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
Working memory
The kind of memory that is used for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out a task.
Fluid intelligence
The ability to think logically and solve problems, which is independent of acquired knowledge or experience.
Crystallised intelligence
The ability to apply acquired skills, knowledge and experience to novel situations.
Theory
A set of propositions about a psychological phenomenon (e.g. intelligence) which forms the basis of an explanation.
Validity
The extent to which a test measures what it has been designed to measure.
The term “intelligence” in the Middle Ages
Was used to describe what differentiates “dull” and “bright” students
“Intelligence” in Ancient Greece
Philosophers debated extensively whether this ability is innate or the outcome of learning.
What tasks did Sir Francis Galton think help analyse intelligence?
Physical tasks:
- eyesight
- strength of grip
- colour vision
- hearing
- hand preference
Galton’s approach to intelligence
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.
What was the ‘anthropometric laboratory’?
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.
Who is Jean Martin Charcot?
Founder of modern neurology
Binet began working in 1895 on a battery of tests
They were designed to measure individual differences in intelligence, or what he referred to as “higher mental power”
Why did the French government pay Simon and Binet a commission in 1904?
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.
The purpose of the Binet-Simon test
To help identify children who, in term of their intellectual development, lagged behind their peers.
Binet-Simon test’s structure
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
The legacy of Alfred Binet
His innovative work on intelligence resulted in the first modern test of intelligence. It served as a blueprint for subsequent tests.
What do the different items in the Binet-Simon test represent?
The different items in the test appear to assess different abilities
How is the short-term memory tested in the Binet-Simon test?
By repeating digits or sentences
How is the verbal ability tested in the Binet-Simon test?
Naming objects, defining familiar words and describing a picture are tasks that are used to test verbal ability and good command of language.
How is the numerical skill tested in the Binet-Simon test?
The task used to test numerical skills was counting pennies
How is the general knowledge tested in the Binet-Simon test?
The general knowledge was tested with simple questions such as naming colours, statin correctly one’s gender, or distinguishing between morning and afternoon.
How is the non-verbal reasoning tested in the Binet-Simon test?
The non verbal reasoning was tested with questions that required drawing objects or solving puzzles involving shapes.
