6: School-Age Cognitive Measures

Question 1

What are Piaget and IQ tests, respectively, concerned with?

Answer 1

Commonalities between children within a given age.

Individual differences in cognitive abilities within age groups.

Question 2

What is the information processing approach? Provide two pieces of evidence supporting it.

Answer 2

Asks whether cognitive abilities are associated with “intelligent behaviour.”

Speed of processing relates to IQ scores - adults asked to verify statements, speed of responding related to verbal IQ.

Infancy rates of habituation.

Question 3

What is the psychometric approach? What is the primary assessment tool?

Answer 3

Intelligence as mental factors: factors are mental skills that affect thinking in a wide range of situations.

IQ tests.

Question 4

Hierarchical models of cognitive abilities revolve around what?

Answer 4

General (g) ability, lower subset of more specific abilities.

Question 5

List three issues with intelligence research.

Answer 5

Can intelligence be described with a single number?

Are IQ tests accurate - validity, rank people reliably?

Biased against certain groups? Inappropriate causal attributions (internal validity problem)?

Question 6

Twin research suggests a correlation in intelligence. What is the range of this correlation?

Answer 6

.50 to .80.

Question 7

Gene-environment interactions may _____ heritability estimates.

Answer 7

Exaggerate.

Question 8

Gene-environment interactions exist with what two conditions?

Answer 8

Genotypes affects environmental exposure (e.g., “intelligent” parents may provide enriched environment).

Environmental exposure affects gene expression (epigenetics).

Question 9

IQ tests originally designed to estimate performance in schools. Provide two pieces of evidence that suggest schooling affects IQ.

Answer 9

Significant IQ differences between two same-aged groups for 4th, 5th, 6th grade, suggesting education affects IQ.

Statistical drop in IQ over summer vacation.