Ability Testing Flashcards
3 components of intelligence tests
1- Subtests
• IQ tests include subtests evaluating different facets of intelligence
2- Scales
• Also often include scales - instead of getting scores on each subtest, sets of 2-3-4-+ subtests make a scale, for which a general score will be generated
○ The most common metric for scales is a mean of 100 and a SD of 15
○ Scales scores are often referred to as IQ scores
3- Overall scores
• Tests also have an overall summary score - score across all the subtests, all the scales
Usually a single number
General age of cognitive ability tests
Cognitive ability tests are
Generally available down to age 2 until age 85
Kids younger than 2 can hardly answer the test - also it’s kinda useless to assess intelligence at such a low age (we would be more interested in development tests, for example)
Difference between psychologist and psychometrist
Why would we choose a psychometrist
What is the role of the psychologist
Psychometrist: usually has a bachelors level degree in psychology, and have been trained to administer a number of tests
• Can administer at least part of a battery and assist in scoring the battery, but cannot write the report since they do not have the authority to do so
* Administering a test to an individual is both time and money consuming * A psychometrist is a bit more cheaply paid so it saves costs, but it's costly regardless (because of training) * Writing the report is especially time consuming - done by the psychologist
3 contexts in which full battery IQ tests are often adminstered
• Neuropsychological assessment
○ Give us a sense of the person’s general level of functioning
○ Sometimes done to estimate a degree of malfunctioning after an accident, etc
• Occupational counselling
○ Give us a general sense of strength/weaknesses of the person
• Intellectual disability
Part of the definition of intellectual disability requires the administration of an IQ test
• Neurocognitive disorders diagnosis
○ Ex: schizophrenia, dementia
• School settings: special education programs
○ In most places in the US and some places in Canada, a learning disability is defined as a difference in level of intellectual functioning as assessed by an IQ test and scholastic achievement
• Gifted/enhanced/enriched school curriculum programs
○ In some settings there are limits of the number of children that can be admitted in enhanced programs, therefore a minimum IQ score is required
The scores can be “played with” by adding the 95%CI to it, since there is a possibility of measurement error/etc
Criteria for intellectual disability
○ Criteria
§ Overall summary score on an individual IQ test is below 70 (or more than 2 SD below the mean)
§ The individual shows impairment in adaptive behaviour (AKA self-care skills like dressing, managing eating, risk management, etc)
§ These characteristics must be noticed in the developmental period
Ex: an adult has a head injury and develops those characteristics as a result: not a case of intellectual disability
Discrepancy model for learning disability, what is the logic
• Child with normal cognitive ability that despite having at least average IQ, they do poorly in specific academic areas (one of the most common ones in younger kids is reading - dyslexia)
○ Reading-related disability would occur in someone who scores in a normal range in IQ tests, but very low in reading tests
* The logic of the discrepancy definition is that: someone with average cognitive ability are more likely to benefit from remedial interventions than those who have below-average IQ, therefore we should focus our efforts on the first kid * Problem: this is just an assumption, there is no evidence behind it (makes intuitive sense, but that's it)
Definition of learning disability in Ontario
Learning disorder is evidence in both academic and social situations that involves one or more of the processes necessary for the proper use of spoken language or the symbols of communication, and that is characterized by a condition that:
a. Is not primarily the result of: impairment in vision, hearing, physical handicap, mental retardation, primary emotional disturbance, cultural difference
b. results in a significant discrepancy between academic achievement and assessed intellectual ability, with defects in one or more of: receptive languagr, language processing, expressive language, mathematical computations, and
c. may be associated with one or more conditions diagnosed as: perceptual handicap, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, developmental aphasia
Context for which learning disability is defined in quebec
- The context: eligibility for a child to attend English public elementary school (1 of the child’s parents has to have attended elementary school in English in Quebec - except for people working temporarily in the province)
- If the child is tested by a psychologist and determined as having a specific learning disability (SLD) - this could also make an exception to the English school rule
Outside of this specific context, the learning definition concept does not exist in Quebec
2 kinds of SLD
○ 2 kinds of SLD
§ General: means that the child is documented through testing as being 2 years or + behind in their grade equivalent score than the actual grade they are in (impossible to be defined as having a SLD before grade 3) - discrepancy definition, but different than the one before
§ Specific: the child is behind by at least 1 year in 1 or more achievement areas, and it’s due to a documented/diagnosed condition which has persisted despite intervention (ex; dyslexia, etc)
2 concepts that exist in quebec in lieu of learning disability
- At risk for poor school achievement
* At risk for poor school achievement… With severe behavioural handicap
Other area in which we use IQ tests in the quebec school system
• Derogation:
○ To enroll in a public school in kindergarten, children must be 5yrs old by Sept 30 of that year
○ If they are not, there is a possibility of derogation
○ Kindergarten is NOT mandatory in public school - the date for being 6 yrs old to start grade 1 is also Sept 30
• Derogation is conducted by a psychologist ○ Consists of an interview with parents and children ○ Administering an IQ test (there is a list of accepted tests, all level C tests) The report is submitted to the education ministry, who will make the final decision This process can easily cost 1000-2000$ - the parents need to pay for this
What type of info is ok to share with parents of students, why?
OPQ has recommendations for psychologists about what kind of information should or should not be shared with parents in the context of a derogation evaluation
• Do not give them IQ scores - they will most likely be wrongly interpreted by parents
• Percentiles are ok
• Age-grade equivalent scores are ok
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences
Prolific writer about his theory of multiple intelligences
(mainly for an education audience, directed for teachers)
Intelligence is something that consists of many different facets
There are more facets of talent that those that appear in school
No single school/scores could summarize the full breadth of capabilities in any student
only visual-spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical are measured/taught in school, thus the strongest, most obvious external correlate with IQ scores is educational attainment
Book smart vs street smart
Book Smart vs Street Smart
Book smart: what cognitive abilities measure
Street smart: what IQ tests don’t measure
Novel learning
Effort to try to include, somewhere in the battery, more novel reasoning
Less emphasis on crystallized intelligence, more on fluid intelligence
Ex: KABC-II
Rebus subtest
Scoring is still 0-1, but it’s not necessarily only about reciting information (it’s also about reasoning)
