AP Psychology Unit 11: Testing and Individual Differences

Question 1

Intelligence

Answer 1

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Question 2

General Intelligence (g)

Answer 2

According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Question 3

Factor Analysis

Answer 3

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score

Question 4

Charles Spearman

Answer 4

Believed in the concept of general intelligence. Thought that we have exceptional abilities, but that people who score high in one area like verbal intelligence typically score high in other areas. These beliefs stemmed from his work with factor analysis

Question 5

L. L. Thurstone

Answer 5

Disagreed with Spearman’s concept of general intelligence. Instead, he identified seven clusters of primary mental abilities rather than ranking people on a single scale of aptitude. He found that those who scored high on one of the categories typically scored high on others, supporting the notion of a general intelligence

Question 6

Primary Mental Abilities

Answer 6

Seven clusters of aptitude determined by Thurstone: Word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory

Question 7

Howard Gardner

Answer 7

Identified eight relatively independent intelligences, expanding the idea of intelligence beyond academic smarts

Question 8

Relatively Independent Intelligences

Answer 8

Eight (or 9, when including existential intelligence) clusters of abilities that determine intelligence in a specific category. The categories of intelligence are: Naturalist, linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and (sometimes) existential

Question 9

Existential Intelligence

Answer 9

The ability to ponder large questions about life, death, and existence

Question 10

Savant Syndrome

Answer 10

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing. 4/5 people with this are men. People with ASD are more likely to have this syndrome

Question 11

Robert Sternberg

Answer 11

Agreed with Gardner that traditional intelligence does not predict success and proposed the triarchic theory, which identified three different intelligences

Question 12

Triarchic Theory

Answer 12

A theory of intelligence proposed by Sternberg that proposes three types of intelligence: Analytical, creative, and practical

Question 13

Analytical Intelligence

Answer 13

One of the three types of intelligence in Sternberg’s triarchic theory. It is assessed by intelligence tests, which present well-defined problems with a single right answer. These tests predict school grades reasonably well and vocational success to a lesser extent

Question 14

Creative Intelligence

Answer 14

One of the three types of intelligence in Sternberg’s triarchic theory. It is demonstrated by innovative smarts: The ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas

Question 15

Practical Intelligence

Answer 15

One of the three types of intelligence in Sternberg’s triarchic theory. It is required for everyday tasks that may be poorly defined or have multiple solutions

Question 16

Grit

Answer 16

In psychology, grit is passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

Question 17

Social Intelligence

Answer 17

An idea first proposed by Edward Thorndike in 1920. It is the know-how involved in understanding social situations and managing ourselves successfully

Question 18

Emotional Intelligence

Answer 18

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Question 19

Spearman’s General Intelligence Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 19

Strengths: Different abilities, like verbal and spatial, have a tendency to correlate
Weaknesses: Human abilities are too diverse to be encapsulated by a single general intelligence factor

Question 20

Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 20

Strengths: A single g score is not as informative as scores for seven primary mental abilities
Weaknesses: Even Thurstone’s seven mental abilities show a tendency to cluster, suggesting an underlying g factor

Question 21

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 21

Strengths: Intelligence is more than just verbal and mathematical skills. Other abilities are equally important to human adaptability
Weaknesses: Should all of our abilities be considered intelligences? Shouldn’t some be called less vital talents?

Question 22

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 22

Strengths: These domains can be reliably measured
Weaknesses: The three domains may be less independent than originally thought and may actually share an underlying g factor

Question 23

Emotional Intelligence Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 23

Strengths: These four components predict social success and emotional well-being
Weaknesses: Does this stretch the concept of intelligence too far?

Question 24

Intelligence Test

Answer 24

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Question 25

Achievement Test

Answer 25

A test designed to assess what a person has learned

Question 26

Aptitude Test

Answer 26

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Question 27

Francis Galton

Answer 27

Wanted to measure individuals’ “natural ability” and to encourage those with high ability to mate with one another. He assessed over 10,000 people on their “intellectual strengths,” but found that well-regarded adults or children did not outscore others. Even though his experiment failed, he gave us statistical techniques that we still use, and his book “Hereditary Genius” (which insisted that genius was passed down) demonstrated how individual scientists can be affected by bias

Question 28

Alfred Binet

Answer 28

A scientist tasked with designing aptitude tests to sort French schoolchildren into classes matching their abilities. He came up with the idea of mental age, basing his test around the concept y comparing the students’ performances to others of the same age. He believed that intelligence was a result of environmental factors rather than inborn factors, believing that “mental orthopedics” would develop the minds of low-scoring children

Question 29

Mental Age

Answer 29

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age, Thus, a child who does well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

Question 30

Lewis Terman

Answer 30

Adapted Binet’s intelligence test to accommodate California schoolchildren and extended the age range to “superior adults.” He adopted some of Binet’s original items, added others, and established new age norms. His evolved version of Binet’s test is called the Stanford-Binet test. Sympathized with the idea of eugenics

Question 31

Stanford-Binet

Answer 31

The widely-used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test. Measures intelligence relative to the average performance of others the same age

Question 32

William Stern

Answer 32

Derived the term “intelligence quotient” (IQ) from tests like the Stanford-Binet test

Question 33

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Answer 33

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to the chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100. Thus, IQ = ma/ca x 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Question 34

David Wechsler

Answer 34

Created the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the most widely-used intelligence test today

Question 35

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 35

The WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain verbal and performance (nonverbal subtests). It provides both an overall intelligence score and scores for each of the tests; subsets, which can help psychologists identify cognitive weaknesses/disorders

Question 36

Standardization

Answer 36

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Question 37

Normal Curve

Answer 37

The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

Question 38

James Flynn

Answer 38

A New Zealand researcher who discovered the Flynn effect

Question 39

Flynn Effect

Answer 39

The continuously rising performance on intelligence tests when compared to past years. It may be attributed to a number of factors like better nutrition, a rising standard of living, better education, smaller families, or the need to develop new mental skills to cope with our modern environments. This counters the concern that intelligence is inherited since higher 20th century birthrates among those with low intelligence scores should have pushed intelligence scores down

Question 40

Reliability

Answer 40

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test (split-half), on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

Question 41

Validity

Answer 41

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to (see also content validity and predictive validity)

Question 42

Content Validity

Answer 42

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Question 43

Predictive Validity

Answer 43

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. (Also called criterion-related validity)

Question 44

Cohort

Answer 44

A group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a given time period

Question 45

Crystallized Intelligence

Answer 45

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Question 46

Fluid Intelligence

Answer 46

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood

Question 47

Cross-Sectional Study

Answer 47

Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time

Question 48

Longitudinal Study

Answer 48

Research that follows and retests the same people over time

Question 49

Intellectual Disability

Answer 49

A Condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life (expressed in the areas of conceptual, social, and practical skill)

Question 50

Down Syndrome

Answer 50

A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Question 51

The High Extreme

Answer 51

People who score higher than 135 on an intelligence test are in the top 2.5% of all people. They are more likely to attain high levels of education, have better physical health, and obtain a successful career than lower-scoring children

Question 52

Heritability

Answer 52

The proportion of variation among individuals in a group that w can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied

Question 53

Extreme Deprivation and Intelligence

Answer 53

Extreme deprivation decreases intelligence, as children who are not exposed to normal developmental milestones do not learn from them. Cognitive enrichment has been shown to increase the cognitive function of neglected toddlers

Question 54

Poor Environmental Conditions and Intelligence

Answer 54

Poor environmental conditions depress cognitive development since those in poor environments often have a lack of/inferior resources. These factors predict lower achievement scores

Question 55

Poverty and Intelligence

Answer 55

The worries of poverty can affect cognitive performance. When poor sugar cane farmers in India were tested after being paid for their harvest, their money worries dropped and they scored better on the achievement test

Question 56

Carol Dweck

Answer 56

Believed that intelligence is changeable and promoted a growth mindset when it came to learning. Emphasized the importance of hard work/motivation in achievement. Critics caution that an overemphasis on positive thinking may cause false assumptions that it will singlehandedly lift a person out of disadvantaged conditions

Question 57

Stereotype Threat

Answer 57

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype