AP Psychology Unit 11: Testing and Individual Differences Flashcards
Intelligence
The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
General Intelligence (g)
According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
Factor Analysis
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
Charles Spearman
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
L. L. Thurstone
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
Primary Mental Abilities
Seven clusters of aptitude determined by Thurstone: Word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory
Howard Gardner
Identified eight relatively independent intelligences, expanding the idea of intelligence beyond academic smarts
Relatively Independent Intelligences
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
Existential Intelligence
The ability to ponder large questions about life, death, and existence
Savant Syndrome
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
Robert Sternberg
Agreed with Gardner that traditional intelligence does not predict success and proposed the triarchic theory, which identified three different intelligences
Triarchic Theory
A theory of intelligence proposed by Sternberg that proposes three types of intelligence: Analytical, creative, and practical
Analytical Intelligence
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
Creative Intelligence
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
Practical Intelligence
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
Grit
In psychology, grit is passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals
Social Intelligence
An idea first proposed by Edward Thorndike in 1920. It is the know-how involved in understanding social situations and managing ourselves successfully
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Spearman’s General Intelligence Strengths and Weaknesses
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
Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities Strengths and Weaknesses
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
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Strengths and Weaknesses
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?
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory Strengths and Weaknesses
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
Emotional Intelligence Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: These four components predict social success and emotional well-being
Weaknesses: Does this stretch the concept of intelligence too far?
Intelligence Test
A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
Achievement Test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned
Aptitude Test
A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
Francis Galton
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
Alfred Binet
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
Mental Age
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
Lewis Terman
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
Stanford-Binet
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
William Stern
Derived the term “intelligence quotient” (IQ) from tests like the Stanford-Binet test
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
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
David Wechsler
Created the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the most widely-used intelligence test today
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
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
Standardization
Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
Normal Curve
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.
James Flynn
A New Zealand researcher who discovered the Flynn effect
Flynn Effect
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
Reliability
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
Validity
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to (see also content validity and predictive validity)
Content Validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
Predictive Validity
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)
Cohort
A group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as from a given time period
Crystallized Intelligence
Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Fluid Intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood
Cross-Sectional Study
Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time
Longitudinal Study
Research that follows and retests the same people over time
Intellectual Disability
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)
Down Syndrome
A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21
The High Extreme
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
Heritability
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
Extreme Deprivation and Intelligence
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
Poor Environmental Conditions and Intelligence
Poor environmental conditions depress cognitive development since those in poor environments often have a lack of/inferior resources. These factors predict lower achievement scores
Poverty and Intelligence
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
Carol Dweck
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
Stereotype Threat
A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype