assessing intelligence Flashcards
Assessing Intelligence
Psychologists define intelligence testing as a method for assessing an individual’s mental
aptitudes and comparing them with others using numerical scores.
Alfred Binet
… and his colleague Théodore
Simon developed the first
standardized intelligence test…they
were commissioned by the French
government to design a “test” to
identify French children who would
have problems in regular classes
Binet’s impact
Set out to find a child’s mental age, or the average age of
individuals who achieve a particular level of performance
Binet did not create the test to LABEL children…he actually
warned that if the information were misused it would do just
this…instead he wanted only to find a way to help improve
the educational experience of French children
Lewis Terman
(in the US) Terman
adapted/revised Binet’s test for
American school children and
named the test the Stanford-Binet
IQ Test. (he worked at Stanford)
A form of the Stanford-Binet is
still in use today…
The Stanford-Binet Test
Today…the Stanford-Binet is given orally and varies in nature according to the person taking the test
Children – given figures to copy or everyday problems to solve
Adults – asked to solve analogies, explain proverbs and
describe similarities that underlie sets of words
The examiner begins by finding a mental age at which the person can answer all questions…move on to more difficult problems…when mental age is reached at which no items
can be answered, test is over
William Stern
Introduced the formula of
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
IQ is no longer computed
this way…
iq = mental age/ chronological age = 100
David Wechsler
developed the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale
(WAIS) and later the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC), an
intelligence test for preschoolers –
they are the most widely used IQ
tests today.
WAIS
WAIS measures overall intelligence – consists of 2 parts,
verbal and performance
Verbal – vocab definitions and comprehension
Performance – timed assembly of small objects and
arranged pictures in logical order
Normally verbal and performance are within close range, yet
separate scores can give a more precise picture of a person’s
specific abilities
Achievement Tests
are intended to reflect what you
have already learned – current
level of knowledge
Examples??
AP Psych Exam
Achievement Tests
are intended to reflect what you
have already learned – current
level of knowledge
Examples??
AP Psych Exam
Aptitude Tests
are intended to predict your
ability to learn a new skill –
how well you could do
Examples???
ACT/SAT
Principles of Test Construction
For a psychological test to be acceptable it must fulfill
three criteria:
Standardization
Reliability
Validity
Standardization
Test items piloted on a similar population of people and “norms” have been established
Norms are developed by calculating the average score achieved by a particular group and then each person’s score can be compared to see how it differs from
people who have taken the test in the past.
The AP Psychology exam you’ll take in May was given to a sample of
freshmen in college within the last few years to “normalize” the test (to find
the norms).
This group that’s given the test to find the norms is called the
standardization sample
The average (one of the norms) from this group is what this year’s scores
will be compared to
periodically tests are re-standardized – given to a random, representative sample to reset/check the established norms (including intelligence tests
whose “normal” score is 100).
Normal Curve
Standardized tests establish a normal distribution of scores on a tested
population — a bell-shaped pattern called the normal curve.
Francis Galton
… argued that intelligence is
quantifiable and normally
distributed, believing we could
assign a score for intelligence,
which then determined who fell
below the average range and who
fell above it.
