Chapter 1 Flashcards
what is Apgar score?
method of evaluating health of newborn infants
based on 5 signs of healthy baby: appearance, grimace, pulse, activity, respiration
signs assessed within 1 min of birth
psychometrics
field of psychology associated with measurements of aspects of people (skills, abilities, characteristics, etc.)
what tools of measurement are associated with psychometrics?
questionnaires and instruments (to assess qualities of people)
statistical/mathematical tools (to assess efficacy of instruments)
who were the founders of psychometrics?
Alfred Binet and Francis Galton
both addressed issues in how we define and operationalize concepts + quantitative tools
describe desire bourneville’s overall idea of proposal for education requirements in france
advocated special classes for “abnormal children”
what effects would desire bourneville’s proposal have on France education?
proposal would result in complete medicalization of all school learning difficulties
educational infrastructure would be needed in medical system to locate educationally untreatable children in asylums
special schools would be required
describe the 3 main approaches for Binet’s proposal for France education
medical = examines anatomical, physiological, and pathological signs of difficulty
pedagogical = evaluates intelligence based on acquired knowledge
psychological = examines intelligence based on observation and measurement
describe the final resolution for Binet’s proposal for French education
- children experiencing difficulty wouldn’t be expelled without medical/pathological examination
-children identified as abnormal, but treatable, will to go to special class/school
- special class was opened in Paris
what was the main challenge of Binet’s proposal for French education?
no set way to identify/classify students with difficulties
were referred to as idiots, imbeciles, etc.
unclear and rude
what was the solution for the challenge associated with Binet’s proposal for French education?
Binet + Simon proposed psychological classification system based on observation of student’s abilities = Binet and Simon Test
1st time that a concept was operationalized with concrete tasks based on inferences
describe the first version of the Binet Simon test
involved classifying people based on responses to Q’s (easy to hard)
identified abilities of students
1st of kind
describe the questions involved on Binet Simon test
variety of Q’s created based on Binet’s observation of children
identifying explaining objects, repeating things from memory, finding rhymes, etc.
questions would get harder - test stopped when child could no longer answer correctly
child would be grouped w students at same level and receive corresponding education
what did the Binet Simon test use to compare children?
normative comparison groups
used results of 50 “average” students
if students didn’t match up with the normative groups, they were judged as being behind
what was the mental age component of Binet Simon test?
students who performed test were given a mental age
if student all average/expected questions = chronological age = mental age
if exceeded/got below = mental age would go up or down accordingly
describe Binet’s ideas of intelligence
intellectual development progresses at variable rates and can be influenced by environment
intelligence not based 100% on genetics
intelligence is malleable + can be improved/acquired
what were Binet’s concerns about his own test?
worried about misuse
was designed to identify students who needed extra help in school, not to rank students or impose permanent labels
believed scale couldn’t measure intelligence (lots of other factors are involved in that)
who published the English version of the Binet Simon test?
Henry Goddard
Binet and Simon Tests of intellectual Capacity
who was Thomas Salmon and what did he believe?
studied psychiatric disorders associated with war
wanted to implement screening war recruits, and prevent people with mental health issues from joining army
what was involved with army screening?
surgeon general implemented recruit screening to exclude those with lower intelligence + assess abilities/potential for mental illness
involved army alpha (text based test) and army beta (image based test)
what were the results of army screening? why was it a failure?
less than 1% unfit for army, and mental age of recruits very low
3181 still sent overseas despite failing screening + 4039 discharged from war with disorders (despite screening)
no attempt made to determine what part of that 3181 was part of 4039
screening failed to predict how soldiers would perform in battle
why was Binet important?
- one of first to operationalize a construct
- allowed for formal classification of students w learning issues
- pioneered use of normative groups
- recognized test scores as tied to goal of test
- viewed intelligence as partially innate/partially acquired
- successful proposal to French government allowing students intellectual ability to be linked to psychology, not medicine only
what is operationalization?
process of taking an idea (construct) and definition a set of operations (Q’s/activities) to measure that construct
describe Galton’s fair discovery
observed weight guessing contest
believed that median of guesses would be most accurate
but mean ended up being the most accurate
why was the mean the most accurate guess at Galton’s fair discovery?
mean score was almost real weight
errors balanced out = for every person that guessed too high, there was someone who guessed equally as low
due to nature/distribution of errors = every dataset displays similar devotions, each with same general properties
what is normal distribution
refers to shape of graph that characterizes a set of observations/scores/measurements where the number of each of these at specific values is counted
what is the line of probability in a normal distribution graph?
looks like a bell (bell curve)
shows if normal distribution is achieved (will outline graph if so)
as number of obs/meas/scores gets larger, shape of graph will get closer to line of probability
are normal distribution graphs symmetrical or unsymmetrical?
should be symmetrical (about mean score)
most observations/scores should fall in the middle
less observations/scores should fall at the left/right extremes
what does it means when scores/measurements are normally distributed?
deviations from the mean will cancel out/sum to 0
this means that there is an equal # of scores above and below the mean
what is the law of error?
describes the regularity of the distribution of scores, regardless of the source of data
are most data sets normally distributed?
yes
meaning they are bell shaped and symmetrical
what is a quincunx?
invented by Galton to demonstrate normal distribution and law of error
balls dropped inside through funnel - would strike pins which would strike other pins
no matter how many pins/balls, machine would create a normal distribution at bottom of box
what is regression of the mean?
phenomenon of extreme scores being associated with scores closer to the population average
what is the correlation coefficient and who discovered it?
galton - number between -1 and 1 to represent linear dependence of two variables/sets of data
what is anthropometry
measurement of human characteristics
why was Galton important?
- described phenomenon of variance/central tendency/normal distribution
- founded coefficient
- developed quincunx
- founded anthropometry
