Chapter 11 Flashcards
Reification
Viewing an abstract immaterial concept as if it were a concrete thing (thinking of intelligence as a trait (thing) instead of a concept)
Intelligence
Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
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 one’s total score (measures common abilities)
Charles Spearman
G-factor (general mental ability) factor analysis, first
General Intelligence
A general intelligence factor that according to spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
L.L. Thurstone
Rejected g-factor, didn’t rank his subjects on a single scale of general aptitude. Argued that factor analysis revealed seven independent mental abilities
Howard Gardner
Supports Thurstone’s idea that intelligence comes in multiple forms. Gardner notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others
Savant Syndrome
A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
Robert Sternberg
Also agrees with Gardner, but suggests three intelligences rather than eight – practical (common sense, street smarts), analytical (book smarts), creative (adapt to novel situations, develop ideas)
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions - some claim it is a form of personality
Creativity
The ability to produce new and effective solutions to challenges, novel and valuable ideas (intrinsic motivation)
Intelligence Test
A method for assessing an individuals mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others using numerical scores
Alfred Binet
Personally supported the environmental explanation of intelligence (nurture). Predicted school achievement – mental age
Mental Age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8
Lewis Terman
(Innate IQ) a Stanford University professor, revised Binet’s original IQ test by establishing new age norms and extending the upper end of the tests range from teenagers to “superior adults” – called revision Stanford-Binet – supported nature side
Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test
Intelligent Quotient (IQ)
Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to 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
Aptitude Tests
A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn (ACT, SAT, MCAT, LSAT)
Achievement Test
A test designed to reflect what a person has learned, exams covering what you have learned in this course are achievement tests
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal), broken into parts (subtests) – verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, processing speed
Standardization
Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a protested standardization group
The Flynn Effect
Intelligence test performance has been improving
Normal Curve
The symmetrical 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
Reliability
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting
Validity
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Content Validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks)
Criterion
The behavior (such as future college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity
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)
Mental Retardation
A condition limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound
Down Syndrome
A condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup
Stereotype Threat
A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
