Chapter 11 Flashcards
Reification
Viewing an abstract, immaterial concept as if it were a concrete thing
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
Charles Spearman
Helped develop factor analysis, believed there is also a general intelligence, or g factor that underlies the various clusters
General Intelligence (g)
A general intelligence factor that according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task in 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
States that people have specific intellectual potentials, or “intelligences”, each involving a set of problem-solving skills
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
Triarchic theory distinguishes three intelligences: analytical (academic problem solving) intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to perceive, understand, manage and use emotions
Creativity
The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Intelligence Tests
A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
Alfred Binet
Started the modern intelligence-testing movement by developing questions that helped predict children’s future progress in the Paris school system
Mental Age
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that key typically corresponds to a given level of performance
Lewis Terman
A Stanford U Professor, Terman revised Binet’s original IQ test by establishing new age norms and extending the upper end of the test’s range from teens to “superior adults”. Supported the nature side of the debate
Stanford-Binet
The widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford U) of Binet’s original intelligence test
Intelligent Quotient (IQ)
Defined originally as the ration of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100
Aptitude Tests
A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
Achievement Tests
A test designed to assess what a person has learned
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal)
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 in retesting
Validity
The extent to which a test maras urges or predicts what it is supposed to
Content Validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as driving test that samples driving tasks)
Criterion
The behavior (such S 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
Mental Retardation
A condition of limited mental ability, indicted by an intelligence score 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-containing concern that one will be evaluated based in a negative stereotype