Chapter 11: Intelligence Flashcards
Intelligence Test
a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores. -
Mental Age
a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. -
Stanford-Binet
the widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test. -
Intelligence Quotient
defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100. -
Intelligence
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 a person’s total score. -
General Intelligence
According to Spearman and others, underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. -
Savant Syndrome
a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing. -
Emotional Intelligence
the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. -
Creativity
the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. -
Aptitude Test
a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; capacity to learn. -
Achievement Tests
tests designed to assess what a person has learned. -
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests. -
Standardization
defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization group. -
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. -
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. -
Mental Limitations (Retardation)
a condition of limited mental ability, indicated 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-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. -