Chp 8

Question 1

Psychometric approach

Answer 1

The research tradition that spawned standardized tests of intelligence and that views intelligence (or personality) as a set of traits that can be measured and that varies from person to person

Question 2

Fluid Intelligence

Answer 2

Aspects of intelligence that involve actively thinking and reasoning to solve novel problems

Question 3

Crystallized Intelligence

Answer 3

Those aspects of intellectual functioning that involve using knowledge acquired through experience.

Question 4

Cattell-horn-carroll theory

Answer 4

A model of intelligence viewed as a hierarchy that includes, from top to bottom, (1) a general ability factor that influences how well people do on a range of cognitive tasks, (2) a few broad dimensions of ability that are distinguishable in a factor analysis, and (3) many specific abilities such as numerical reasoning, spatial discrimination, and word comprehension.

Question 5

Factor analysis

Answer 5

Statistical technique to identify meaningful groupings of personality scale or intelligence test items that are correlated with each other but not with other groupings of items.

Question 6

Mental age

Answer 6

A measure of intellectual development that reflects the level of agegraded problems that a child is able to solve; the age at which a child functions intellectually.

Question 7

Stan ford-binet inteligence scale

Answer 7

One of the most widely used, individually administered intelligence tests, which yields an IQ score.

Question 8

IQ

Answer 8

A numerical measure of a person’s performance on an intelligence test relative to the performance of other examinees of the same age, typically with a score of 100 defined as average.

Question 9

Test norms

Answer 9

Standards of normal performance on psychometric instruments based on the average scores and range of scores obtained by a large, representative sample of test takers.

Question 10

Weschler scales

Answer 10

A set of widely used, individually administered intelligence tests that yield verbal, performance, and overall IQ scores.

Question 11

Normal distribution

Answer 11

A symmetrical (bellshaped) curve that describes the variability of a characteristic within a population. Most people fall at or near the average score; there are relatively few high or low scores.

Question 12

Standard deviation

Answer 12

A measure of the dispersion or spread around the mean of a distribution of scores; in the case of IQ tests with a mean score of 100, the standard deviation is 15, meaning that about two-thirds of people taking the test have scores between 85 and 115.

Question 13

Intellectual disability

Answer 13

Significantly below average intellectual functioning with limitations in areas of adaptive behavior such as self-care and social skills, originating before age 18; previously known as mental retardation.

Question 14

Gifted

Answer 14

The possession of unusually high general intellectual potential or of special abilities in such areas as creativity, mathematics, or the arts

Question 15

Savant syndrome

Answer 15

A phenomenon in which extraordinary talent in a particular area is displayed by a person who otherwise has an intellectual disability.

Question 16

Prodigies

Answer 16

Individuals, especially children, endowed with one or more extraordinary ability.

Question 17

Theory of successful intelligence

Answer 17

Sternberg’s information-processing theory of intelligence that emphasizes three aspects of intelligent behavior: a practical component emphasizing the effect of context on what is intelligent; a creative component centering on coping with both novel and familiar problems; and an analytic component focused on the cognitive processes used to solve a problem.

Question 18

Practical intelligence

Answer 18

In Sternberg’s theory of intelligence, the aspect of intelligence that varies from one sociocultural context to another.

Question 19

Creative intelligence

Answer 19

In Sternberg’s theory of intelligence, the aspect of intelligence that varies with experience on a task.

Question 20

Automatization

Answer 20

Process by which information processing becomes effortless and highly efficient as a result of continued practice or increased expertise.

Question 21

Culture bias

Answer 21

The situation that arises in testing when one cultural or subcultural group is more familiar with test items than another group and therefore has an unfair advantage.

Question 22

Analytical intelligence

Answer 22

In Sternberg’s theory of intelligence, the information-processing skills such as thinking critically and analytically.

Question 23

Creativity

Answer 23

The ability to produce novel responses or works

Question 24

Convergent thinking

Answer 24

Thinking that involves “converging” on the one best answer to a problem; what IQ tests measure.

Question 25

Divergent thinking

Answer 25

Thinking that requires coming up with a variety of ideas or solutions to a problem when there is no one right answer.

Question 26

Ideational fluency

Answer 26

The sheer number of different (including novel) ideas that a person can generate; a measure of creativity or divergent thinking.

Question 27

Investment theory

Answer 27

Sternberg’s view that creativity emerges from a confluence, or coming together, of several ingredients, each in the right amounts and at the right times: intellectual abilities, knowledge, cognitive style, personality, motivation, and a supportive environment.

Question 28

Bayley Scales of infant and toddler development

Answer 28

Standardized test to measure the mental, motor, and behavioral progress of infants and young children.

Question 29

Child poverty

Answer 29

A household climate that includes low income along with low levels of response to children’s basic needs

Question 30

Flynn effect

Answer 30

The rise in average IQ scores over the 20th century.

Question 31

Dysrationalia

Answer 31

A term coined by Keith Stanovich for a quite common inability to think and behave rationally despite having adequate intelligence.

Question 32

Terminal decline

Answer 32

A rapid drop in intellectual abilities that people within a few years of dying often experience.

Question 33

Wisdom

Answer 33

A combination of rich factual knowledge about life and procedural knowledge such as strategies for giving advice and handling conflicts.

Question 34

Cumulative deficit hypothesis

Answer 34

A combination of rich factual knowledge about life and procedural knowledge such as strategies for giving advice and handling conflicts.

Question 35

Home observation for the measurement of the home environment inventory

Answer 35

A widely used instrument that allows an observer to determine how intellectually stimulating or impoverished a home environment is.

Question 36

Stereotype threat

Answer 36

Individuals’ fear of being judged to have the qualities associated with negative stereotypes of their social group.