Component 2: Gould (Individual Differences) Flashcards
What does Gould’s study look at?
He reviews Robert Yerkes’ work into measure of intelligence
What is the background to the Gould study into measures of intelligence?
Robert Yerkes was a psychologist at Harvard. At the time (early 1900s) psychology was perceived as a sofyt science, so Yerkes wanted to improve its status. He also believed intelligence was inherited and therefore could not be changed (nature) He worked on developing mental testing.
What were the hypothesis/aims of the Gould study?
To document the work of Robert Yerkes
Mental testing was fundamentally flawed due to theoretical bias and this has far reaching social, political and ethical consequences.
What was the research method for Gould’s study?
Not empirical research (secondary data was used)
It is a review article that looks at the history of Robert Yerkes’ intelligence testing.
Describe the sample of Yerkes’ study?
1.75 million army recruits in the USA during WW1
Describe the procedure of Yerkes’ study?
- From May to July 1917, Yerkes wrote the army mental tests. He develped 3 types of test, the first two could be given to large groups and took less than an hour to complete.
What was the army alpha test?
This test was designed for literate recruits. It consisted of 8 parts. It requires a good basic understanding of English language skills and literacy. Although the test was considered by Yerkes to measure ‘native intellectual ability’ (not influenced by culture/education) they were in fact extremely biased.
What was the army beta test?
This test was designed for those who were illiterate/failed the army alphas test. It had 7 parts and had picture completion tasks. The pictures were again culturally signifiicant and would have been extremely difficult to complete if participants had no knowledge of some of the items.
What was the individual spoken examination?
If participants failed both the alpha and beta test then they were supposed to be given an individual spoken examination. However, this rarely happened. Everyone recieved a grade from A to E. A C- indicated low average intelligence.
What were the results of the Gould study?
- The average mental age of white, American males stood just above the edge of moronity at a shocking 13 years of age. (this was previously 16) This indicated America was a nation of morons. This information was used to show people of colour and feeble minded individuals had been ‘interbreeding’ and lowering the overall intelligence of the population.
European immigrants could be graded with their country of origin, with the darker people being less intelligent than the fair people of Western and Northern Europe. Black men had an average mental age of 10.41
What were Gould’s conclusions about Yerkes’ resesarch?
IQ testing is culturally and historically biased
IQ testing does not measure innate intelligence
IQ testing is often unreliable and does not produce valid results.
What were Yerkes’ conclusions?
- Nations can be graded by their intelligence
- America is a nation of morons.
