Defintions Flashcards
Innate
Relating to a behaviour, ability, disposition or characteristic that is present from birth rather than being acquired through experience
Craniometry
The study of people’s intellectual abilities based on the shape and size of their head
Neurology
The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system
Confirmatory bias
When a scientists expectations unconsciously influence the outcome of their research. This occurs because of the tendency to pay most attention to those features of a phenomenon that appear to confirm prior expectations
Psychometrics
A field of study in psychology concerned with psychological measurement of things like attitudes, personality traits, mood or intelligence
Personality
A persons stable and enduring traits and characteristics (e.g. Whether they are outgoing, assertive, perceptive or emotional) which lead them to behave in a steady way over time
Individual differences
Any characteristics that are susceptible to variation between individuals for example personality or intelligence
Battery of tests
A series of tests aimed at measuring the same thing such as intelligence
Scale
A term which in the context of intelligence research is often used instead of the word test. In psychology the word scale refers to any set of questionnaire items or tasks which combine to measure a bigger construct that cannot be measured directly such as intelligence or personality
Test Norms
Benchmarks used to assess an individuals performance on intelligence tests. They offer insight into how a persons test score compares with the scores of other test takers from the same population
Test standardisation
The process of establishing test norms by administering the test to a large sample of the population for which the test is intended
Correlation
A measure of an association between two events or things. In the case of an intelligence test, this means that those who perform well on one task will also do well on another
G, or general intelligence
The factor believed to underpin performance on different take in an intelligence test
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
A score on an intelligence test which indicates how a persons intellectual ability compares to the general population
Normal distribution
The assumption that characteristics which vary between people will be distributed across the population In such a way that values at or close to the average will be more frequent than extreme ones
Working memory
The kind of memory that is used for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out a task
Fluid intelligence
The ability to think logically and solve problems which is independent of acquired knowledge of experienced
Crystallised intelligence
The ability to apply acquired skills knowledge and experience to novel situations
Theory
A set of predispositions about a psychological phenomenon (e.g. Intelligence) which forms the basis on an explanation
Validity
The extent to which a test measured what it has been designed to measure
Eugenics movement
A movement that advocated the improvement of human genetic traits through the promotion of reproduction of people with desired traits and limiting the reproduction of people with undesirable traits
Scientific racism
The manipulation of scientific theories and methods to justify the belief in racial superiority or inferiority
Genetic code
The rules which govern how information encoded within genetic material (the DNA) will be translated into proteins, the building blocks of any living organism
Heritability
The extent to which differences in a trait, characteristic or ability within a population is due to genetic differences
Human genome
The complete set of genetic information contained in the human DNA
Ethics
Principles that determine right and wrong conduct. In psychological research ethics refers to the codes and principles that researchers should adhere to
Heritability estimate
An estimate of the extent to which variability in intelligence in the population is accounted for by variability in genes
Equal environment assumption
The assumption in twin studies that twin pairs raised together experience roughly equal environments
Learning disability
Significant impairment in the ability to learn new information and skills, understand new or complex information, or to cope independently with the demands of everyday life
Learning difficulties
Specific problems with reading, or understanding numbers, for example which can prevent someone from reaching educational or academic goals but are not linked to general intellectual functioning
Euphemism treadmill
The process whereby a word introduced to replace an offensive word over time itself becomes offensive, and is then replaced by another
Personality
A persons stable and enduring traits and characteristics which lead them to behave in a steady way over time
