Gould Flashcards
What did Yerkes do?
Carried out the research into intelligence testing
What did Gould do?
Reviewed the research done by Yerkes
What did Yerkes say about intelligence?
It is determined by genetics (hereditarianism argument) and therefore is unaffected by nurture
What was a key debate at the time?
Whether intelligence was inherited or if it could be learned
What was the first intelligence test and why was it created?
Binet-Simon test (1905)
Designed to identify school children who would not benefit from regular schooling due to their inferior intelligence + should be placed in “special schools”
A few years later this was adapted to test USA school children
What is intelligence?
An inferred characteristic of an individual
Usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly or adapt to changes in the environment
What are psychometric tests?
Tools that seek to provide numerical measures of human personality traits, attitudes and abilities
What is eugenics?
Belief it is possible to breed a superior group of people by encouraging those deemed superior to reproduce while inhibiting the growth of those groups deemed inferior
What is hereditarianism?
The belief that genetic inheritance is more important than environmental factors in determining intelligence and behaviour
What were Yerkes’ aims?
To produce a reliable and valid measure or intelligence
To prove that psychology (intelligence testing) could be as objective and quantifiable as the other scientific discipline
What type of experiment was Yerkes’ study?
Quasi experiment
What is the IV?
Ethnic origin
What is the DV?
Intelligence/average mental age
How did Yerkes obtain his data?
Self report
Recruits would answer questions during the intelligence tests to get their average mental age
What was Yerkes’ sample?
~1.75 million men within the US military
~The sample included white Americans, African Americans and European immigrants
~Sample were of varying ages education levels
