Gould Flashcards
Define 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.
Define psychometric tests.
Tools that seek to provide numerical measures of human personality traits, attitudes and abilities.
Define eugenics.
The belief that 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.
Define hereditarianism.
The belief that genetic inheritance is more important than environmental factors in determining intelligence and behaviour.
Why are both Yerkes and Gould connected to this study?
- Yerkes initially designed and carried out the IQ tests and analysed what the showed.
- Gould reviewed Yerkes’ work and provided a criticism of it.
What is the background to Yerkes’ work?
- The first intelligence tests were developed in France and were used to identify children that were of low IQ and needed to be placed in special schools but these were completed individually and were time consuming.
- When American entered World War One, they needed a test that could be administered to groups all at once and Yerkes developed these tests.
What did Yerkes believe about intelligence?
He believed that intelligence was influenced by genetics and could not be changed.
What were the aims of Yerkes’ research?
- To produce a reliable and valid measure of intelligence.
- To prove that psychology (intelligence testing) could be as objective and quantifiable as the other scientific disciplines.
What was the research method used in Yerkes’ study?
Quasi experiment
How was the research method used in Yerkes’ study a quasi experiment?
The independent variable is ethnic origin (which is naturally occurring) and the dependent variable is the average mental age / intelligence.
What was the way of collecting data in Yerkes’ study?
Self report
How was the way of collecting data in Yerkes’ study self report?
Recruits would answer questions during the intelligence tests to get their average mental age.
What was the sample in Yerkes’ study?
- Between May and July 1917 1.75 million US army recruits were tested
- All males
- Included white Americans, ‘Negroes’ and European immigrants
- Varying education levels
What was the sampling method in Yerkes’ study?
How was the Army Alpha test designed?
- Written exam made up of 8 parts
- Took less than 1 hour
- Tasks included multiple choice questions, number sequences and unscrambling sentences
- Ten of hundreds of recruits would complete the task at the same time, with the sergeants and officers shouting instructions at them.* not administration?
How was the Army Beta test designed?
- Made up of 7 parts
- Took less than 1 hour
- Tasks included maze running, cube counting and picture completion
- The instructions were written in English
- Three of the seven parts required written answers
How was the Individual exam designed?
How were Yerkes’ mental tests supposed to be administered?
- The Army Alpha test should have been taken by literate recruits.
- Illiterate recruits and those who failed the Alpha test should have been given the Beta test.
- Those who failed the Beta test were supposed to be given the individual spoken exam.
What were the findings from Yerkes’ mental tests?
How were the mental age scores from Yerkes’ study interpret stem at the time?
These ‘facts’ were used by Yerkes to provide a genetic explanation for the differences (i.e. that some groups of people were naturally less intelligent).
What is a review study?
It involves another researcher (usually in the same field) checking the original study to ensure it is carried out in an acceptable way and that the findings are valid.
What are the strengths of review studies?
- Able to reassess research, as it offers a fresh perspective on what was found originally - and may be more objective as the reviewer is independent.
- Benefits of hindsight so it can highlight the consequences of the research and the conclusions drawn.
What are the weaknesses of review studies?
- May miss important data or the data being analysed may not be accurate in the first place.
- Reviewer could be biased (e.g. is the findings disagree with their own theory).
What problems did Gould identify with the design of Yerkes’ intelligence tests?
- Included whole sections that presupposed familiarity with American ways (e.g. the multiple choice questions in the Alpha test and the picture completion test in the Beta exam) making it culturally biased.
- The Beta test required pencil work and, on three of its seven sections, a knowledge of numbers and how to write them. However, many of the men taking this test had never held a pencil before.
- Instructions were written in English… CHECK
What problems did Gould identify with the way Yerkes’ intelligence tests were administered?
- Many of the recruits has spent little time in education and so the queue for the beta tests were very long. The standards required to take the alpha test were lowered but not consistently across all camps. In some, schooling up to the third grade counted as literate and in other anyone who could read took the Alpha test.
- Recruits who failed the Alpha test were not always given the Beta test like they were supposed to.
- Only one fifth of those who failed the Beta test were given the individual examinations.
- The conditions in which the tests were carried out were extremely chaotic causing difficulty for recruits to complete them.
What problems were there with the way Yerkes’ interpreted / explained the findings from his tests?
- It was really measuring their level of schooling and familiarity with US culture rather the native intellectual ability.
- Gould argued there were systematic biases in the way the tests were designed and administered which meant black and European recruits did worse.
How were the findings from Yerkes’ study used?
- Recruits were given a bad grade based on their mental age score from the test. CHECK
what were the long-term negative effects of this? REDO USING POSTER
- It is estimated that 6 million people from south, central and Eastern Europe (all areas that scored low on the tests) tried to enter America between 1924 and 1939 but were denied.
- One of the groups that were found to be low in intelligence were Jewish. Many tried to leave Europe before the Second World War started but were unable to due to the immigration restrictions.
