Gould - 1982

Question 1

Who’s work did did Gould examine?

Answer 1

Robert Yerkes

Question 2

What did Robert Yerkes do?

Answer 2

conduct the largest intelligence test in history

Question 3

Which movement did Yerkes contribute to?

Answer 3

The Eugenics Movement

Question 4

What is the Eugenics Movement?

Answer 4

The practice of selecting the most desirable heritable characteristics to improve future generations

Question 5

What did the Eugenics movement in America lead to?

Answer 5

• legal restrictions on immigration to America
• prevented approx. 6 million Europeans from escaping persecution between 1924-1939

Question 6

What type of test did Yerkes use?

Answer 6

Psychometric tests

Question 7

What is a psychometric test?

Answer 7

an assessment which measures and individual’s cognitive ability

Question 8

What are the advantages to psychometric testing?

Answer 8

• standardised = valid / accurate
• consistent = reliable

Question 9

What are the disadvantages to psychometric testing?

Answer 9

reductionist - ignores the true complexities to intelligence

Question 10

What is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)?

Answer 10

an intelligence test for adults

Question 11

Why did Gould review Yerkes’ work?

Answer 11

To identify the issues with psychometric testing

Question 12

How do you measure IQ?

Answer 12

mental age / current age X 100

Question 13

What does IQ stand for?

Answer 13

Intelligence Quotient

Question 14

Who are some of the key figures within intelligence testing?

Answer 14

• Binet-Simon
• hereditarians

Question 15

Who were Simon and Binet?

Answer 15

They devised an intelligence test in the early 1900s - they believed that intelligence was not a fixed characteristic and could be improved with appropriate support

Question 16

What do Hereditarians believe?

Answer 16

• the eugenics movement
• intelligence is genetic

Question 17

What was Gould’s aim?

Answer 17

to reveal basic problems in attempts to measure intelligence

Question 18

What was Yerkes’ aim?

Answer 18

to devise a scientific way to test the natural trait of intelligence on a mass scale

Question 19

What was Gould’s research method?

Answer 19

review of critique of Yerkes’ work

Question 20

What was Yerkes’ method?

Answer 20

large-scale psychometric testing

Question 21

What are the weaknesses of Yerkes’ method?

Answer 21

• assumes intelligence is fixed and unchanging

Question 22

What are the strengths of Yerkes’ method?

Answer 22

• an attempt to objectively and scientifically measure intelligence
• simple to administer
• allows lots of data to be collected

Question 23

What was Yerkes’ sample?

Answer 23

1.75 million US army recruits situated in training camps

Question 24

What are the strengths of the sample?

Answer 24

• large = representative = generalisable
• range of ethnicities

Question 25

What are the weaknesses of the sample?

Answer 25

- cannot be generalised outside of the sample frame (army recruits) - only from US (culture bias) - ethnocentric

Question 26

What was Yerkes' sampling technique?

Answer 26

Opportunity

Question 27

What are the strengths of opportunity sampling?

Answer 27

- easy to obtain

Question 28

What are the weaknesses of opportunity sampling?

Answer 28

- not as representative = not as generalisable - likely to be the same type of people

Question 29

What were the three types of test?

Answer 29

1- Army Alpha 2- Army Beta 3- Individual Examination

Question 30

What was the Army Alpha test?

Answer 30

- written test for literate recruits - 8 sections - filling in the missing number in a sequence - completing analogies

Question 31

What was the Army Beta test?

Answer 31

- pictorial test for illiterate recruits (or those who failed AA) - 7 parts - maze completion - instructions were still given in written English

Question 32

What was the Individual Examination?

Answer 32

- individual spoken test - for participants who failed the Army Beta

Question 33

How long did the paper tests take to complete?

Answer 33

less than 1 hour

Question 34

What did Gould criticise about the tests?

Answer 34

much of the test relied heavily on cultural knowledge and access to formal schooling - discriminatory

Question 35

What were some of the issues with the tests?

Answer 35

- inconsistencies with administration between the camps - only focused on American culture - black recruits were not allowed to take the IE if failed the AB - only 1/5 of people who failed the AB could take the IE

Question 36

What did the inconsistencies between camp administration result in?

Answer 36

- disproportionately affected men who were black or had recently immigrated - systematic bias reflecting their lower levels of literacy and lack of access to education

Question 37

What type of data was collected?

Answer 37

quantitative data

Question 38

What was the quantitative data?

Answer 38

scores on the IQ test

Question 39

What are the strengths of quantitative data?

Answer 39

- easy to analyse and compare - objective

Question 40

What are the weaknesses of quantitative data?

Answer 40

- only focusing on quantifying intelligence via fixed-choice questions may fail to capture an individuals true intelligence - limits usefulness

Question 41

What are the results from the study?

Answer 41

- white Americans mental age = 13 (standard was 16) - edge of moronity - black Americans mental age = 10.4 - European Immigrants separated based on country - Russia = 11.34

Question 42

What are Yerkes' conclusions of this study?

Answer 42

- The average man of most nations can be considered a 'moron'

Question 43

What are Gould's conclusions of the study?

Answer 43

- IQ testing is culturally and historically bias - IQ tests do not measure innate intelligence - The lighter the skin the higher the IQ - America is a nation of morons

Question 44

What are the ethical issues of the study?

Answer 44

- no mention of obtaining consent or having the right to withdraw - socially sensitive results - no debrief