Gould's Study

Question 1

Define the term intelligence?

Answer 1

The ability to apply and acquire knowledge

Question 2

Describe the background to Yerkes’s research?

Answer 2

Binet believed that there was a great diversity in intelligence and that intelligence developed over time (nurture).

Others, including Yerkes said that intelligence is fixed and determined by our genetics (Nature)

Question 3

What did Yerkes’s believe about intelligence?

Answer 3

Yerkes said that intelligence is fixed and determined by our genetics (Nature)

Question 4

What was the first experiment which utilised psychometric testing?

Answer 4

Binet-Simon test (1905)- the first intelligence OR PSYCHOMETRIC TEST test designed to identify school children who would not benefit from regular schooling because of their inferior intelligence.

Question 5

What was the purpose of Yerkes’s research?

Answer 5

During his intense lobbying of the government Yerkes convinced the top generals in the U.S. Army that psychologists could be of service by sorting and categorizing the millions of recruits that the government was rapidly drafting into the military.

Yerkes promised the army that experts in the new field of intelligence testing could develop and administer exams precise enough to match each army recruit’s mental abilities to the right military job.

Question 6

What did Yerkes’s promise US army generals?

Answer 6

Yerkes promised the army that experts in the new field of intelligence testing could develop and administer exams precise enough to match each army recruit’s mental abilities to the right military job.

Question 7

What were the aims of Yerkes’s research?

Answer 7

To produce a reliable, valid and more scientific measure of intelligence testing

To prove that psychology (intelligence testing) could be as objective and quantifiable as the other scientific disciplines.

Question 8

What type of experimental method did Yerkes use?

Answer 8

Quasi (natural) experimental method

Question 9

What was the independent variable of Yerkes;s intelligence experiment?

Answer 9

Naturally occurring IV being ethnic origin of the participants e.g. white American, black American , immigrants = Russian, Italian, etc.

Question 10

What was the dependent variable of Yerkes;s intelligence experiment?

Answer 10

Average mental age of the recruits from the various ethnic backgrounds

Question 11

What sample did Yerkes’s use in his experiment?

Answer 11

• Yerkes used the US military for his testing and in total tested 1.75 million men.
• The recruits included White Americans, ‘Negroes’ and European immigrants
• The varying educational levels of the men meant that multiple tests had to be designed.

Question 11

What were the three intelligence tests Yerkes’s used?

Answer 11

The army alpha test
The army beta test
Individual examinations

Question 12

What was the army alpha test?

Answer 12

Literate recruits would be given the Army Alpha - a written test.

Question 13

What was the army beta test?

Answer 13

Illiterate recruits and those that failed the Alpha would be given the Beta. If you failed the Beta you would be called back for an individual examination (the third test)

Question 14

What was the army individual examination?

Answer 14

a spoken test – never actually done

Question 15

What did the army alpha test involve?

Answer 15

It was made up of 8 parts and took less than 1 hour.

Its tasks included number sequences, unscrambling sentences and analogies.

Question 16

What did the army beta test involve?

Answer 16

e.g. maze running, cube counting and translating numbers into symbols, picture completion (opposite).
The instructions were written (in English) and in three of the seven parts the answers had to be given in writing.

Question 17

HOw did Boring use the results to analyse the data?

Answer 17

He used 160,000 cases of data by converting the scales to a common standard and reporting three “facts”..

Question 18

Name the first fact/result Boring achieved

Answer 18

The average mental age of a white American adults was 13yr old which is just above that of a moron

Question 19

Name the second fact/result Boring achieved

Answer 19

It was possible to grade European immigrants by their country of origin. The darker people of southern Europe and the Slavs of eastern Europe were less intelligent than the fair people of western and northern Europe.

Question 20

Name the second fact/result Boring achieved

Answer 20

Black recruits scored lowest of all, with an average mental age of 10.41.

Question 21

GIve all three results found by Yerkes?

Answer 21

‘Fact 1’: The average mental age of a white American adults (13yr old) was just above that of a moron

‘Fact 2:’ It was possible to grade European immigrants by their country of origin. The darker people of southern Europe and the Slavs of eastern Europe were less intelligent than the fair people of western and northern Europe.

‘Fact 3’: Black recruits scored lowest of all, with an average mental age of 10.41.

Question 22

What were the fact used for?

Answer 22

These ‘facts’ were used to provide a genetic explanation for the differences

Question 23

How were the results from Yerkes test interpreted/explained?

Answer 23

Army psychologists would give a grade to each
man ranging from A to E (with plusses and
minuses).
Yerkes suggested that recruits with a score of C- should be
classed as low average intelligence and be an ordinary
private. Men given a D grade are ‘rarely suited for tasks
requiring special skill’.

Question 24

What did Yerkes suggest about men who scored an average of D or below?

Answer 24

They should be classed with low average intelligence so are ‘rarely suited’ for tasks requiring special skills so were sent to the front line

Question 24

What research method did Gould utilise?

Answer 24

Peer-review of Yerkes original findings

Question 25

What is a peer-review?

Answer 25

Process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the field.

Question 26

What were the problems with the way in which Yerkes mental tests were designed?

Answer 26

Army Alpha and Army Beta tests were both designed with technical, culturally specific questions often needing to be completed in very tight time scales (ethnocentric)

Individual examination – supposed to be completed by recruits who failed the Beta test but often not completed

Question 26

What are the strengths of a peer-review?

Answer 26

Able to reassess research , as it offers a fresh perspective on what was found originally.

Highlights the strengths and weaknesses of psychometric testing

Question 26

What are the weaknesses of a peer-review?

Answer 26

May miss important data or the data being analyzed may not be accurate in first place

Reviewer could be biased

Question 27

What was Yerkes?

Answer 27

A eugenicist

Question 27

What were the problems with the way in which Yerkes mental tests were administered?

Answer 27

The Beta test was designed to be used by illiterate men but still relied on pencil work, knowledge of numbers and how to write them.

Recruits had spent fewer years in school than Yerkes had anticipated’ so this meant the queues of men lined up to do the Beta test were very long. To reduce them Yerkes ‘relaxed’ the definition of ‘literate’ so many men could then be sent to take the Alpha test - in one camp this meant schooled to 3rd grade (8 years old!

Question 28

How did Yerkes reduce the queues for the beta test?

Answer 28

Yerkes ‘relaxed’ the definition of ‘literate’ so many men could then be sent to take the Alpha test - in one camp this meant schooled to 3rd grade (8 years old!

Question 29

What were the problems with the way in which Yerkes mental tests were interpreted?

Answer 29

Mis-management of a poorly put-together testing process
Researcher + cultural bias
Unreliable results
Personal Political agenda being used in a ‘supposedly scientific’ study

Question 29

What were the long-term negative effects of Yerkes findings?

Answer 29

It is estimated that 6 million people from southern, central and eastern Europe (all areas that scored low on the tests) tried to enter America between 1924 and 1939 but were denied.

Question 29

How were Yerkes findings used?

Answer 29

The results were used to suggest that some racial groups were superior to others.

This helped inform political policy and in particular was used as ‘evidence’ to restrict immigration (The Immigration Restriction Act, 1924).

Question 29

Define the term eugenics?

Answer 29

It is the science of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits.

Question 30

Define the term Hereditarianism

Answer 30

They advocate higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits

Question 30

What did Gould conclude about Yerkes findings?

Answer 30

‘Yerkes had overlooked or consciously bypassed something of importance’
He also criticized the conditions in which the tests took place saying that he struggled to see how ‘recruits could have been in a frame of mind to record anything about their innate abilities’
There were ‘systematic errors’ in the design of the tests and how they were administered.
Intelligence testing of this kind are culturally biased and if interpreted incorrectly can lead to racial discrimination.

Question 31

Evaluate the Ethical guidelines Yerkes considered in his study?

Answer 31

Consent - soldiers were ordered to take part
Deception - Soldiers didn’t know true aim of study (results determined their job)
Withdrawal - may have lost job as soldier if disobeyed and did this
Debrief - 1.75 million participants received no debrief
Protection from harm - Major harm- During research and after they were called ‘morons’ + C/D/E grades sent to the front line based on test results
Confidentiality - names and scores published to determine job/role

Question 31

How can Yerkes study be ethnocentric?

Answer 31

The tests themselves assumed knowledge of American culture

Question 32

how can Yerkes study be said to have low ethnocentrism?

Answer 32

Multi Diverse sample or recruits so from a wide range of backgrounds

Question 32

Evaluate the internal reliability of Yerkes study?

Answer 32

The tests were standardised in that they all had the same questions
There were clear instructions as to how the tests should be administered

There were too many recruits and too little time to do this in a controlled way so relaxed meaning of ‘literate’ to reduce queues

Question 33

Evaluate the external reliability of Yerkes study?

Answer 33

Massive sample – large effect size – 1.75 million - 160,000!
Low External reliability - Bias selection of data = 9 %

Question 34

Evaluate the internal validity of the study?

Answer 34

Tests were not a valid measure of intelligence but represented their ‘native intellectual ability’ (how long they had lived in the USA, how much schooling they had, or how much money & leisure time they had)
In some camps the definition of literate was changed so some people who should have taken the beta took the alpha..
Low population validity - Could have been very representative of the wider population – 1.75 million sample! BUT
ONLY 160,000 RESULTS USED

Question 35

Evaluate the criterion validity of the study?

Answer 35

High = The results were used to suggest that some racial groups were superior to others and so would achieve lower test results in the future but should not have been!
This helped inform political policy and in particular was used as ‘evidence’ to restrict future USA immigration (The Immigration Restriction Act, 1924).