Gregory: origins psychological testing

Question 1

What is physiognomy? Where did this idea originate and what did Lavater think of this?

Answer 1

The assumption that the inside character can be judged based on the outside appearance

Origin: Aristotle: soul and body sympathise with each other

Lavater: moral character can be read from facial appearance

Question 2

What is phrenology and who invented it?

Answer 2

Invented by Gall
The idea that bumps in the skull say something about the size of the underlying brain tissue

Question 3

When did the brass instruments era of testing begin and what was the main idea?

Answer 3

Late 1800s
- testing human abilities in laboratories
- emphasis on objective measures and measurable quantities

Question 4

What are brass instruments and what do they show in the 1800s?

Answer 4

Simple sensory processes
–> Perception and response speed are indicators of intelligence

Show that the mind can be subject to scientific measurement

Question 5

What was Wundt’s point of view in the Brass instruments era?

Answer 5

Speed of thought might differ from one person to the next

Question 6

What is the essence of Galton’s work in the Brass instruments era?

Answer 6

Continued brass instruments testing an developed ways that allowed for larger data sets

Question 7

Who are the three important scientists in the brass instruments era?

Answer 7

Wundt, Galton, Cattell

Question 8

What is the essence of Cattell’s work in the Brass instruments era? Name 4 things

Answer 8

• invented the term ‘mental test’
• impossible to separate mental energy from bodily energy (hand squeeze = mental power)
• General intelligence
• Studied individual differences

Question 9

In which categories did Cattell divide the term general intelligence?

Answer 9

• Fluid: solve novel reasoning problems
• Crystallized: deduce secondary relational abstractions

Question 10

Why was the brass instruments movement turned away?

Answer 10

Discovery that mental tests had very little correlation with each other

Question 11

Who were the two founding fathers of rating scales?

Answer 11

Galen: 9-point scale with neutral middle
Thomasius: applied rating scales for psychological variables

Question 12

Which two categories were there in the early 1800s for mental retardation?

Answer 12

1. Dementia: emotional disabilities
2. Idiocy: mental retardation

Question 13

What was the essence of Binet’s and Henri’s work?

Answer 13

Intelligence could be better measured by means of higher psychological processes rather than simple elementary processes

This led to the Binet-Simon test

Question 14

What is the original Binet-Simon test and what is its purpose?

Answer 14

Scale could measure mental retardation to giftedness

Purpose was classification and the aim was to decide on educational measures that should be undertaken with children who couldn’t function with regular instruction

Question 15

Which revisions were made to the original Binet-Simon test?

Answer 15

First version:
- Importance cultural factors
- Tests were ordered to the typical age level

Second version:
- Each age has 5 tests
- Extended to adult range
- New scoring methods
- Child’s exact mental level shouldn’t be taken as an absolute measure of intelligence

Question 16

What was the Binet-Simon test used for?

Answer 16

Compare child’s mental age with chronological age

Question 16

State 3 reasons why many researchers ignore Goddard’s work?

Answer 16

1. Argued that retarded kids should be segregated from society and have their breeding restricted
2. Undesirable behavior (crime, prostitution) was due to mental deficiency
3. Misuse of intelligence testing

Question 17

What’s the difference between the Binet-Simon test and the Stanford-Binet test?

Answer 17

Stanford-Binet test is the Americanized version of the Binet-Simon test –> it introduces the term IQ

Question 18

What were the 3 results of Hollingsworth’s tests on gifted individuals?

Answer 18

1. Children of high genius have greater school achievement
2. Dispelled belief that gifted children should not be moved ahead in school because they would lag others in motor skills
3. Highly gifted adolescents were judged to be significantly better looking than controls

Question 19

What is the difference between the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler test?

Answer 19

Wechsler: provides IQ score and also subtest scores + verbal/performance IQ’s

Question 20

What is the Yerkes’ Army test?

Answer 20

Test for WW1 recruits to assign them

Question 21

What is an aptitude test?

Answer 21

Assessment used to determine a candidate’s cognitive ability or personality

Question 22

What were two important aspects in development of aptitude tests?

Answer 22

1. Factor analysis = determining extent to which shared variance exists between variables (Spearman and Thurstone)
2. Pressure to select competent candidates for certain jobs in WWII

Question 23

What is the origin of personality testing?

Answer 23

Woodworth attempted to develop an instrument for detecting army recruits who were susceptible to psychoneurosis

Question 24

What is a projective test?

Answer 24

Personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli. The test should reveal hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person

Question 25

What is the Rorschach inkblot test?

Answer 25

Personality test that focuses on the tendency of patients to reveal their innermost conflicts unconsciously when responding to ambiguous stimuli

Question 26

What are the big 5 personality traits?

Answer 26

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Question 27

When did the development of personality tests flourish and why?

Answer 27

In 1940s –> became useful tool for clinical evaluation and assessment of normal spectrum of functioning

Question 28

What is an evidence-based practice?

Answer 28

The integration of research evidence with clinical expertise
–> require proof that treatments and interventions yield measurable positive outcomes

Question 29

What is the fundamental attribution error and what is a solution?

Answer 29

Tendency of others to overestimate the influence of traits and underestimate influence of environment

Pay attention to circumstances

Question 30

What is the confirmation bias and a possible solution?

Answer 30

Only searching for and paying attention to information that is consistent with one’s theory

Actively look for information that conflicts with your beliefs

Question 31

What is the salience effect and what is a possible solution?

Answer 31

Giving more weight to striking information than non-striking information when drawing conclusions

Objective measurements + awareness

Question 32

What is the contrast error and what is a possible solution?

Answer 32

Tendency to judge others in a manner opposite from the way in which they perceive themselves due to a perceived difference between self and others

Objective measurements + awareness

Question 33

What is illusory correlation and what is a possible solution?

Answer 33

Perceiving links between tests and own conclusion, which don’t empirically exist

Scientific approach

Question 34

What is the blind spot bias and what is a possible solution?

Answer 34

Tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people and recognize less biases in oneself

Awareness + scientific approach

Question 35

What are the 5 steps of the empirical cycle?

Answer 35

Observation - induction - deduction- testing - evaluation

Question 36

What are the 6 aspects of the diagnostic process?

Answer 36

1. Empirical cycle
2. Recognition
3. Explanation
4. Prediction
5. Indication for treatment
6. Evaluation

Question 37

What is recognition in the diagnostic process? Name 4 aspects

Answer 37

• Description
• Organize, classify
• Indicate severity
• DSM-5

Question 38

What is meant with explanation in diagnostic process? Which 4 aspects are there?

Answer 38

Why do the problems exist and why aren’t they easily solved

1. Locus: person/situation
2. Nature of control: cause/reason
3. Synchronous (here, now) or diachronous (what preceded it)
4. Induced and persistent conditions

Question 39

What does a diagnostician do in the phase of prediction?

Answer 39

Link predictor tests to research and own experience to see if there is risk of developing problem behavior in the future

Question 40

What does a diagnostician determine in the phase of indication for treatment?

Answer 40

See what help is needed and appropriate

Question 41

What does a diagnostician do in evaluation?

Answer 41

Determining if the results of the diagnostic process used in treatment helped
- Did the treatment bring about a change in behavior/experience?