individual differences ( Gould) Flashcards
Intelligence
the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment or to think abstractly
Psychometric tests -
Tests designed to measure someone’s personality, mental state or other cognitive abilities
Eugenics
Belief that the human race can be improved through selective breeding (essentially saying some groups are genetically inferior to others)
Hereditarianism
The belief that human behaviour is inherited and determined from birth
background
The first intelligence tests were developed in France in early 1900s. Used to identify children that were of low IQ and needed to be placed in special schools based on their mental age scores. These tests were later adopted by schools in the USA (Stanford-Binet test)
Yerkes adapted these tests so they could be administered to groups of US army recruits prior to WW1.
He believed that intelligence was influenced by genetics and could not be changed (hereditarianism)
aims
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.
Gould aimed to show that these intelligence tests (and the conclusions Yerkes drew from them) were flawed.
sample
Between May and July 1917 1.75 million US army recruits were tested (all male)
Yerkes developed 3 tests to be used with recruits of different levels of literacy
army alpha
Literate recruits would be given the Army Alpha - a written test.
Its tasks included number sequences, unscrambling sentences, multiple choice questions and solving analogies.
Army Beta:
Illiterates and those that failed the Alpha would be given the Beta. This included picture-based tests so should be more accessible for those who were illiterate.
Individual Interview:
a spoken test to be used if people failed the beta test.
how the tests should have been administered
The army alpha 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.
findings
‘Fact 1’: The average mental age of a white American adults (13) was just above that of a moron (the standard score was set at 16).
‘Fact 2:’ The darker people of southern Europe and the Slavs of Eastern Europe were less intelligent than the fair people of Western and Northern Europe (e.g. Russians had a mental age of 11.34, Poles 10.74)
‘Fact 3’: Black recruits scored lowest of all, with an average mental age of 10.41. [Some camps furthered this by separating black individuals into 3 groups based on intensity of skin colour. Lighter individuals scored higher!]
review strengths
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
Benefit of hindsight so it can highlight the consequences of the research and conclusions drawn
review weaknesses
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
Benefit of hindsight so it can highlight the consequences of the research and conclusions drawn
issues with the designs of the test
culturally biassed
issues with administering the test
Many of the recruits had spent little time in education and so the queue for the beta tests were very long.
In some, schooling up to the third grade counted as literate and in others anyone who could read took the alpha.
Recruits who failed the Army alpha test were not always given the Beta test like they were supposed to.
The conditions in which the tests were carried out were also extremely chaotic causing difficulty for recruits to complete them
how were the results used
the results were used to suggest that some racial groups were superior to others reinforcing segregation laws
It also helped inform political policy and was used as ‘evidence’ to introduce a law (The Immigration Restriction Act, 1924), which limited the number of people who could enter the US from Europe.
Gould conclusions
The tests were carried out in such a disorganised way that they were not a true reflection of people’s intelligence and the conclusions led indirectly to the deaths of millions of people.
