Individual differences - Gould/Yerkes

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Binet-Simon test (1905):
.first intelligence test to find children who would not benefit to regular schooling due to inferior intelligence so should be placed in 'special schools'
.adapted for USA school children
.Yerkes' test based off of this
.Gould reviews Yerkes

Question 2

aims

Answer 2

.To produce a reliable and valid measure of intelligence

.To prove intelligence testing can be objective and quantifiable like other scientific disciplines

Question 3

sample

Answer 3

US military
Black Americans
White Americans
European immigrants
1.75 million men

Question 4

3 tests

Answer 4

.army alpha - literate recruits
.army beta - illiterate recruits/those who failed alpha
.individual interview - spoken test by army recruiters/those who failed beta

Question 5

Army alpha

Answer 5

.8 parts - less than 1 hour total

.number sequences, unscrambling sentences, multiple choice, solve analogies

Question 6

army alpha question e.g

Answer 6

Crisco is a:

a) medicine
b) toothpaste
c) disinfectant
d) food product

Question 7

Army beta

Answer 7

.series of tests including images
.asked to find whats missing from images
.other tests included - maze running, cube counting and translating numbers into symbols
.instructions in English with 3 of 7 parts being written

Question 8

Problems

Answer 8

.Too many in line for Beta (hadn’t been to school)
.culturally bias questions
.Beta test still required skills e.g numbers so some at a disadvantage

Question 9

Should have been administered

Answer 9

literate take alpha
illiterate and failed alpha take beta
failed beta take individual

Question 10

issues with administration

Answer 10

.too many taking beta so lowered alpha standards (inconsistent over all camps)
.recruits who failed alpha were not always given beta
.hard to concentrate - chaotic conditions

Question 11

Finding 1

Answer 11

average mental age of white American is 13, just under that of a moron (16)

Question 12

Finding 2

Answer 12

.darker people of South EU/East EU less intelligent than ‘fair’ people of N+W EU
.Russians 11.34, Poles 10.74

Question 13

Finding 3

Answer 13

Black recruits lowest of all (10.41)

lighter colours scored higher

Question 14

Gould interpreting findings

Answer 14

.Gould argued it was systematic bias leading to results : testing level of schooling/familiarity with the US rather than intelligence

Question 15

Scoring

Answer 15

.give grade based on mental age
.Yerkes suggested score of C is low average and should be an ordinary private
.men given D grade ‘rarely suited for tasks requiring special skill’

Question 16

How results applied

Answer 16

.results used to suggest some races superior than others

.used as evidence to introduce Immigration restriction act 1924

Question 17

issues with results application

Answer 17

.estimated 6 million people from S,E,C EU denied entrance to America 1924-1939
.Many Jews denied entrance during WW11

Question 18

Gould conclusions (4)

Answer 18

.IQ tests don’t measure IQ - unreliable, invalid
.’systematic errors’ in design/administration led to immigrants scoring low
.tests carried out in disorganised ways so not true reflection of intelligence
.Yerkes’ conclusions led indirectly to millions of deaths

Question 19

qualitative data by Gould

Answer 19

.Beta test designed to be used by illiterate men but still required writing/number knowledge - “Yerkes overlooked or passed something of importance”
.criticised conditions - “either utterly confused or scared shitless”

Question 20

ethics broken

Answer 20

informed consent
withdrawal
debriefing
confidentiality

Question 21

ethics kept

Answer 21

protection from harm

deception

Question 22

internal reliability

Answer 22

yes - all had same questions

no - administration of tests not always followed

Question 23

external reliability

Answer 23

yes - very large sample. 1.75 million

Question 24

internal validity

Answer 24

no - not measure of IQ, other factors effected it e.g conditions, culture bias

Question 25

population validity

Answer 25

yes - not ethnocentric (many cultures)

no - androcentric

Question 26

critereon

Answer 26

no - used to predict if recruits were intelligent enough for roles as officers, but but were flawed due to culture bias