Individual Diffs: Gould - Bias in IQ testing *STILL DO EVAL* Flashcards
Outline the aim
- to reveal probs in attempts to measure intelligence (by reviewing Yerke’s study)
- Yerke’s (which Gould describes) was to devise a scientific way to test natural trait of intelligence on a mass scale
Outline the general method
Yerke’s research method: large scale psychometric testing
Gould’s research method: a review article drawing diff conclusions from Y’s data
Outline the participants
- Y had opportunity sample of 1.75 million army recruits in training camps
- all adult men of diff ages from a range of backgrounds + regions across USA
Outline the design and procedure of Yerke’s study
- Y wanted to establish psychology as a serious science with systematic, large scale, mental testing programme
- granted permission by gov officials to administer mental tests to recruits during WW1
- created 3 types of mental tests: Army Alpha, Army Beta + Individual examination
- each test took <1hr, done in supervised group, in rushed + intimidating conditions
- pps not warned of how diff it was to finish most parts in time given
- Yerke’s argued he measured ‘native intellectual ability’
Describe the army alpha
Written test for literate recruits
8 sections
E.g. Filling in missing no.s in a sequence, recording words in a sentence, completing analogies
Describe the army beta
Pictorial test for illiterate men / men who failed army alpha
7 sections
E.g. Completing a maze, number tasks, complete-a-picture task
Describe the individual examination
Individual spoken tests for pps who failed army beta
Describe Gould’s review on Yerke’s study
- highly critical of Yerke’s materials used
- Gould said much of content relied on cultural knowledge + formal schooling access so couldn’t have been testing ‘native intellectual ability’
- practises for administering tests = discriminatory, blacks less likely to be called for recall to a beta test
- Were inconsistencies where tests were done due to enormity of task
- many men who scores 0 / close to 0 on army alpha, so should have been given beta, were not due to lack of time - so inconsistencies disproportionately affected black + recently immigrated men
- systematic bias reflected their lower literacy levels + lack of access to education
Outline the results
- Y found average mental age of White American men = roughly 13
- black Americans scored significantly worse, w/ mean mental age of 10.4
- Y graded European immigrants according to their country of origin, finding the average man of many countries would be classed as a moron
- differences were matched w/ fairness of skin (so white northern + Western Europeans scored higher than Slavic people of east + darker skinned immigrants from south
- test results influenced assignment of diff military roles
- a score of C = marked ‘low average intelligence - ordinary private’
- a score of D / E = ‘not expected to read + understand written directions’
Outline the conclusions by Yerke’s
1) intelligence is an innate quality w/ a hereditary basis + it’s possible to grade individuals by skin colour
2) average man of most nations could be considered a ‘moron’
3) metal testing = valid, scientific technique w/ wider implications for society
Outline the conclusions by Gould
1) internal contradictions + systematic prejudice of materials + methodology invalidated Y’s conclusions
2) diff to fully comprehend extent of discrimination blacks / immigrants / poorer + less educated Americans were subject to
3) G identifies army mental tests were product of their time + results used to support racist beliefs + practises further
