Intelligence Flashcards
What is intelligence?
The ability to solve problems and to understand by learning complex material. It is the ability to adapt to an environment by learning from previous experiences. It is a socially constructed idea.
Why are mental tests important?
Mental tests have importance in areas of life such as education, occupation, clinical and social & policy decisions.
Explain eugenics
Eugenics are a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of groups, and the overall human population.
In apartheid South Africa what was IQ testing used for?
Racial segregation policies.
On which ideas was bantu education based?
Black intellectual inferiority was based on Fick’s Test.
Name Francis Galton’s theory about perspective?
Eugenics
What did Francis Galton theorise about personality?
He believed that imminence and genius were hereditary.
How did Galton test his hypothesis?
Galton made use of physical and sensory measurements on members of the same family.
Give an example of a measure Galton used
He tested grip strength and reaction speeds.
What was a flaw of Galton’s testing methods?
Galton’s tests weren’t effective for prediction purposes.
What was Alfred Binet’s theory?
He was interested in assessing the mental abilities of school children with the aim of developing an objective intelligence test for them.
How did Binet test his theory?
-Binet conducted his research by testing large numbers of children of various ages. He went on to establish an average score for each age group. Finally, he compared the child’s performance to the norm which he acquired.
What conclusion did Binet make about his theory?
Learners who performed rather quickly were able to give answers to questions of a mental age higher than their actual age (chronological age).
What is mental age?
Mental age looks at how an individual at a specific age will intellectually perform in comparison to the other people of that age.
Who created the concept of an IQ score?
William Stren.
How is IQ worked out?
Q = MA/ CA x 100
What was the Stanford-Binet Test used for?
It was commonly used in clinical psychology, psychiatry and educational counselling.
What opposing idea to Galton’s theory did the Stanford-Binet test find?
The concept of mental age was not very useful for adults and it relied more on normative scoring to judge an individual’s performance.
What is the purpose of normative assessment?
Normative assessments show whether a person is performing at a level equal to, above, or below average.
What is an advantage to using normative assessment?
Normative assessments are particularly useful for identifying high and low performers within a larger group.
What was the focus of David Wechsler’s theory?
Measuring both verbal and nonverbal skills.
What are the 2 IQ test that make up a Full IQ test?
Verbal and performance IQ.
Name Wechsler’s test
The WISC-IV test.
What 4 indexes make up the WISC-IV test?
Verbal comprehension, Working memory, Perceptual organization and processing speed.
How is intelligence tested in South Africa?
The Senior South African Individual Scale (SSAIS-R) is used to assess the verbal and non-verbal performance of people aged 7 - 16. Other tests include the JSAIS-R and the SAWAIS.
What is psychometrics?
The statistical study of psychological tests.
What is factor analysis?
It is a statistical technique that reduces a large number of measures into a smaller number of clusters or factors.
What theory did Charles Spearman come up with?
He argued that intellectual performance is determined partly by a general intelligence factor (g). It constitutes the core of intelligence.
What is the core of intelligence comprised of?
It is comprised of general intelligence and specific intelligence (s).
What is specific intelligence?
The special or specific abilities required to perform a particular task.
