Intelligence Flashcards
What are the two different types of tests when it comes to measuring intelligence?
achievement test - designed to find out how much someone has learned so far in their lives
aptitude test - novel puzzle-like problems that presumably go beyond prior learning and are thought to measure the applicant’s potential for future learning and performance
Which is more central to intelligence measurement – aptitude or achievement?
The argument for achievement testing is that it is usually a good predictor of future performance in a similar situation. If a student learned a lot of academic material in high school (and therefore scored well on the test), he or she is likely to also learn a lot in university. The argument against achievement testing is that it assumes that everyone has had the same opportunity to learn the material being tested. In university selection, for example, a given applicant’s test score could depend on whether that person went to a good school rather than on his or her ability to learn in college.
The argument for aptitude testing is that it is fairer because it supposedly depends less on prior knowledge than on a person’s ability to react to the problems presented on the test. The argument against aptitude testing is that it is difficult to construct a test that is independent of prior learning. Further, such a test may require an ability to deal with puzzles that is not relevant to success in situations other than the test itself.
In fact, most intelligence tests measure a combination of aptitude and achievement, reflecting both native ability and previous learning (Lubinski, 2004). This has raised major scientific and social issues concerning the meaning of test scores, the extent to which improvement can be fostered by educational experiences, and the usefulness of the measures for describing mental competence and predicting performance in non-test situations.
What is a Psychological Test?
a method for measuring individual differences related to some psychological concept, or construct, based on a sample of relevant behaviour.
a method for measuring individual differences related to psychological concepts
What is reliability in context of Psychological tests, and what are the different forms of reliability?
reliability is the consistency of measurement
Test–retest reliability
Are scores on the measure stable over time?
Internal consistency
Do all of the items on the measure seem to be measuring the same thing, as indicated by high correlations among them?
Inter-rater reliability
Do different raters or scorers agree on their scoring or observations?
What are the different types of validity and what is validity in context of psychological tests?
validity is how well the test measures what it claims to measure
Construct validity
To what extent is the test actually measuring the construct of interest (e.g., intelligence)?
Content validity
Do the questions or test items relate to all aspects of the construct being measured?
Criterion-related validity
Do scores on the test predict some present or future behaviour or outcome assumed to be affected by the construct being measured?
What danger is there in using intelligence tests that are not reliable?
IQ scores and academic performance
Intelligence tests were originally developed to predict academic and other forms of achievement. How valid are they for this purpose? Actually, they do fairly well and far better than personality factors do (Kaia, Pullmann, & Allik, 2007). Correlations of IQ with school grades are in the .60 range for high-school students and in the .30 to .50 range for college students (Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2004). In a large-scale study involving more than 70,000 children, Deary, Strand, Smith and Fernandes (2007) found that there was a correlation of around .8 between a measure of intelligence calculated from the Cognitive Abilities Test (the most widely used measure of reasoning ability in the UK) at age 11 and performance on public examinations taken at age 16. In general, then, people who score well on the tests tend to do well academically. Likewise, examinations you took while in high school may be used to predict the criterion of grades in university by assessing verbal and mathematical abilities. Further research in the USA has found that scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which assesses some aspects of intelligence, do predict college grades, with correlations slightly below .50 (Willingham, Rock, & Pollack, 1990). This correlation, which is about the same magnitude as the correlation between people’s height and weight, is high enough to justify using the tests for screening purposes but low enough to necessitate the use of other predictors (such as high-school grades) in combination with standard assessment task (SAT) scores. In Australia, IQ accounted for more than 20 per cent of the variance in Grade Point Average (GPA) scores, and remained one of the strongest predictors of GPA scores, followed by personality traits such as conscientiousness, extraversion and also emotional intelligence (Downey, Lomas, Billings, Hansen, & Stough, 2014).
Job performance, income and longevity
Intelligence test scores also predict military and job performance. General mental ability predicts both occupational level and performance within one’s chosen occupation (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004). Intelligent individuals are far more likely to attain prestigious occupations. One study followed siblings raised together, thereby controlling for home background. When the siblings were in their late twenties, mental ability measures collected during young adulthood were related to their annual adult incomes. Siblings with IQs of 120 or more were, on average, earning $18,000 more than siblings of average intelligence (Murray, 1998). A Swedish longitudinal study showed that higher-IQ individuals are almost 10 times more likely to have a minimum of a master’s degree than individuals with average IQ. In addition, in men, high IQ strongly predicted an increase in income by midlife (age 43–47) (Bergman, Corovic, Ferrer-Wreder, & Modig, 2014). Intelligence correlates .50 to .70 with the level of page 438socioeconomic status that people attain (Lubinski, 2004). As long ago as 1945, Harrell and Harrell reported the mean IQ levels of people in various occupations. These ranged from a mean IQ of128 for lawyers and accountants down to the mid-90s for lorry drivers and farmers (Harrell & Harrell, 1945). Not all researchers have found such a decisive role for IQ in later life events. Baird (1985) reported low positive relationships between academic attainment or grades and later life accomplishment, noting that the relations frequently depended on the similarity between the type of test and the area of success.
Define standardization in context of intelligence.
(1) the development of norms, and (2) rigorously controlled testing procedures
(norms being unwritten rules which specify what behaviour is acceptable and expected for a particular group)
What is a normal distribution in context of psychological tests?
normal distribution bell-shaped curve with most scores clustering around the centre of the curve
bell curve
Define the Flynn Effect.
What does the Flynn effect tell us about IQ scores and intelligence?
The Flynn effect refers to the notable rise in intelligence test scores over the past century, possibly due to better living conditions, more schooling or more complex environments, although these are still being contested.
NZ researchers James Flynn suggests that the world population is scoring progressively higher on IQ tests. It has resulted in an iq increase of 28 points
On average IQ in the west has been increasing to about 3 points per decade.
Possibly due to nutrition as height has increased dramatically due to good nutrition too.
What are the different types of intelligence testing conditions?
Static testing - traditional approach where previous knowledge is tested without taking into account the feedback they get from their results the first time
Dynamic testing - after test of knowledge the test taker receives feedback on their performance and how to improve for next time and then watching how they use that information
What does dynamic testing enable psychologists to know about the person being tested that is not available using static testing?
Dynamic testing can be particularly useful for disadvantaged groups who have not had equal learning opportunities, and people from cultures that are not accustomed to taking Western-style tests (Sternberg, 2004). Dynamic feedback also tends to improve test scores, and these new scores often relate more highly to educational outcomes than do the original test scores (Lidz, 1997). In summary, dynamic testing provided information not just about achievement but also the potential for learning, or aptitude (Vogelaar, Bakker, Elliott, & Resing, 2017). This relates to our discussion earlier in this chapter about whether we should measure achievement or aptitude.
Explain the 3 most important standards for psychological tests.
Three important standards for psychological tests are reliability (consistency of measurement over time, within tests and across raters), validity (successful measurement of the construct and acceptable relations with relevant criterion measures) and standardization (development of norms and standard testing conditions).
What is the difference between achievement tests and aptitude tests?
achievement is the test of your prior knowledge
aptitude is the test of your natural processing skills
Elaborate on what dynamic psychological testing is.
In dynamic testing, standard test administration is followed by feedback and suggestions from the examiner and a retaking of the test, thus allowing an assessment of how well the person profits from feedback and how intellectual skills might be coached in the future. Dynamic testing provides information that static testing does not, such as the potential for learning, and retest scores sometimes relate more strongly to criterion measures.
Why is intelligence testing in non western cultures a challenge?
Intelligence testing in non-Western cultures is a challenge. One approach is to use tests that are not tied to any culture’s knowledge base. Another approach is to devise tests of the abilities that are important to adaptation in that culture. These culture-specific abilities may bear little relation to the mental skills assessed by Western intelligence tests.
