Intelligence and Individual Differences Essential Q & V

Question 1

Intelligence

Answer 1

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

Question 2

Intelligence test

Answer 2

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

Question 3

General intelligence (g)

Answer 3

A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Question 4

Factor analysis

Answer 4

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.

Question 5

Savant syndrome

Answer 5

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

Question 6

Grit

Answer 6

In psychology, grit is passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

Question 7

Emotional intelligence

Answer 7

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Question 8

Mental age

Answer 8

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

Question 9

Stanford-Binet

Answer 9

The widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test.

Question 10

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 10

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100, with scores assigned to relative performance above or below average.

Question 11

Achievement test

Answer 11

A test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Question 12

Aptitude test

Answer 12

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Question 13

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 13

The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

Question 14

Standardization

Answer 14

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Question 15

Normal curve

Answer 15

The symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Question 16

Reliability

Answer 16

The extent to which a test yields consistent results,

as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting.

Question 17

Validity

Answer 17

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Question 18

Content validity

Answer 18

The extent to which a test samples the behaviour that is of interest.

Question 19

Predictive validity

Answer 19

The success with which a test predicts the behaviour it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behaviour.

Question 20

Cohort

Answer 20

A group of people from a given time period.

Question 21

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 21

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Question 22

Fluid intelligence

Answer 22

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Question 23

Intellectual disability

Answer 23

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life.

Question 24

Down Syndrome

Answer 24

A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Question 25

Heritability

Answer 25

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.

Question 26

Stereotype Threat

Answer 26

A situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their social group