Intelligence and Psychological Testing Flashcards
Achievement Tests
Test knowledge of specific subjects
ie. Math test
Adoption Studies
- Studies adopted children and biological / adoptive parents to see correlations between IQ
- Evidence shows that adoptive children show similarities to both biological and adoptive parents, supporting the idea that both environment and heredity play a role in intelligence
Aptitude Test
Measures different types of mental abilities
ie. Pilot aptitude tests measures cognitive skills needed to be a pilot
Construct Validity
A Tests ability to measure concepts that are not concrete, such as creativity and intelligence
Content Validity
The test must cover what is it meant to cover, surprises are not valid! ie. Questions on a subject not covered in class makes a test lack content validity.
Convergent Thinking
- Narrowing down ideas from a list of potentially correct answers
- This type of thinking is supported in schools
Correlation Coefficient
Shows how strongly related two variables are using numbers
Creativity
The ability to generate new, useful ideas
Criterion-Related Intelligence
Comparing subjects scores on one test to their score on another related test ie. Comparing aptitude test scores to performance scores in the class itself
Crystallized Intelligence
Ability to problem solve using knowledge and skills previously gained
Deviation IQ Scores
- Places subjects within the normal distribution using standard deviation
- Allows one to see where they score in relation to others
Divergent Thinking
- Coming up with new ideas from a base idea
- Required in creative thinking
- This type of thinking is assess in creative tests
Down Syndrome
- Associated with mild to severe intellectual disability
- Accompanied by extra chromosome
Emotional Intelligence
- 4 Components
- identify and express emotions effectively
- be aware of how emotions influence ones behaviour
- -understand own emotions
- -ability to regulate emotions
Factor Analysis
- Relationships between variables are studied to identify correlations between variables
- If a number of variables correlate strongly, you can assume that one factor is influencing those variables
- strives to identify those influences
Fluid Intelligence
Includes reasoning ability, memory capacity and speed of information processing
Fragile X Syndrome (FXS)
- Common cause of hereditary intellectual disability
- Mutation in inherited gene
Giftedness
- Having a high IQ
- Many schools define gifted children as falling within the upper 2-3% of IQ
Heritability Ratio
An estimate on how likely it is for a trait to be passed down
Hydrocephaly
- Over production of cerebrospinal fluid that destroys brain tissue
- Leads to intellectual disability
Intellectual Disability
- Having a generic mental ability lower than normal, followed by lowered adaptive skills
- Shows up before 18
Intelligent Quotient (IQ)
- Created by William Stern
- (Mental Age / Chronological Age) x 100
- Makes it possible to compare children of different ages
Intelligence Test
- Measures general mental ability
- Focuses on potential instead of knowledge
Mental Age
- Coined by Alfred Binet
- Showcased mental ability of a child by comparing it to other children of a specific age
ie. Mental age of 6 means that child performed like the average 6 year old
Normal Distribution
Bell shaped curve that represents how characteristics are spread across a population
Percentile Score
The percentage of people who scored at or below a specific score.
ie. 56% percentile means 56% of people scored at or below a certain score
Personality Test / Scale
Measures aspects of personality
Phenylketonuria
- Metabolic disorder
- Can cause intellectual disability if not treated in infancy
Psychological Test
Measurement of individual differences in peoples skills and personalities
Reaction Range
- Coined by Sandra Scarr
- Heredity gives intelligence a range
- Environment decides where one falls within that range
ie. A child in a good environment may fall on the high end of his range yet still have a low IQ
Reification
Act of treating a hypothetical construct like a tangible object
ie. treating the ego like it is a true being, rather than the concept it is
Reliability
Consistency of a test
Standardization
- Rules set in place to make tests easier to compare
- Same test can be given to many groups of children under the same test conditions
Stereotype Vulnerability
Stigmatized groups experiencing negative emotions in an academic setting that affect their performance and self worth
Test Norms
-Lets one know where test scores lie in relation to their own
Test-Retest Reliablility
- Administers the same test to same subjects twice to see correlation between scores
- Strong correlation means test is reliable
Twin Studies
- Studies done on identical / fraternal twins to see correlations in intelligence
- Identical twins have more similar IQ than that of fraternal twins, this is true even when reared apart
- Supports ideas that intelligence is influenced by genes
Validity
Tests ability to measure what is was meant to
ie. a test meant to measure math skills must measure math skills in order to be valid
Alfred Binet
- Created first practical test of general mental ability
- Test measured abstract reasoning and was inexpensive, easy to administer and reliable
- Indicated mental age / mental level
James Flynn
- Noticed that IQ scores rise with each generation
- Performed a case study to support his suspicion
- The rise of IQ from generation to generation is called the “Flynn Effect”
Sir Francis Galton
- Studied family trees and saw success ran in families (ignored privilege rich families had)
- Believed intelligence is completely hereditary
- Created a test to measure sensory ability (smell, hearing etc)
Howard Gardner
- Believes there are many types of intelligence and IQ tests are too narrow
- 8 main human intelligences:
1. logical mathematical
2. linguistic
3. musical
4. spatial
5. bodily-kinetic
6. interpersonal
7. intrapersonal
8. naturalist - People tend to have a mix of strong and weak intelligences
Arthur Jensen
- Believes cultural differences in IQ are hereditary
- Heritablility of IQ is 80%
- Controversial ideas
Sandra Scarr
- Coined reaction range
- Heredity gives intelligence a range, environment decides where one falls within that range
Claude Steele
- Believes stereotypes of stigmatized groups influence how they feel and perform academically
- Coined stereotype vulnerability
Robert Sternberg
- Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence
- -3 Parts:
1. contextual - intelligence is culturally defined
2. experiential - experience vs intelligence
3. componential - meta-components, performance components, knowledge-acquisition components
- 3 aspects to “successful intelligence”
1. analytical reasoning
2. creative intelligence
3. practical intelligence
Lewis Terman
- Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
- Featured IQ
- Made it possible to compare children of different ages
David Wechsler
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
- First practical IQ test for adults
- More dependent on non verbal reasoning
- Verbal IQ, Performance IQ and full scale / total IQ
