Lecture 4 Predictors of Intelligence Tests Flashcards

Question

Summary (environment)

Answer 1

There are numerous potential environmental influences on intelligence The main areas that have been considered are biological factors, family environment, education and culture But it’s important to remember that genetic and environmental factors will interact

Answer 2

Galton’s Eugenics Movement (1883): The science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics -Positive eugenics: Encouraging reproduction in those with desirable traits -Negative eugenics: Discouraging or eliminating reproduction in those perceived to have poor hereditary traits

Answer 3

1922: The US Model Eugenical Sterilization Law the feeble-minded (low intelligence), insane, criminal, epileptic, blind, deformed, dependent 42,000 people were sterilised between 1941 and 1943 (JAMA, 1945) Hitler’s Sterilisation law in Germany in 1933: 20,000 people were sterilized for being ‘feeble minded’ between 1933 and 1939 In 1948, the United Nations affirmed that all people should be free to marry and to found a family

Answer 4

Hernstein and Murray (1994): ‘The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life’ Herrnstein and Murray (1994) noted that: -Low IQ is associated with negative outcomes (education, employment, health, crime, etc.) -IQ is largely inherited -Interventions aimed at improving IQ were not successful (e.g., Head Start) -There are race differences in IQ (highest for Asian-Americans, then white Americans; lower for black Americans)

Answer 5

Hernstein and Murray (1994) discuss four main themes in the book: -The cognitive elite -Socioeconomic status and IQ -The relationship between intelligence and race -Implications for social policy

Answer 6

Described the emergence of a ‘cognitive elite’ in America, separated according to intelligence -Found that college admissions were based on intelligence more than social class or wealth... -... and that intelligence was the most powerful predictor of job success and workplace productivity Predicted that intelligence would become the basis of the American class system

Answer 7

Herrnstein and Murray (1994) investigated several contextual factors linked with IQ: -poverty -schooling -unemployment -family life -welfare dependency -crime

Answer 8

Thought that IQ was a strong precursor to poverty – more so than socioeconomic conditions -e.g., IQ predicts likelihood of people completing high school Concluded that intelligence is more important than socioeconomic status in predicting eventual economic and social welfare

Answer 9

Compared IQ test results by ethnicity Asian Americans scored highest (5 points above white Americans) White Americans scored 15 points higher than black Americans (102 vs. 87) Average immigrant IQ = 95

Answer 10

Focused on the fact that IQ is largely heritable Suggested that social factors were reducing average US intelligence -parents with low IQ have more children -increased immigration Concerned that lower national IQ would increase social problems

Answer 11

One conclusion might be that more needs to be done to increase the intelligence of certain groups... But Herrnstein and Murray thought: -attempts to increase IQ have often failed (nutrition, Head Start) -as IQ is inherited, IQ cannot be effectively raised through environmental changes -affirmative action programmes have ‘failed’ and lead to resentment

Answer 12

Money for education should be shifted away from supporting disadvantaged children (predominantly African American) and towards those with high intelligence (predominantly white and Asian American) Society will be improved through raising the intelligence of the nation and valuing the gifted

Answer 13

The scientific community suggested that the book was oversimplified and had flawed analysis The American Psychological Association (APA) – Task force to investigate (Neisser et al., 1996) -Conclusion: no definite evidence that race differences were genetic, not cultural Criticisms of the Bell Curve focus on three main points: the underlying assumptions (Gould, 1995) the statistics and evidence base

Answer 14

Stephen Gould (1995) Six key premises underlie their conclusions: 1. There is a general factor of cognitive ability (intelligence) on which people differ 2. IQ tests measure intelligence accurately 3. IQ scores reflect what most people mean by the word intelligence 4. IQ remains stable across the lifetime 5. IQ tests are not biased against any social or ethnic groups 6. Heritability of intelligence is between 40% and 80%

Answer 15

There is a general factor of cognitive ability (intelligence) on which people differ -Maybe not, ‘g’ is not the only theory, also multifactor / multiple intelligences / cognitive abilities IQ tests measure intelligence accurately -depends on theory of intelligence. Also, tests can measure verbal, non-verbal, cognitive abilities, etc. IQ scores reflect what most people mean by the word intelligence -cultural differences in concepts of intelligence

Answer 16

IQ remains stable across the lifetime -IQ scores are stable over time, and educational schemes have not lead to sustained benefits, BUT: benefits of schooling, adoption and nutrition IQ tests are not biased against any social or ethnic groups -APA task force (1996) agreed with this, but theory underlying IQ tests may be culturally biased Heritability of intelligence is between 40% and 80% -A big range! -‘Race’ is socially defined, largely based on skin colour, and may not reflect underlying genetic differences

Answer 17

None of the assumptions are entirely wrong, but there is enough debate to undermine the conclusions

Answer 18

Kamin (1995): socioeconomic status, IQ, economic and social welfare are all correlated - not causation Kamin (1995) questions the validity of some of the measures used in the analysis... -e.g., socioeconomic status was self-reported ... and some of the underlying research studies -Review paper (Lynn, 1991) – genetics underlying intelligence differences between ethic groups -Included studies where IQ was confounded by language or cultural differences -Other studies were overlooked or reported as ‘inconsistencies’

Answer 19

There are differences in IQ between different racial groups The Bell Curve proposed that these were genetic and therefore unchangeable The Bell Curve has been criticised on the grounds of its underlying assumptions, statistics, and evidence base Considerable care needs to be taken in this debate to avoid links to eugenics

Answer 20

Generally no (or very small) differences found in general intelligence (g) Girls scored slightly higher than boys on the original Stanford-Binet test (Terman, 1916) Systematic review of 120 studies found no sex differences on Raven’s Matrices (Court, 1983) review showed no sex differences on Wechsler tests (Anderson, 2004)

Answer 21

But: One meta-analysis did show sex differences (Lynn & Irwing, 2004) -only took data from large studies (n > 500) -57 studies, 30 countries, more than 80,000 people Found small sex differences (d = 0.16 to 0.33) -No sex differences up to the age of 15 -Age 15 – 19, men scored 2 points higher -Male undergrads scored 3 – 5 points higher than female -Adult men scored 5 points higher than women

Answer 22

Men score better on measures of spatial ability than women (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974) Women tend to score better than men on measures of verbal ability Meta-analyses of sex differences in specific abilities (Feingold, 1988; Hedges & Nowell, 1995; Hyde & Linn, 1988; Linn & Petersen, 1985; Voyer et al., 1995) Men score higher: Spatial perception (S-M) Mental rotation (M-L) Mechanical reasoning (adolescents, L) Women score higher: Verbal production (M) Spelling, language & perceptual speed (S)

Answer 23

IQ correlates with brain size (0.33, McDaniel, 2005) Men have 10% larger brains than women Lynn: Boys and girls mature at the same rate until 7, then girls mature faster until 14 or 15. Age 16+, boys develop larger average brain sizes

Answer 24

Three biological explanations for sex differences in spatial ability have emerged: Evolutionary Brain functioning Testosterone

Answer 25

Jones et al. (2003) Good spatial abilities needed for: -Foraging for food -Covering a bigger range -Competing for resources (fight) Males who were good at those things: more likely to pass their genes on to the next generation

Answer 26

Haier et al., (2005) Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) IQ associated with different patterns of grey and white matter in men and women Concluded that there was no single brain structure underlying intelligence

Answer 27

Testosterone is related to spatial ability Route-learning: men tend to use cardinal directions and distance (Choi & Silverman, 2002) Higher levels of testosterone are associated with faster responses and lower error rates on a mental rotation task (Hooven et al., 2004)

Answer 28

Boys tend to play with toys that develop spatial ability (Levine et al., 2005) Children aware of the sort of toys they ‘should’ play with (dolls / trucks) (Wood et al., 2002) Spatial ability may develop more in boys because they are allowed more freedom to explore their neighbourhood (Entwistle et al., 1994)

Answer 29

Subject choice may follow a pattern based on sex (Halpern & LaMay, 2000) -Boys may choose maths and science subjects that they excel at due to good spatial abilities -And girls may miss out on the opportunity to develop spatial abilities because sciences are stereotyped as ‘male’ subjects (Halpern & LaMay, 2000)

Answer 30

Self-fulfilling prophesies -Tends to occur more within social groups than within the classroom (Jussim & Harber, 2005) Stereotype threat (Steele, 1997) -e.g., telling participants that a mathematics test shows sex differences leads to poorer performance by women (Spencer et al., 1999)

Answer 31

Women score significantly higher than men on Salovey and Mayer’s ability model of EI -effect size 0.18 – 0.30 (medium) (Day & Carroll, 2004) -effect size 0.30 (Schulte et al., 2004) Emotional-Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; Bar-On, 1997) -No significant difference between men and women on overall EI scores. Small effect sizes (<0.16) on subtests

Answer 32

Men score higher: Self-regard Independence Flexibility Problem solving Stress tolerance Optimism Women score higher: Emotional self-awareness Empathy (0.45) Social responsibility Interpersonal relationships

Answer 33

Men may score slightly higher on general IQ tests – but it’s a very small effect Men tend to have better spatial ability Women have sometimes been shown to have better verbal ability and emotional intelligence Differences may be biological (brain size, evolution, brain functioning, testosterone) Or they may be environmental (stereotypes, self-fulfilling prophesies, stereotype threat)

Lecture 4 Predictors of Intelligence Tests Flashcards

environmental and genetic influences on intelligence