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Psychometric testing > Lecture 6 Individual & Group Differences (Catherine > Flashcards

Lecture 6 Individual & Group Differences (Catherine Flashcards

To Provide a summary of Lecture 6 to serve as revision content on Individual and group differences

1
Q

Provide an overview of the key areas related to Intelligence testing & IQ ability

A
  • IQ stability & instability
  • Individual differences in intellectual ability & IQ
  • Group differences in intellectual ability & IQ
  • Age, The Flynn-effect, cross-sectional vs longitudinal studies
  • Gender
  • SES
  • Race/ethnicity/indigene
  • Beyond the norms:
  • Intellectual ability
  • Intellectually gifted
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2
Q

Provide evidence that Group scores in IQ remain stable over time

A

*Individual’s test scores remains relatively stable after the age of 6 years:
1. 3rd grade school boys (n=613) reassessed 10 years later: r= 0.72
2. 13yr old (n=4500) reassessed at 18 years: r= 0.78
3. 3yr old reassessed at 4 years: r= 0.83 (very good)
3yr old reassessed at 12 years: r= 0.46 (not so good- a lot has changed in the 9 year period)
4. 2-5.5 yr old reassessed 10 years later: r= 0.65, 25 years later: r=0.85 (very good!) overall r=0.59
*By about 16-18 years of age, IQ remains pretty stable

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3
Q

What are the implications that Group scores in IQ remain stable over time?

A

Implications:

*Good Predictive Validity of the tests
OR
*Predictive Validity of IQ tests is confounded with stability of the environment of longitudinal studies

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4
Q

Why are group IQ scores more stable with age?

A

Possible explanations are:

  1. Cumulative nature of intellectual development
  2. Environmental stability
  3. Prerequisite learning skills
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5
Q

Provide evidence that Individual IQ scores can be more unstable over time

A

California Guidance study (n=222)
*6yr vs 18 yr - test-retest correlations were high (around 0.60)
*59% of children IQ increased by up to 15
*37% of children IQ increased by up to 20
*9% of children IQ increased by up to 30!!!
This is incredible!

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6
Q

What are some of the factors affecting a child’s intellectual development?

A
  • Change in family structure/home
  • Poor home conditions
  • Change in parents SES
  • Adoption
  • Severe or prolonged illness
  • Therapeutic, remedial, educational or counselling intervention programmes
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7
Q

When viewing the correlation between IQ scores compared at different time periods, what is an important consideration?

A
  • The correlation tells us the variance is the same/stable
  • The correlation does not tell us that someone with an IQ of 100 still has an IQ of 100 10 years on, merely that the group overall is consistent
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8
Q

What did Capron & Duyme find from their 1989 Adoption study published in Nature?

A
  • Children reared by higher SES parents had a higher IQ
  • Change enhances IQ independent of the SES of the biological parent
  • SES of biological parent does have some effect
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9
Q

What have been the findings of some longitudinal studies into the effect of SES on IQ score?

A
  • without early intervention in low SES groups, IQ score declines from the baseline over time
  • In High SES groups, IQ score increases from the baseline over time
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10
Q

The Rochester Longitudinal Study by Sameroff et al., (1987, 1993) found 10 risk factors associated with decreases in IQ score. What were these?

A
  1. mother had history of mental illness
  2. Mother did not go to high school
  3. Mother had severe anxiety
  4. Mother had rigid attitudes
  5. Few mother-child interactions
  6. Head of household in semi-skilled job
  7. > more than 4 siblings
  8. Father not living at home
  9. Child belongs to a minority group
  10. Family had > (more than) 20 stressful events in child’s 1st 4 years (!)
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11
Q

What was the impact for the children in the Rochester Longitudinal Study by Sameroff et al., (1987, 1993) who had 4 or more of the risk factors?

A

Those children had decreased IQ in the retest phase (1993)

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12
Q

What do we need to bear in mind when considering Group and individual differences of Age, Gender, Culture/Race, Indigene?

A

Our results should be stratified by age, gender, culture in the standardisation process as a result it is important that we do not compare one group with another, as this can lead to inappropriate interpretations.
*For instance, we recognise & accept gender differences in the sub-sets, but the overall IQ score is standardised according to group norms so should not have differences

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13
Q

How are IQ scores standardised by age?

A
  • IQ scores are standardised by 9 age groups from age 16 through to 74 years old
  • The WAIS uses raw scores on the sub-sets but the overall IQ score is standardised according to group norms
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14
Q

What are the standardised scores for IQ tests?

A 
96% range between 70 - 130
68% range between 85 - 115
0.1% have an IQ 55 or below
2% have an IQ 70 or below
14% have an IQ between 71 - 84
34% have an IQ between 85 - 99
34% have an IQ between 100 - 114
14% have an IQ between 115 - 129
2% have an IQ 130 -145
0.1% have an IQ above 146
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15
Q

Why is it inappropriate to compare IQ scores across ages?

A
  • It is not meaningful to compare a 17 year old with a 70 year old because of age related changes in IQ
  • The IQ scores must be standardised by cohort not across the age range.
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16
Q

What are the main findings from Cross-Sectional analysis of Age-related changes in IQ?

A
  • Verbal scores (crystallised intelligence) remain stable with age
  • NonVerbal scores (fluid intelligence) declines with age
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17
Q

What are the main limitations of Cross-sectional studies?

A

They are confounded by changes in culture and age

even one generation has seen significant changes in healthcare, diet, technology, media, educational opportunities

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18
Q

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a Longitudinal design?

A

weakness:

  • practice effects
    • small IQ increase on retest
    • age related (old people = less increase)
    • practice effect up to 4 months
    • studies have recorded high increase following practice effect
    • is practice effect an artefact?
  • Selective attrition
    • some people more likely to remain
    • higher IQ associated with longer life & motivation

Strengths:
continuation of individuals

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19
Q

What was ideal about the Seattle Longitudinal Study?

A

It was a Cross-Sequential Design, (AKA cohort sequential) which incorporates the best elements of a Cross-sectional and a Longitudinal

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20
Q

What were the key the design aspects of the Seattle Longitudinal Study?

A
  • 1956 took 200 adult participants
  • re-assessed & re-recruited every 7 years
  • Cross-sectional: comparison of ages
  • Longitudinal: continuation of individuals
  • 6000 people participated
  • 26 of the original 200 remained
  • got data from 3 generations
21
Q

What were the key findings of the Seattle Longitudinal Studyr?

A

*No uniform pattern in age-related change across ALL intellectual abilities (The Full IQ scale is not sufficient to measure this)
*Important interactions between: ability x age & ability x cohort were found which complicated things
*Gender differences were found
*Cross Sectional Studies over-estimate declines in intellectual ability prior to age 60
*Individual differences in successful ageing:
no heart disease, high SES, good environment, flexible personality, high cognitive status of spouse, maintenance of high processing speeds

22
Q

What were the key findings of the Seattle Longitudinal Study related to Crystallised & Fluid intelligence over age?
Where Crystallised intelligence is accumulated information & verbal skills, which increase for age
& fluid intelligence is the ability to reason abstractly, which steadily declines from middle adulthood onwards

A
  • Men decline earlier on crystallised intelligence whereas
  • Women decline earlier on fluid measures
  • Women are concerned with accuracy
  • Men are concerned with speed
23
Q

What are the main changes in Intellectual ability as found by the Seattle Longitudinal Study?

A
  • Before 60 there is not a huge decline in ability by group
  • The main area of decline is that of perceptual processing speed (which incidentally will negatively impact all speeded tests)
  • The other areas of intelligence: Reason, spatial, number, vocab and verbal memory do not decline dramatically
24
Q

The Seattle Longitudinal Study implemented Cognitive Training for their participants, what was the outcome?

A
  • Two-thirds of the sample improved intellectual ability
  • A Crucial finding was that cognitive training interventions reduces age related decline immensely.
  • The more cognitively active we are, the better we maintain our cognitive ability
  • NB Sleep is also crucial to intellectual functioning
25
Q

What are the key points of the Flynn-Effect?

A
  • IQ tends to increase by 3 points every decade
  • This is why we cannot be compared against a 20 year old who took the test 30 years ago
  • Need to constantly re-norm scores to account for cohort changes
26
Q

What are the possible explanations for the Flynn-Effect?

A

*Participant Characteristics - increase education, increased familiarity with IQ tests
Methodological explanations - Changes in measure (e.g. WAIS to WAIS IV), change in motivation, effort, change of environmental factors (constant improvements),
*Biological explanation - improved nutrition, infectious diseases, heterosis (the opposite of inbreeding)
*The Flynn-Effect may reverse as we may get lazy with all the constant access to data

27
Q

There are 3 key studies that explored IQ sex differences, what were the studies, and what did they find?

A

The studies found that men had higher ‘g’ than women

  • 3-4 IQ points - Lynn (1992)
  • 5 IQ points - Lynn & Irwin (2004)
  • 3.63 IQ points - Jackson & Rushton (2006)
28
Q

What did Hedges & Nowell (1995) find about sex differences in IQ?

A

Results are dependent upon which tests are used:

  • Sex differences are small & stable over time
  • Males have a larger variance (there are more males at the higher & lower ends of the IQ scale)
  • Males typically outnumber females among high-scorers
  • Women show advantages in memory, reading, verbal fluency,
  • Women outnumber men at University
29
Q

When considering Group Differences in Sex and IQ scoring what are the key points?

A

*Sex differences in IQ exist
*They are small but relatively stable over time
*There are sex differences in scores of sub-sets
*It is not psychometrically sound to compare women & men overall IQ as the tests are designed not to skew towards gender
*Males typically do better than females in non-verbal performance IQ tests & ‘g’
*Women show advantages in memory, reading, vocabulary
Age and Sex interacts: Women decline earlier in ‘active’ abilities, whereas Men decline earlier in ‘passive’ abilities

30
Q

When considering Intelligence and Culture and Race what are the key points?

A
  • Cultural Differences Exist - But is this really a factor of IQ or is it more that the Main problem is that Tests are skewed toward English-speaking, middle-class populations
  • Words for snow - fairer for Eskimos
  • Culture fair tests of intelligence or adapted standard test
  • We cannot measure across culture and expect fairness
31
Q

When considering Intelligence and Culture and Race what is the Bell Curve Controversy?

A
  • Jensen (1969) and Hernstein & Murray (1994) presented evidence that black Americans were less intelligent than white Americans on standardised intelligence tests
  • This was interpreted as white Americans being innately more intelligent (genes of white Americans were higher IQ)
  • Dickins & Flynn (2005) looked at IQ from 1972 - 2002 found Black Americans have gained approx 5.5 IQ points
  • Black Americans have only recently gained access to educational & other opportunities
  • SES may be more relevant than Race
  • Environmental causation
  • individual scores vary considerably
  • Stereotype threat: fear of confirming negative stereotype can raise anxiety during testing
32
Q

Why might the distribution of IQ for the indigenous Population be shifted to the left of the distribution as compared to the distribution of non-indigenous people?

A

*There is no difference between European indigenous and Australian indigenous people
*the findings do not control for:
-schooling
-parenting style
-culture - no culture free tests of IQ
-nutrition & health care gap
These issues change everything: all tests are skewed to white, middle-class, Western North Americans, how can an indigenous person be expected to perform equally?

33
Q

When considering Intelligence and Culture and Race what is the pattern for specific social groups in USA, is it a Bell Curve?

A
  • US Population distribution - bell curve
  • all other groups negative slope:
  • Ever incarcerated: peaks at 75-90
  • for every other group majority score at below 75
  • Poverty
  • Chronic welfare recipient
  • Had illegitimate baby
  • High school drop out
34
Q

When considering Test Bias, what do we need to be aware of with regard Group and individual differences of Age, Gender, Culture/Race, Indigene?

A
  • People from a different culture than the culture the test was designed for will always be disadvantaged
  • Methodological issues may confound significant differences (need to dissociate group differences from test bias)
  • Race, Ethnicity & Gender differences are all affected by test bias
  • Bias in Content Validity - does the test measure what it is supposed to measure for different groups?
  • Bias in Predictive-Criterion-Validity - does the test provide a valid prediction of ALL individuals future performance?
  • Bias in Construct-Validity - does the test result provide meaningful insight into current theory for ALL cultures equally?
35
Q

What is the Floor and Ceiling of IQ tests? and, What is the IQ value associated with intellectual giftedness, and intellectual disability?

A 
Floor = 40
 - Profound =<20-35
  - Severe = 20-35
  - Moderate = 35-50
  - Mild = 50-70
intellectual disability = below 70

intellectual giftedness = above 130
Ceiling = 145

36
Q

What are Learning Disabilities?

A

Impairments in speech, language, or reading
- not always defects in general intelligence
- they are deficits in specific abilities
- such as those tested in the factor-analyses theories of intelligence (Spearman, etc)
Nomenclature (the principle of naming)
-Intellectual disability (ID) used to be referred to as MR (Mental Retardation) from the Latin for moving slowly
this is now seen as derogatory so name changed

37
Q

Give the American Association on Intellectual & Developmental Disability (AAIDD) definition of Learning Disabilities

A

Intellectual disability is a disability characterised by significant limitation both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills

NB: Disability must originate prior to age of 18 years

38
Q

Give the American Association on Intellectual & Developmental Disability (AAIDD) definition of Learning Disabilities

A

Intellectual disability is a disability characterised by significant limitation both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills

NB: Disability must originate prior to age of 18 years

39
Q

What are the conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills included in the AAIDD definition of Learning Disabilities that people need to function in their everyday lives?

A

Conceptual
-receptive & expressive language, reading & writing, money concepts, self-direction

Social
-Interpersonal, responsibility, self-esteem, gullibility, naivete, following rules, obeying laws & avoiding victimisation

Practical

  • Eating, dressing, mobility, toileting, taking medication, using telephone, managing transportation, housekeeping
  • maintaining a safe environment
40
Q

What is the prevalence of intellectual disability in Australia & what are the implications for people with an intellectual disability?

A
  1. 5-3% of Australian population are intellectually disabled in some way
  2. 5-7% of the population have borderline ID
  • Mild intellectually disabled children are often indistinguishable from others until adolescence when they have problems with more advanced academic work
  • 85% of those with ID are mildly disabled
  • Moderately disabled can benefit from vocational training
  • 95% of people with ID can hold jobs and live in the community
41
Q

What are some of the causes of Intellectual Disability?

A
  • ID is caused by any condition that impairs development of the brain before birth or during childhood
  • There are several 100 causes, most common affect 60% of all those with ID
  • Chromosomal: Downs Syndrome, Fragile X
  • Prenatal factors: Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
  • Perinatal Factors (During birth): starved of oxygen
  • Post-natal factors
42
Q

What are some of the legal implications of having (or not having) a diagnosis of Intellectual Disability?

A

*ID is over-represented in Criminal Justice System - (10%) yet only 3% of population
- more easily led & prosecuted,
- more keen to appease
- exaggerated willingness to talk
22% of falsely convicted people had ID
- poor comprehension of causality
73% of ID individuals did not understand their statements could be used against them
-Is the USA, 20% of individuals put to death had ID, despite the supreme court ruling that ID was mitigating
26 states have now enacted legislation protecting ID individuals from execution

43
Q

Bearing in mind some of the legal implications of having (or not having) a diagnosis of Intellectual Disability, why would someone fake it?

A
  • 3 points can be difference between death penalty or not; having to do military service; or getting specialist health, educational benefits or supports
  • Hall & Pritchatard (1997) showed that both incarcerated young offenders & postgraduate students could ‘fake’ IQ tests to score less than 69, however, it was identifiable
  • Almstrom et al., (2008) showed the composite scores differentiate borderline ID and intellectual impairment
44
Q

What are the implications of the Flynn-Effect for individuals with Intellectual Disability?

A
  • Educational implications: when IQ tests are newly normed assistance increases
  • Financial Implications
  • Legal Implication
    because: if not re-normed the IQ cut off of 70 in 1974 captured 2.27%, in 1991 it would only capture 0.94% for all the reasons below
  • IQ changes 0.311 points/year
  • IQ changes 3 points/decade
  • IQ has changed 14.31 points over 45 years
  • The difference between the WISC-R & WISC-III = 5.3 points
45
Q

What is the prevalence of Intellectual Disability & criminal offending behaviours, and what are some of the caveats around these data?

A
  • Prevalence of ID among adult & juvenile correction centres
  • USA up to 19.1%
  • UK 27%-32%
  • Australia 15%-17%
  • Low IQ is a significant risk factor for offending & re-offending
  • An important factor largely ignored until recently is Indigene
46
Q

What is the prevalence of Intellectual Disability & criminal offending behaviours, and what are some of the caveats around these data?

A
  • Prevalance of ID among adult & juvenile correction centres
  • USA up to 19.1%
  • UK 27%-32%
  • Australia 15%-17%
  • Low IQ is a significant risk factor for offending & re-offending
  • An important factor largely ignored until recently is Indigene
47
Q

What are some of the challenges faced by people with intellectually giftedness?

A
  • they develop asynchronously
  • may be labelled ID or ADD
  • can be intense
  • age 5-6: self-doubt, protective, highly anxious
  • by high school interpersonal skills decrease, isolation & anxiety increase
  • often Emotional intelligence will predict how well they do rather than IQ
  • Intervention IS necessary
  • Those treated with counselling/psychotherapy converted anxieties and conflicts into powerful visions, sense of destiny & charismatic personalities.
  • Those who did not resolve conflicts were largely underachievers and had self-destructive behaviours
48
Q

What are some of the challenges faced by people with intellectually giftedness?

A
  • they develop asynchronously
  • may be labelled ID or ADD
  • can be intense
  • age 5-6: self-doubt, protective, highly anxious
  • by high school interpersonal skills decrease, isolation & anxiety increase
  • often Emotional intelligence will predict how well they do rather than IQ
  • Intervention IS necessary
  • Those treated with counselling/psychotherapy converted anxieties and conflicts into powerful visions, sense of destiny & charismatic personalities.
  • Those who did not resolve conflicts were largely underachievers and had self-destructive behaviours
49
Q

What are Clare’s key points from Lecture 6?

A
  • Individual differences exist in IQ that can lead to changes in IQ
  • IQ is relatively stable though SOME intellectual abilities decline with age
  • The Flynn-Effect causes IQ to increase over time - IQ is ‘re-set’ when tests are ‘re-normed’
  • Gender differences exist for SPECIFIC intellectual abilities
  • ID criteria is extremely sensitive & has major implications
  • Indigenous populations are at-risk for low IQ and legal complications - consider the important legal implications & interventions
  • Intellectually gifted individuals are also a cause for concern & may require intervention

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