Module 27: Intelligence and Its Assessment

Question 1

Intelligence

Answer 1

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

Question 2

General Intelligence (GI)

Answer 2

underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task
on an intelligence test.

Question 3

Savant Syndrome

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Emotional Intelligence

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Intelligence Test

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Achievement Test

Answer 6

a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Question 7

Aptitude Test

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Mental age

Answer 8

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated
with children of a certain chronological age. Thus, a child who does as well as an 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.

Question 11

Calculating IQ

Answer 11

IQ =
Mental age(ma)/ Chronological age (ca) × 100

Question 12

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 12

the WAIS and its companion versions for children are the most widely used intelligence tests; they contain
verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests.

Question 13

Standardization

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Normal Curve

Answer 14

the 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 15

Reliability

Answer 15

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves
of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting.

Question 16

Validity

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Predictive Validity

Answer 17

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the
correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. (Also called criterion-related validity.)

Question 18

Intellectual Disability

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Cohort

Answer 19

a group of people sharing a common characteristic, such as being from a given time period.

Question 20

Cross-sectional study

Answer 20

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

Question 21

Longitudinal Study

Answer 21

research that follows and retests the same people over time.

Question 22

Crystallized Intelligence

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Fluid Intelligence

Answer 23

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood.

Question 24

Howard Gardner

Answer 24

identified eight relatively independent intelligences,
including the verbal and mathematical aptitudes assessed by standardized tests. Has also
proposed a ninth possible intelligence—existential intelligence—the ability
“to ponder large questions about life, death, existence.”

Question 25

Robert Sternberg

Answer 25

Proposed the triarchic theory of intelligence: 1. analytical intelligence, 2. creative intelligence, 3. practical intelligence

Question 26

Charles Spearman

Answer 26

Believed we have one general intelligence that is at the heart of all our intelligent behavior. People often have special, outstanding abilities. Those who scored high in one area would score high in other areas.

Question 27

Alfred Binet

Answer 27

Assumed that all
children follow the same course of intellectual development but that some
develop more rapidly. Goal was to measure mental age. Created a test that predicted how well French children would handle schoolwork in hopes of improving education.

Question 28

Lewis Terman

Answer 28

extended the upper end of Binet’s test’s range from age 12 to
“superior adults.” He also gave his revision the name today’s version retains—
the Stanford-Binet.