origins of psychological testing

Question 1

first tests

Answer 1

China 2200BC

Question 2

physiognomy

Answer 2

based on the notion that we can judge somebody’s traits based on their appearance, face
o Ex: Aristotle – soul and body sympathize with each other – soul can impact the body and vice versa

Question 3

phrenology

Answer 3

reading bumps on the head (Gall)
- To the extent that a specific faculty was well developed, the corresponding factors would be enlarged

Question 4

brass instruments era

Answer 4

mistook sensory processes for intelligence – used brass instruments to measure sensory thresholds and reaction times thinking they’re measuring intelligence

Question 5

who was in the brass instruments era

Answer 5

Wundt, Galton, Cattell, Wissler

Question 6

Wundt

Answer 6

o Wundt – first lab in 1879 in Leipzing, measured processes since 1862 – used a calibrated pendulum with needles sticking off from each side, the observer had to take note of the position of the pendulum when the bell went off
 Difference between the actual position and the observed – determining the swiftness of thoughts of the observer

Question 7

galton

Answer 7

Belief that anything is measurable – measure intellect through reaction time and sensory discrimination
Father of mental testing – effort in devising practicable measures of individual differences
To further his study of individual differences – psychometric lab in London – both physical and behavioural domains

Question 8

Cattel

Answer 8

o Invented the term mental test in a paper “Mental Tests and Measurements” – described his research program detailing 10 mental tests he proposed for use with the general public
- Strength of hand squeeze, rate of hand movement, two-point threshold for touch, degree of pressure needed to cause pain, weight differentiation, reaction time for sound, time for naming colours, bisection of a line, judgement of 10s, number of letters repeated on one hearing
o Impossible to separate bodily energy from mental energy – physical measure is also a measure of mental power

Question 9

Wissler

Answer 9

goal: demonstrate that the test results could predict academic performance (found no correlation)
o Another damage to the brass instrument testing movement – little correlation between the tests themselves
o Abandoned the use of RT and sensory discrimination as measures of intelligence

Question 10

rating scales beginning

Answer 10

Galen (second century physician) - Yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, blood – led to the nine-point ranking scale (4 below and 4 above a neutral point)

Question 11

mental retardation vs mental illness

Answer 11

mental retardation (idiocy) and mental illness (dementia) – mental retardation was incurable while mental illness might show improvement

Question 12

IQ tests timeline

Answer 12

• 1905 first intelligence test (with Simon)
  o Owed a lot to a prior test developed by Dr. Blin – attempted to improve the diagnosis of mental retardation by using an assessment in 20 areas – Binet criticized for being too subjective
• 1904 – the Minister of Public Instruction in Paris commissioned for an educational measure on finding children who wouldn’t benefit from regular instruction
• Didn’t offer a precise method for arriving at a total score – goal was classification not measurement
• 1908 – revision of the scale
  o Most of the very simple measures were dropped, several new tests were added (executing a sequence, reconstructing scrambled sentences, copying a diamond
  o Concept of mental level – standardized on about 300 children (3-13) – able to order tests according to age level
• 1911 – third revision of the scale
  o Each level had exactly 5 tests + new scoring methods that allowed for 1/5 of a year for each subtest passed
• 1916 – Stanford-Binet – multiplying the intelligence by 100 to remove fractions, first to use IQ

Question 13

alpha and beta tests

Answer 13

o Alpha test – following oral directions, arithmetical reasoning, practical judgement, synonym-antonym pairs, disarranged sentences, number series completion, analogies, information
o Army beta – nonverbal for those who were illiterate or didn’t speak English
o Intended to help separate and eliminate those who were mentally incompetent

Question 14

factor analysis

Answer 14

Spearman and Thurstone – factor analysis helped them realize that there were specific factors of mental ability

Question 15

fundamental attribution error

Answer 15

the tendency of others to overestimate the influence of dispositions (trials) and to underestimate the influence of situational factors (states, reaction to situation)
o Possible solution – pay attention to circumstances

Question 16

confirmation bias

Answer 16

only searching for and paying attention to information that is consistent with one’s own conclusion, ignoring or selectively interpreting hypothesis

Question 17

salience effect

Answer 17

giving more weight to striking information than non-striking information when drawing conclusions
o Possible solution – objective measurements, awareness

Question 18

contrast error

Answer 18

general tendency to judge others in a manner opposite from the way in which one perceives themselves due to a perceived difference between self and others
o Possible solutions – objective measurements, awareness

Question 19

illusory correlation

Answer 19

perceived links between tests and own conclusion, which don’t exist empirically
o Possible solutions – scientific approach

Question 20

blind spot bias

Answer 20

the tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people and to be less able to recognise biases in oneself than in others
o Possible solutions – scientific approach, awareness