PPT 4 Flashcards
Misuses of IQ Testing
Tragically, history is replete with misuses of intelligence testing
Early 20th Centruy
IQ tests fueled the Eugenics movement by establishing the heritability of intelligence and using that to discriminate
Identifying “feebleminded” people in an effort to keep them from having children (1912)
Leading to the involuntary sterilization of 65,000 people with “low IQ” (disproportionately poor and people of color)
Terman’s Claims (1916)
(from Alea Holman, 2022)
Terman (a highly regarded professor at Stanford) argued that certain races had genetically lower IQs than whites and that “no amount of school instruction will ever make them intelligent voters or capable citizens.”
He asserted that such lower IQs were “very common among Spanish-Indian and Mexican families of the Southwest and also among negroes [sic].”
Terman recommended that “Children of these groups should be segregated in special classes and be given instruction that is practical” and concluded that “they cannot master abstractions, but they can often be made efficient workers.”
“The science of intelligence testing authoritatively justified separate curricula for allegedly backward groups” (Blanton, 2003)
Continuing the Claims of Racial Differences in Intelligence
Arguing the mean Black-White differences in IQ scores had a large genetic component (Jensen, Rushton and others starting in the 1960’s and continuing)
Claiming racial groups have different mean IQs and those differences are based in genetics. Attributing lack of social mobility in part to intelligence. (The Bell Curve, Hernstien & Murray, 1994)
Advocating that the mean IQ of different nations explained why some nations are less advanced (Lynn & Vanhanen and others)
Language
Language is perhaps the biggest and most systematic confound in measuring intelligence across context/cultures
- Familiarity matters
The Flynn Effect
Flynn, J.R. (1999). Searching for Justice: The discovery of IQ gains over time. American Psychologist, 54, 5-20.
Gathered data from 73 studies on 7,500 people ages 2 to 48 between 1932 and 1968
- Results showed a gain of 14 IQ points
- .3 points per year, 3 points every 10 years
- Roughly uniform over time and similar for all ages
- Rapid changes
“A secular increase in population IQ observed throughout the 20th century”
Possible Reasons for the Flynn Effect
- Nutrition
- Television
- Test sophistication – no evidence
- Enhanced SES
- Urbanization
- Better education
- Video games (Similarities is largest gainer)
Flynn Effect Revisited (Russell, 2007)
Evidence suggests that the Flynn effect is reaching a plateau in some societies, perhaps as they reach optimal social environments
Nesbit, Blair, Dickens, Flynn, Halpern & Turkheimer (2012)
Update of APA position paper by Neisser, Boodoo, Bouchard, Boykin, Brody, Ceci, Halpern, Loehlin, Perloff, Sternberg, & Urbina (1996)
Incorporates a lot of studies
Measurement of Intelligence (Nesbit et al)
“One of psychology’s greatest achievements and one of its most controversial”
Evidence that Black-White differences are diminishing
From 1972 to 2002 there is evidence that the gap between Black and White children diminished by 5.5 IQ points
Debate Dickens & Flynn (2006) vs Rushton & Jensen (2006)
White - Asian Differences
Similar IQ but Asians show higher achievement (SAT)
Emphasis in Asian culture on achievement may at least in part explain this.
Jewish vs. Non-Jewish
People of Jewish heritage show an estimated 7 to 15-point advantage over white non-Jews on IQ scores
May reflect cultural differences or may reflect biology
Genes and the Environment (Nesbit et al)
Both genes and environment affect IQ
**Heritability of IQ ~between .4 and .8 (more recent estimate than Bouchard twin study .3 to .5 estimate)
- Heritability estimates lower for children and higher for adults
But “it makes no sense to talk about a single value for the heritability of intelligence, in part because heritability is relative to the population studied”
IQ Tests as Predictors (Nesbit et al)
IQ scores predict school performance (and achievement test scores) pretty well
- The correlation between IQ and performance is seemingly ubiquitous
IQ scores predict Years of Education
- Test scores are best single predictor of years of education
IQ predicts occupation level, social class, and (thus) income
- *maybe because it predicts education?
Social Class and Heritability
In low SES samples, almost all IQ variance is accounted for by environmental factors and little by genes
As SES increases, the variance explained by environment decreases and by genetics increases
In high SES (excluding very wealthy) most variance in IQ is explained by genes and little by environment
Possible that children in poverty show low heritability of IQ because their environment does not allow development of full genetic potential
Antiracist Assessment
Recognize Cultural Bias
- Content bias (when a tests content is comparatively more difficult for a particular group of students than for others)
- Standardization bias (tendency of a test to favor the cultural and/or ethnic background of the people who designed it at the expense of people from diverse backgrounds)
- Language bias ( inaccurate assessment of individuals from linguistic backgrounds other than English if that’s what the test is in)
- Construct mismatch (construct mismatch is when the unitary constructs do not match what they’re actually supposed to be assessing)
- Differential predictive validity (a situation where a test is predictive for all groups but to different degrees)
Social Determinants of Cognitive Health
Non-Cognitive Characteristics Can Influence IQ scores
- Stereotype Threat
- Stress and IQ
- Self Regulation Skills
Stereotype Threat
- Research suggest stereotype threat has a powerful influence on performance (e.g., if girls are told that girls can’t do math, they don’t do as well)
- Research shows this effect with Hispanics and verbal ability, elderly and short-term memory, low income students and verbal abilities, etc.
- Interventions addressing stereotype threat have substantially raised achievement of Black students, and of girls in math (but there is some controversy about effects)
Stress and IQ
Chronic stress can damage the brain (unknown if it is reversible)
- Potentially affecting attention, short term memory, long term memory, and working memory
- Stress is greater in low-income environments
- Low stress is important for self regulation
Self Regulation Skills
Self regulation skills (delaying gratification, self-regulated learning, emotion regulation) are important for higher-level cognitive functioning AND a result of higher-level functioning
“Initially uncorrelated abilities become correlated because they are mutually reinforcing” (Nesbit et al)
Cautions with Intelligence Testing
No test can “capture the complexity of human intelligence”
Measurement is imperfect
No single test can be free from cultural bias
Consistent history of misunderstanding and controversy, along with misuse
Cautions (Cont.)
Non-cognitive factors can confound IQ test results:
- Self-regulation skills
- Chronic stress
- Different environmental influences
- Different motivation systems
- Lack of practice
Cautions (Cont.)
Minorities are at a disadvantage because:
- Stereotype threat
- Language differences
- Lack of familiarity with culturally loaded items
- Difficulty establishing rapport with tester of different race
Cautions (Cont.)
Can be used to classify into stereotyped categories that limit freedom (e.g. intellectually disabled)
Results often looked at as absolute fact, permanent characteristic
Long term predictions are less accurate than short term
Even short-term predictions based solely on IQ scores may be inaccurate because many other variables involved in behavior (motivation, training, etc.)
Current measurement techniques reflect inherent bias toward convergent analytical modes of thought rather than divergent, creative, artistic modes
Can reflect richness of past experience
Is a social mechanism used by people with similar values to pass on educational advantages to children who resemble them
Values
A reasonable good predictor of performance “with the effects of IQ being largest for those occupations and tasks that are most demanding of cognitive skills.”
Provides valuable information about a person’s strengths and weaknesses: patters of strengths and weaknesses can be very helpful
Allows resources to be dedicated to help those with learning abilities
Provides a structured interview to observe unique approach to challenges (as well as self-esteem, idiosyncrasies, anxiety, social skills, motivation)
Provides a baseline of functioning for future comparison (change) in event of TBI, Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Provides basis for research into program effectiveness, background factors, nutrition, etc.
Bottom Line
Intelligence tests are tools that can be very useful - and undoubtedly can and have been misused
Be very careful when making comparisons between cultural groups:
- A big confound in measuring intelligence is environment
- And culture is one of the most systematic of these environmental influences
There is still so much more to understand about intelligence
