PSYC1001 Flashcards
Western lay person theories
Practical problem solving
• Verbal abilities
• Social competence
• Overall quite a holistic view of intelligence
What is deemed ‘intelligent’ changes with age
- age of person asked
- age of person asked about
intelligence
“the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations”
“The capacity for goal-directed adaptive behaviour
characteristics of intelligence
- abstract thinking or reasoning abilities
- problem-solving abilities
- capacity to acquire knowledge
Binet and Simon (1904)
- developed age-graded intellectual tasks
- mental age compared to chronological age
not IQ
Henry Goddard (1910)
- brought test to US
- identify mentally retarded children
- intelligence is fixed
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
- Lewis Terman
IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100 - 100 signifies normal intelligence
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale measures…
- fluid reasoning
- knowledge
- quantitative reasoning
- visual-spatial processing
- working memory
calculating IQ today
- total score is compared to scores of age mates
- IQ 100= average score at each age level
David Wechsler Intelligence
“The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his/her environment”
Wechsler improved on tests in 3 ways
- comprehensive: both verbal & nonverbal
- less emphasis on culture knowledge
- more specific: subtests for abilities scored separately
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
- 15 subtests
- progressively harder
- overall IQ score and 4 index scores
Index scores (WAIS-IV)
- Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI)
- Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI)
- Working Memory Index (WMI)
- Processing Speed Index (PSI)
Aptitude measures
- Assess potential to learn or perform well in the future
* SAT, ACT, GRE verbal and quantitative tests
Achievement measures
Test specific learning or accomplishments
• GRE subject area tests
• Classroom tests
Culturally fair?
WAIS and WISC rely on the individual having detailed knowledge about mainstream culture in order to perform well, particularly in tasks like information, vocabulary, and other verbal tests
Don’t provide a fair test of abilities for people unfamiliar with the dominant culture
Culture fair tests use items that are applicable across all cultures
May not be language-based
Raven’s Progressive Matrices
Provides a measure of ‘g’ • 60 multiple choice items measuring abstract reasoning Provides overall score only • No subtests • Very different to WAIS IQ
Raven’s Progressive Matrices
Culturally fair?
- No questions require specific factual information
- No questions require knowledge of a specific culture
- Still a western view of logical reasoning
what is a test?
• A systematic procedure •Observe behaviour in a standard
situation
•Describe behaviour with scores or categories
• Advantages of tests:
•Standardised for objectivity •Calculation of norms for comparison
Reliability
repeatable/stable
- test re test
- alternate form
validity
measure what its meant to
Content validity
Criterion validity
Construct validity
Evaluating value of IQ tests
- Statistical Reliability
- Not good before age 7
- Consistent for teens and adults
- Statistical Validity
- Predicts success in school
- Predicts success in life situations and jobs
- Not a perfect measure of “smartness”
- Only measures some abilities
- Variability of individuals’ emotional responses
- Individuals’ motivational differences •Cultural differences
- Not a measure of ‘natural’ ability
- Differing educational and social experiences
factors influencing measurement of cognitive abilities
Emotional arousal can influence scores on cognitive ability tests
Test anxiety
Physiological factors (hunger, fatigue, etc.) Motivation
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Nature vs nurture
Influenced partly by genetics (heritability) Not clear exactly which genes are involved
Intelligence is developed ability
Influenced partly by environment – education, culture & other life experiences
Enriched early environment critical
Can’t easily separate nature/nurture