PSYC1002

Question 1

What does mental ability mean?

Answer 1

the capacity to perform the higher mental processes of reasoning, remembering, understanding and problem solving

Question 2

How do you measure mental abilities?

Answer 2

• Individual differences approach is how mental abilities are studied and measured, and see what gives the rise of individual resources
o First step to measuring is to define what is being measured
o Second step is to think about what the behaviour influenced by that trait looks like
 Devise tests to look at intelligence, and look at the score to determine future performance

Question 3

What are the different types of intelligence?

Answer 3

• Analytical intelligence
• Practical intelligence
• Emotional intelligence

Question 4

What is analytic intelligence?

Answer 4

the ability typically measured by intelligence tests and crucial for academic success

Question 5

What is practical intelligence?

Answer 5

the ability to solve everyday problems through skilled reasoning that relies on tacit knowledge

Question 6

What is emotional intelligence?

Answer 6

the ability to understand one’s own emotions and others’ and also the ability to control one’s emotions when appropriate
o Ability to perceive emotions accurately
o Ability to use emotions to facilitate thinking and reasoning
o Ability to understand emotions, including use of language
o Manage emotion in oneself and others
o Measured by the MSCEIT test

Question 7

What is a manifest variable?

Answer 7

what we can see

Question 8

What is a latent variable?

Answer 8

what we infer- constructs

Question 9

What is the definition of a construct?

Answer 9

Theoretical terms which cannot be directly observed, but are assumed to exist because they give rise to measurable phenomena

Question 10

Why are constructs useful?

Answer 10

o Description and explanation of behavioural and performance data
o Basis for prediction of behaviour

Question 11

What are constructs defined by?

Answer 11

 Empirical indicators
 Relationships to other constructs
• Correlation between intelligence and personality- if they correlate tightly, they might be the same thing
 Network of constructs (nomological network) becomes the basis of the theory

Question 12

What is the implicit intelligence theory?

Answer 12

informal definitions of intelligence and are based on beliefs

Question 13

What do entity theorists believe about mental abilities?

Answer 13

Abilities are fixed

Question 14

What do incremental theorists believe about mental abilities?

Answer 14

Abilities are changeable

Question 15

What did Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck look at?

Answer 15

 Looked at the learning trajectories of 7th graders
 The ones that believed that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) predicted an upward trajectory in grades over two years of high school, while a belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory) predicted a flat trajectory
 Concluded that an incremental theory led to more effort and a more positive response to failure

Question 16

What did Sternberg do?

Answer 16

 What behaviours show
• Intelligence/unintelligence
• Academic intelligence
• Everyday intelligence
 Came up with three factors
• Verbal intelligence
o Good vocabulary, converses easily on lots of subjects
• Problem solving
o Makes good decision, poses problem in optimal way, plans ahead
• Practical intelligence
o Sizes up situation well, determines how to achieve goals, displays an interest in the world at large
 Intelligence relates to success in cognitively demanding tasks but not necessarily highly related

Question 17

What is explicit intelligence theory?

Answer 17

use data collected from people performing tasks that require intelligent cognition

Question 18

What are steps in testing the explicit intelligence theory?

Answer 18

 Start off with a hypothesis
 Then test it
 Then look at how performance on that test correlates with performance of other cognitive tests

Question 19

How are theories supported?

Answer 19

 Internal consistency of the measure (that is, within-measure)
 Correlate with other behaviour measures
• Such as academic tests for verbal intelligence

Question 20

How can theories be challenged?

Answer 20

 Theory doesn’t fit with task data
 Tasks are too narrow (lack ecological validity)
• Don’t capture enough aspects of the construct
 Tasks are too broad
• Can be contaminated by other constructs

Question 21

What did Binet make and why?

Answer 21

• Binet
o Goal- to develop techniques for identifying those children whose lack of success in normal classrooms suggested the need for some form of special education
o Only originally designed for children
o He devised a series of numerous reasoning tasks related to everyday problems of life but involving basic reasoning processes
o Learned skills like reading were not tested explicitly
 Wanted to separate nature from education
o Kids of different ages can do different things
 Age level assigned to each reasoning task
 The youngest age at which a child of normal intelligence should be able to complete the task
 Determined by the age at which a majority of “normal” children in the standardisation sample passed the task
 Mental age- the age assigned to the most difficult task that you could complete
o Concerned to identify children whose mental age was below biological age

Question 22

What were Binet’s stipulations?

Answer 22

o Scores are a practical device
 Do not buttress any theory of intellect
 Do not define anything innate
 May not designate what they measure as “intelligence’ or other reified entity
o Scale is rough
 It is an empirical guide to identifying mildly-retarded and learning disabled children
 Not a device for ranking normal children
o Low scores shall not be used to mark children as innately incapable
 Emphasis should be placed upon improvement through special training

Question 23

What was Binet’s goal?

Answer 23

o Identification and education- the scale was devised only to identify students in need of remedial education ( help and improve)
o Intelligence in any meaningful sense of the word can be augmented by good education, it is not a fixed and inborn quantity
o Was an incremental theorist

Question 24

What did Goddard do to the Binet test and what did he use it for?

Answer 24

o Goddard used Binet’s test to prevent immigration and propagation of “morons”
o Testing of new immigrants at Ellis island so that America wouldn’t be tainted
o By women trained in the detection of feeblemindness
o Thought people who couldn’t pass his test were degenerate and wouldn’t be allowed to migrate in
o Binet refused to define his scores as intelligence, Goddard regarded the scores as measures of a single, innate entity
 Classification
• Idiot: mental age (<2)
• Imbecile: mental age (3-7)
• Feebleminded: mental age (8-12)
• Moron: Highest functioning mentally retarded

Question 25

What did Terman do to the Binet test?

Answer 25

o Revised and published Binet’s test as the Standford-Binet
o Developed and publicised intelligence testing as measurement
o Became the standard against which other tests were validated
o Done with recruitment into army, jobs…
o Test became used in a way outside its original use

Question 26

What is mental age and why is it problematic?

Answer 26

o Mental age- based on age level at which the majority of “normal” children in the standardisation sample passed the test
o Problematic- people may have same mental age but their intelligence likely to qualitatively be different
 Difficult to make comparisons of intellectual performance across age levels

Question 27

What is ratio IQ and what are its problems?

Answer 27

o Ratio IQ= (Mental Age/Chronological Age)*100
o Allows comparison of intellectual performance across age levels
o Ratio IQ only works if mental age increases proportionally with chronological age. Difficult to say anything substantive about adults
 Intellectual ability plateaus at adulthood
 Ratio IQ starts to break down at about 20.

Question 28

What is deviation IQ?

Answer 28

o Way in which we can measure how far above/below the average performance for age group (in normative sample) you are placed in

Question 29

How do you find deviation IQ?

Answer 29

1. Do a test and see how your normative sample performs and look at frequencies
2. Raw scores converted to Z distribution scores
3. Raw score paced in context of normative group
4. Calculate deviation IQ:
   - IQ=100+z*15

Question 30

What is the mean and SD of an IQ scale?

Answer 30

mean=100

SD=15

Question 31

How do you calculate the Z score?

Answer 31

 Z scores- have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1
• To calculate Z score- Take raw score, subtract mean and put everything on standard deviation z= (X-M)/SD
 Gives a measure of where along the distribution you fall

Question 32

What are the advantages and disadvantages of IQ tests?

Answer 32

• Intelligence tests have high reliability and validity- often produce reproducible results and there is a correlation between achievement at school and high IQ, even if that correlation isn’t perfect
• However, there are so many aspects to intelligence that it cannot be described by a simple IQ number
• Does IQ measure what we culturally think intelligence is, or intelligence itself
o Different cultures have different ideas to what intelligence is
• A test appropriate in one setting wouldn’t be in another

Question 33

What is the structure of the stanford-binet test (4th edition)?

Answer 33

-15 subtests in 4 areas of cognitive ability
-Gives Standard Age score, mean=100 and SD=16
-Verbal reasoning
–Vocab
–Comprehension
–Absurdities
–Verbal relations
-Abstract/Visual
reasoning
–Pattern analysis
–Copying
–Matrices
–Paper folding and cutting
-Quantitative reasoning
–Quantitative
–Number series
–Equation building
-Short term memory
–Bead memory
–Memory for sentences, digits and objects

Question 34

What are the standard materials for the Stanford-Binet (IV edition) test?

Answer 34

•	Standard materials-
o	Four booklets of printed cards
o	Blocks
o	Form board
o	Beads
o	Large picture of a unisex multi-ethnic doll
o	Record booklet
o	Guide
•	Examiner highly trained:
o	Recommendations on seating
o	Precise wording
o	Mode of query

Question 35

How are tests administered?

Answer 35

o Not only standardized tests but also clinical observation
o Will indicate features of an individual’s work methods, problem solving approach and other qualitative aspects such as attention, persistence and unusual approaches to solve problems
• Separate tests in increasing order of difficulty
• To avoid boredom, tests intermixed
• Testing time varies according to age of patient
o Testing time 30-90 minutes
• Special-purpose batteries available for certain populations (e.g. blind, deaf…)
o But tests normed to those populations
• Guidelines for translators etc. also provided

General test process-
• Establish a basal and ceiling level for each task
o Basal level= four items passed in a row
o Ceiling level= three or more out of four items on a consecutive level are failed indicates testing to be discontinued
• Scoring
o Each item response is recorded verbatim
o Items are either passed or failed according to strict guildelines
o Five “free reponse” tests which must be handled carefully
• Raw score-
o Item number of highest test administered minus total number of attempted items failed
o This score is later converted to a scaled score

Question 36

What is the Stanford Binet’s fifth edition classification?

Answer 36

145-160: very gifted
130-144: gifted
120-129: superior
110-119: high average
90-109: average
80-89: low average
70-79: bordeline impaired
55-69: mildly impaired
40-54: moderately impaired

Question 37

What is the multifactor view of intelligence?

Thorndike

Answer 37

• There is something common underlying all tests- positive manifold
o Mental abilities always positively correlate
-Intelligence is a combination of multiple factors such as abstract thinking and concrete intelligence

Question 38

What is the single factor view of intelligence?

Answer 38

Spearman’s general factor

Overarching general intelligence that underlies performance in all tests actor

• General intelligence- A mental attribute that is hypothesised as contributing to the performance of virtually any intellectual task
o Explains why scores on all subsets are related
 Because all the subsets rely on g, and so all reflect whether the person has a lot of g or a little
o Explains why the correlations aren’t perfect
 Because performance on each subtest also depends on specialized abilities
• Can think of intelligence having a hierarchical structure
• Data confirms this view
• If tasks from two different categories are chosen, then should expect to find a lower correlation than if the tasks are from two same categories, but should find a correlation nonetheless

Question 39

What is Thurstone’s primary mental abilities view?

Answer 39

• Primary mental abilities independent of each other and manifest in different ways

Question 40

What is the correlated factors theory on intelligence?

Answer 40

• A combination of Spearman’s general factor and Thurstone’s primary mental abilities
• Hierarchical notion of hierarchy of primary abilities overseen by general intelligence that people have

Question 41

Who theorized fluid and crystallized intelligence?

Answer 41

Cattell

Question 42

What is fluid intelligence?

Answer 42

 The ability to grasp relations between things; deal with novelty
 Nonverbal abilities, inductive and deductive reasoning
 Culture-free in theory and independent of education
 Ability to deal with stuff in an efficient way
 Innate intelligence

Question 43

What is crystallized intelligence?

Answer 43

 Acquired knowledge and skills
 Acculturated knowledge, requires exposure to culture, formal/informal education
 May require some investment of fluid intelligence

Question 44

Are both crystallized and fluid intelligence needed?

Answer 44

Yes

Question 45

What are the primary mental abilities used to measure general fluid intelligence?

Answer 45

o	Induction
o	Sequential reasoning
o	Quantitative reasoning
o	Temporal tracking
o	Figural reasoning

Question 46

What are the primary mental abilities used to measure general crystallized intelligence?

Answer 46

o	Verbal comprehension
o	Cognition of semantic relations
o	General information
o	Reading comprehension
o	Spelling ability
o	Verbal closure
o	Phonetic coding
o	Foreign language aptitude

Question 47

Are Gf and Gc corelated? What are their trends?

Answer 47

• Although conceptually different, Gf and Gc correlate to varying extents
• Construct validation of Gf-Gc theory
o Show different developmental trends
o Fluid rises to young adulthood, then falls off in old age
o Crystallised rises and plateaus
o In childhood, Gf and Gc are strong because increase at same rate
o In later life, Gf and Gc are a lot weaker
• Someone with a high level of fluid intelligence is likely to be a fast learner and hence will easily acquire crystallised intelligence

Question 48

What determines a good psychological assessment and what assumptions can be made?

Answer 48

o Ultimately, good psychological assessment depends on
o How well we can measure the ability or trait of interest, and
o How the answer is used

o	Core assumption
o	Psychologists who use tests to measure psychological traits or states assume that:
	Such traits or states exist
	They can be quantified, and
	They can be measured

Question 49

What is the classical test/true score theory?

Answer 49

an observed score has only two components. The True score and an error component

Question 50

How can error be classified?

Answer 50

o	Test construction
	Content of the test
o	Test administration
	Variability in examiner
o	Errors in scoring
	Failure to use rubric consistently 
o	Interpretation subjectivity 
	Evaluation of response

Question 51

What is the formula for observed score and what does each ter mean?

Answer 51

•	X=T+E 
•	X- observed score
o	The actual measurement
o	Consists of true score and error
•	T- True score
o	Is the ideal measurement 
o	What we strive for
o	Is constant for an individual
o	The average of a sample of observations will approximate the true score 
o	If we can repeat measurement indefinitely, the long term mean (also called expectation) will be the true score
o	Systematic variation
•	Error-
o	Errors in measurement
o	Is random
o	Unrelated to the true score
o	Cannot be eliminated completely 
o	Unsystematic variation

Question 52

What is one drawback of the classical test theory?

Answer 52

The classic test theory does not distinguish between true variance and systematic error variance

That is, systematic error will not decrease the estimated reliability because it is not random

Question 53

What is reliability?

Answer 53

Reliability is the ratio of true score variance to observed score variance

Question 54

How do we estimate reliability?

Answer 54

• Test-Retest reliability
• Equivalent forms reliability
• Cronbach’s alpha

Question 55

What is test-retest reliability?

Answer 55

 Same group of people are measured twice on same test
• The reliability of a test can be estimated as the correlation between repeated administrations of the same test
• But a high correlation could be due to the stability of the measurement process over time (not necessarily precision in the measurement of the true score)
o May be a stable but not an accurate representation of the true score
• Can’t differentiate reliability from stability- be careful

Question 56

What are the assumptions and problems in test-retest reliability

Answer 56

• Our assumption:
o When individuals are measured repeatedly, their true score remains the same
o BUT THERE COULD BE:
 Change in true score amount
• Maturation
o Spelling ability might improve over time
• Reactivity
o Experience of taking the test might change true score
o First administration acts as a catalyst for change between administrations
• If change is not systematic, result in low test-retest reliability
 Change in what is being measured-true score type
• The change is associated with a change in speed-accuracy trade-off
• Priorities might be different
 Carry-over effects
• Remember original responses
• Inflates stability- so tend to get an over-estimate of reliability

Question 57

What is equivalent forms reliability?

Answer 57

 Measure the same phenomenon using two different forms of the test
 Correlation between form 1 and form 2 is the reliability of each test
 Reflects:
• Reliability
• The extent to which two forms measure the same thing
 Not easy to come up with parallel tests of same difficulty

Question 58

What is Cronbach’s alpha reliability?

Answer 58

 Split-half reliability is an internal consistency estimate of reliability (correlation between halves)
 But how do we split the test?
• People can split the test into many different tasks
 If every possible split-half correlation was computed, the average would be Cronbach’s alpha
 Cronbach’s alpha considers the relationship between items of the same test, the extent to which all items measure the same thing
 Good reliable internally consistent test

Question 59

What is validity?

Answer 59

Is the test appropriate for measuring the construct

Question 60

What effect does systematic error have on validity?

Answer 60

A negative effect

Question 61

What is measurement validity?

Answer 61

o The extent to which a test measures what it purports to measure
o Meaningfulness of scores

Question 62

What is validity of decision?

Answer 62

o Is the test being used in the manner it was intended to be used
o The interpretation of scores needs to be valid

Question 63

What are different aspects of validity?

Answer 63

• Content
• Construct
• Criterion

Question 64

What does the content aspect of validity involve?

Answer 64

 Content- are the items on the test good for testing that particular domain of behaviour
• Coverage of the domain
o Does the test assess behaviour that is representative of the domain of behaviour that we want to measure
o Define boundary and structure of the domain
o Boundary- what is considered part of the domain and what is not
o Structure- test content reflects the structure of the domain

Question 65

What is involved in the construct aspect of validity?

Answer 65

 Construct- have you defined constructs in a good way to develop a test to measure it
• Construct validity concerns the nature of the abilities (latent variables) captured by a test
• Evaluated by examining the relationship between scores on current test and other measures
o Convergent validity
 Is the construct related to other theoretically similar constructs/tests?
 Expect high correlation with similar constructs/tests
o Discriminant validity
 Is the construct independent of other, unrelated, psychological constructs
• Expect low correlation with unrelated constructs

Question 66

What is the criterion aspect of validity?

Answer 66

is it a good predictor of behaviour

Question 67

What is a summary of how we measure intelligence?

Answer 67

1. Work out what it is we want to measure (definitions- theoretical and pragmatic)
2. Work out what it looks like (signs, manifest variables)
3. Devise tests and scores
4. Work out how it is structure (e.g. single factor vs multifactor)
5. Assess whether our test is valid and reliable

Question 68

What did Galton find as evidence that IQ is heritable?

Answer 68

• Sir Francis Galton- “Hereditary Genius” (1869)
o Analysis of genealogical trees of 145 eminent persons judges, politicians, scientists, poets, authors, artists, clerks
o Found that:
 Prominent people have prominent relatives
 The closer the kinship the more likely the relative is also prominent
o Hence, genius and feeble-mindedness runs in families
o Believed that can use artificial selection to increase intelligence among humans

Question 69

What are some alternate explanations for Galton’s findings?

Answer 69

• However, findings can also be explained by the fact that offspring of families have better access to education
• Children of prominent people will be well educated and rich
• Related families have similar environment
• Difficult to disentangle effects of genetics vs environment

Question 70

How could the relative roles of heredity and the environment be studied?

Answer 70

o Put rats that are genetically similar in different environments
o Put rats that are different in similar environments
o Family resemblance studies

• Hence, assess the role played by genetics and environment for a particular trait by
o Combining information from these two types of studies and/or
o Comparing correlations between degree of family resemblance and adoption studies
o Genetics and the environment cannot be studied separately

Question 71

What are the assumptions on the studies of relative roles of heredity and the environment?

Answer 71

• If a psychological trait is affected by genetic factors, individuals that are more similar genetically should be more similar with respect to that trait

Question 72

What are the problems on the studies of relative roles of heredity and the environment?

Answer 72

 Problems
• Genetic relatedness is usually closely linked to environmental similarity
• Families tend to live together or near each other  similar environments

Question 73

What is the best that studies on the relative roles of heredity and the environment can give us?

Answer 73

• Family resemblance studies provide us with information about upper limit
• They give us combined effects of genetic and environmental influences
• Not great at disentangling genes and environment

Question 74

Why are adoption studies useful in determining the factors influencing intelligence?

Answer 74

 Genetically unrelated people are raised in the same environment
 Similarity can be attributed to shared environment

Question 75

Why are twin studies useful in determining the factors influencing intelligence?

Answer 75

 Genetically similar people raised in different environments
 Similarity can be more likely attributed to genetic factors

However;
o	Have a degree of shared environment
	Socio-economic status
	Family climate
	Nutrition
o	Have a degree of non-shared environment
	Pregnancy
	Siblings order
	Parental preference
	Peers, school
	Illnesses

Question 76

What did Bouchard and McGue do and find?

Answer 76

• Summarised number of studies that looked at issue of concordance of intelligence between people that have different degrees of environment and genetic similarities
• Found correlations relating to shared environments on measurements of intelligence
• Found that correlations increase as degree of relatedness increases- suggests genetics
o Identical twins’ correlation in IQ was .86 when not separated at birth, but when separated at birth was .75
• Influence of environment makes data stray from theoretical value
• Evidence both for genetic and environmental influence in IQ scores

Question 77

What is a heritability index?

Answer 77

the proportion of the total variation in a given characteristic in a given population that can be attributed to genetic differences between members of that population

Involves the comparison of two numbers:

• What is the total phenotypic variability
• How much of this variability can be understood in genetic terms

Question 78

Are measures of heritability applicable to single individuals?

Answer 78

• Variation not attributable to genetic differences is caused by differences in the environment experienced by the members of the specified population
o Makes no sense to apply measures of heritability to single individuals, and it would be a mistake to read a heritability estimate as implying that a certain percentage of a person’s IQ came from her genes and the remainder from her environment

Question 79

How can you calculate heritability measures?

Answer 79

• Heritability is simply the proportion of phenotypic variance (Pv) that is due to genetic influences (Gv)
o H= Gv/Pv

Question 80

What numbers is the value of H between?

Answer 80

Always between 0 and 1

Question 81

What does 1-H represent?

Answer 81

o Whatever remains of the obtained heritability reflects that part of phenotypic variance that is attributable to environmental and residual effects
o Thus, 1-H represents the combined effects of environmental and residual factors

Question 82

What is the heritability for IQ in most environments?

Answer 82

Between 0.4 and 0.7

Question 83

What can H be derived from?

Answer 83

o Dizygotic twins ( or other siblings) reared apart
 These individuals share one-half of genetic variance (on average)
 There is 100% environmental variance (different environments)
o Careful consideration of genetic and environmental similarity for different types of subjects allow for the use of other correlations as estimates of heritability

Question 84

What are the assumptions of heritability?

Answer 84

o The heritability of a particular trait is not absolute- it is statistic for a given population at a given time
o Depends on
 The genetic variability of that population
 The degree of variation in its environment
o If we change these things the estimated heritability changes
o Calculating H assumes that genetic and environmental contribution are independent

Question 85

What are the problems with heritability assumptions?

Answer 85

o Genotype-environment correlations and interaction
 Genetic predispositions may lead to certain environments which encourage that genetic predisposition
 Cannot conclude that the environment is independent of genes
o Tendency for assortative mating
 Assumption that parental genetic correlation is zero
• Spousal correlations are .2 to .3, that is, people tend to mate with people who are similar to themselves
• If people mate with others who have similar levels of intelligence, they are also likely to have similar genotype relevant to intelligence
• Increases genetic effects in the population with each successive generation
• Tends to increase genetic similarity between parents and children- often not taken into consideration when calculations are done
o Heritability seems to vary with socio-economic status
 High socio economic status- monozygotic twins correlations are higher than dizygotic correlations
• Opportunity for genetic differences to express themselves due to rich environment with higher amount of opportunities
 Low socio economic status- monozygotic twins correlations are similar to dizygotic twins correlations
• Impoverished environment  less opportunities  genetic differences cannot be expressed or seen
 Hence, in some settings, genes play a large role; in other settings, they do not
o Age of comparison
 Correlations change from childhood to adulthood as experiences lead to increased realisation of similar genetic potential
• When child is young, lower correlations than when calculated at adulthood
• More opportunities to realise potential when older than younger
 So H could change depending on the age at which it is estimated
o Selective placement of adoption
 Children tend to be adopted out to higher SES, higher intelligence, motivated…
• So not a lot of data for adoptive parents in crappy environments
 It is not random assignment- could restrict range and lower correlations between adoptive parents and children- inflates heritability estimates

Question 86

What conclusions can we make from heritability?

Answer 86

 If a trait has high heritability it means that it is not greatly affected by existing environmental differences experienced in that population
 High heritability says nothing about the consequences of new environmental manipulations
• Getting glasses gets rid of genetic contributions to eyesight- environment has changed
o H is a population statistic
 It tells us about average probabilities but it does not say anything about individual cases
o H is based on the assumption that we can distinguish between
 Observed data (phenotype)
 Latent causes which can be genetic and environmental
 In practise, this is almost impossible

Question 87

Why would researchers use identical twins to determine the heritability of mental abilities?

Answer 87

• H is best estimated by the correlation between MZ twins reared apart
o Gv is constant in monozygotic twins
o Environment is assumed to be maximally different, because they are apart
 Any differences are attributed to environment

Question 88

What are potential confounding factors that influence the interpretability of twin studies?

Answer 88

• Source of variability in twin studies
o Variations of shared genes
o Shared environment (reared together)
o Non-shared environments (reared apart; or reared together, but other environmental factors)
• This makes correlation not perfect
o Differences in IQ would be attributed to non-shared environment in monozygotic twins
o Differences in IQ would be attributed to gene variation in dizygotic twins
• Comparisons between monozygotic and dizygotic twins reared together
o They have maximally similar environments but differ with respect to degree of genetic similarity
o If a trait is influenced ONLY by the environment, the correlation between dizygotic twins should be the same as the correlation between monozygotic twins
o If heredity is important, MZ twins will be more similar than DZ twins

Question 89

What is the IQ difference in males and females, as well as field differences? Why is this so?

Answer 89

• Females perform better than males at verbal abilities tests
• Males perform better than females at visual/spatial abilities tests
• There doesn’t seem to be a gender difference in IQ measures
• Are there biological differences between males or females, or is it cultural/exposure difference?
o The general trend is a decline in gender differences over the past fifty years
 Evidence for environmental explanations of these differences

Question 90

Is IQ variation larger within each group or between groups?

Answer 90

• Variation within each group is much larger than any between-group variations

Question 91

What is the difference in measured IQ between white and black americans

Answer 91

• About 1 standard deviation of IQ points between white and black americans, with black americans having a lesser IQ

Question 92

In decreasing order of IQ, what is the order of asian americans, black americans and white americans? Could these differences be environmental?

Answer 92

Asian, white, black

Yes

Question 93

Outline the propositions put forward in the Bell curve

Answer 93

• Herrnstein and Murray- “the bell curve” book
o Argue that racial differences on IQ tests are inherent
 Suggested this follows from substantial heritability of intelligence
 Claimed that even after accounting for environment, there is still a 10 point difference between white and black americans
o Argued that this should be taken into account in school and social policy
 Proposed eliminating welfare policies that encourage poor women to have babies
 Suggest that waste money on education for black people because they are inherently less intelligent
o Society has been “dumbed down” as they take on people with lower intelligence- should try to weed them out
o Devoting resources to help the underprivileged means gifted students have not been able to reach their potential
o Resources should be shifted from supporting disadvantaged programs to programs that support high intelligence

Question 94

What are issues with the bell curves arguments?

Answer 94

• There has to be a meaningful single number that can be given to intelligence
o But intelligence tests cover a range of different abilities
o Are results from different tests the same- single number from different tests means different things
• You have to be able to rank people in a single linear fashion and this rank needs to predict social outcomes
o Different people have different structures of intelligence- strengths and weaknesses
o Two individuals could have same IQ but could have different skill sets
• IQ has to be highly heritable
o At best, this holds within a population
o Estimates hold within a population but not necessarily in comparing different groups
• IQ has to be effectively unchangeable
o Flynn effect and stereotype threat
o Even if genetically determined, can be changed with environment

Question 95

What did Helms find?

Answer 95

Negative correlation between identification with black culture and achievement

Question 96

What did Steinberg find?

Answer 96

• Steinberg (1996) examined attitudes of Phidadelphia adolescents towards school
o Dominant attitudes of white per group was that conspicuous effort was frowned on, but so was poor achievement
 Wanted to do well without trying
o African-Americans claimed high achievement was valuable, but were not threatened by poor achievement, so studying was not too important
o Asian-Americans (particularly immigrants) believed in the importance of high achievement but expected that it required sustained effort

Question 97

What study was done on the stereotype threat?

Answer 97

o Steele and Aronson (1995) gave IQ type test to white and black US Stanford University student
o Told:
 Test was diagnostic of intellectual ability
 Laboratory tool for studying problem solving
o Race differences only when told diagnostic of intellectual ability
 But test was exactly the same
 Feeds into stereotype that blacks are not as good in intelligence tests as white, so underperformed in the test

Question 98

What was Dar-Nimrod and Heine’s study?

Answer 98

 Told students that maths tests differences are due to biological differences between genders
• Big difference between male and female participant performance
 Told students that maths tests differences between genders are due to environmental differences
• Little difference between male and female participant performance

Question 99

What is the Flynn effect?

Answer 99

There has been an increase in intelligence (raw scores of IQ test) over the last few decades
• Flynn (1987) showed increases of 5 to 25 points in a generation over 14 countries
-Changes were in fluid intelligence, not crystallised

Question 100

Why is the Flynn effect occuring?

Answer 100

 Evolution/genetic selection not possible as only take 1-2 generations to improve IQ
• Cannot be explained genetically
 Environment- more likely explanation, but none of these explanations seem to capture such a rapid change
• Could be due to improved schooling
o But most changes in tests of fluid intelligence, not crystallised intelligence
• Could be better nutrition
o But poorer people had the biggest gains in nutrition, yet don’t show the biggest effects
• Could it be familiarity with tests
o Possible but most people not so familiar
• Could be changes in child-rearing
o Possible- parents pay more attention to kids
 Go to early tutoring…

 Flynn (2007) suggested that through modernization, a much larger proportion of people have become accustomed to dealing with abstract concepts and think of a different way

Question 101

What can tests of cognitive function be used for?

Answer 101

o Identify areas of difficulty
 And what sorts of things they’re good at to get around their deficits
o Help localise brain damage
 Either neuropsychology assessments (in older days) or brain-scan but sometimes there might be deficits that show up on testing that don’t show up on brain scans
o Help devise rehabilitation strategies
o Assess competency/ medico-legal context
 If they can return to work
 Medico-legal context- courts will ask neuropsychological tests to see how much the person can be reimbursed
o Chart recovery of function/ effect of intervention
 Assess rehabilitations programs to see if they work
o Chart decline (e.g. in dementia)
 Need to demonstrate people are getting worse to see if its progressive disorder
o Assess the need for special education in children
 Just like Binet originally intended

Question 102

What are different cognitive domains you can test

Answer 102

• Memory
• Language
• Visuo-perceptual skills
• Praxis
• Attention
• Executive functions

Question 103

What kinds of tests can you do to test cognitive domains?

Answer 103

• Picture completion
o Have to work out what’s missing from the picture
o Visual analysis
o Abstract thought
• Block design
o Visual analysis
o Spatial thinking
• Object comparison
o Patients give concrete answer
o Look for abstract answers- which is good
• Trail making test
o Have to connect dots in order of letters
 Measures visual scanning and psychomotor speed
 Can pick up attentional neglect
 Test of speed
o Also can connect letters to their respective numbers
 Measures ability to switch between competing trains of thought
• Copying complex drawings
o Planning
 Jump from one thing to another or going through it in a systematic way
o Assess visuo-spatial skills and planning
• Stroop test
o Name the colour of the ink
o Words are colours and are inked in a different colour than their name suggests
o Assess ablity to inhibit an automatic response (i.e. cognitive control)
• Symbol-digit coding
o Symbols associated with different digits
o Given rows of numbers and have to put in symbols that can correspond to each number
o Assess psycho-motor speed
 People with short term memory problems will be slower
• Vocabulary subset from WAIS or S-B, or National Adult Reading Test
o Tests word knowledge
o Can give estimate of pre-morbid intelligence
• Comprehension tests (general knowledge)

•	Memory tests
o	Short term memory
o	Long-term memory (recall and recognition)
	Read a story and tell them to read it back
o	Visual vs verbal memory
	Stories, drawings
•	Specific language tests
o	Verbal comprehension and expression
o	Reading
o	Writing
o	Naming
•	Tests of visual recognition
o	Objects
o	Faces
o	Natural scenes
•	Test of praxis (skilled action)
o	Show me how you brush your teeth

Question 104

What can occur due to traumatic brain injury?

Answer 104

• Traumatic brain injury
o Depends on where it is in the brain- widespread effects on brain tissue because:
 Impacts injury to the brain as it hits the skull- bleeding and bruising
• Frontal and temporal lobes are vulnerable- often bears brunt of the impact
 Rupture injury to the axons of neurons
• Communication between different regions of the brain becomes difficult
• Disconnection of different parts of the brain
o Slow speed of processing (due to white matter damage)
 Digit substitution tests
o Memory difficulties ( due to damage to temporal lobes and to some extent, frontal lobe)
o Attention difficulties (often multi-factorial)
o Impaired executive function (due to damage to frontal lobes)
 Poor planning
 Difficulties with abstract thoughts
 Difficulties switching mental set
 Poor impulse control
 Limited insight into their problems
o Often, well-established knowledge (concepts and facts) is well preserved
 Fluid aspects of intelligence are damaged but crystallised is ok

Question 105

What are strokes?

Answer 105

o Blockage of blood vessel due to clot  neuronal tissue dies as a result of not having oxygen and blood flow
o Depends on where it is in the brain

Question 106

What is alzheimer’s disease and what can occur due to it?

Answer 106

 Progressive loss of brain tissue
 Shrinking of brain
 Severe atrophy which starts in the mesial temporal lobe (including hippocampus), then spreads to parietal lobes and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
 Presentation is after age 60
 Memory impairment often the first presenting complaint and the most prominent
• On testing, there is both a failure to encode information and to store this information in a more permanent way
• Delayed recall is very poor and cueing doesn’t help retrieval
 As disease advances, language, visuo-spatial, executive functions become compromised
 General demeanour and personality usually preserved until late in the disease
• Differentiating factor between other neurodegenerative disorders

Question 107

What is fronto-temporal dementia and what can occur due to it?

Answer 107

o Fronto-Temporal Dementia manifests as a progressive loss of language abilities and changes in personality and behaviour
 Inability to speak fluently
 Loss of knowledge of words and concepts
• Difficulty comprehending language
 Poor impulse control, aggressiveness or apathy
 Personality change
o Testing mental abilities can help in differential diagnosis

Question 108

What is visual agnosias and what can occur due to it?

Answer 108

o Inability to recognise objects by sight
 Could describe and copy it, but can’t link it to meaning
o Inability to recognise faces (prosopagnosia), not even their own
o Inability to judge the orientation of objects (orientation agnosia)

Question 109

What is epilepsy and what might occur due to it?

Answer 109

o Seizures originate from temporal lobe/hippocampus so might have memory problems but it depends

Question 110

What are common disorders in children?

Answer 110

• Specific learning impairments (dyslexia)
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder