The Intelligence Testing Movement Flashcards
State the period in which the intelligence testing movement occurred.
From 1890-1990s.
What was James McKeen Cattell’s theory?
That intelligence could be measured through reaction times.
Why was intelligence being measured in terms of reaction times scientific racism?
This is because both slowness and quickness were interpreted as signs of less developed minds. Depending on the results this always favoured white people.
What did Alfred Binet work on?
Early hypnotism work with Charcot.
Tested his daughters using subjective and object methods.
Conducted studies of individual psychology with Henri.
After being asked by the government, Binet created a test to separate children’s abilities named the Binet Test.
Explain Charles Spearman’s key idea.
Proposed a theory of intelligence which included the Posited General Intelligence (G) and specific factor.
Developed factor analysis as G depended on statistical epistemology.
Define the G factor and specific factor.
The G factor is the score which is the same in all tests.
The specific factor is the score which varies from test to test.
Why did Spearman’s theory contradict Binet’s theory?
Spearman believed in multiple intelligences and Binet in singular.
How did Henry Goddard contribute to the Intelligence Testing Movement?
Made IQ a household term.
Studied feebleminded people.
Wrote a eugenic book based on Deborah Kallikak.
Studied IQ testing of immigrants which led to restricted immigration (Yerkes was also involved in this).
How did Lewis Terman contribute to the Intelligence Testing Movement?
Developed a new Binet test (Stanford Binet). This became the standard measure of intelligence in children for many years.
How did Robert Yerkes contribute to the Intelligence Testing Movement?
Tested over 1 million soldiers.
Sold IQ tests as a way of sorting soldiers into jobs.
Alpha, beta and group testing.
Suggested that soldiers have very low intelligence and there are race differences in intelligence (scientific racism!).
Explain Terman’s Stanford ‘gifted’ study.
Terman believed you could predict great thinkers from early IQ scores. This was proven unreliable (e.g. Henry Cowell, one of the gifted children, was arrested for homosexuality).
Giftedness gave way to creativity.
How did David Weschler contribute to the Intelligence Testing Movement?
WAIS (adults) + WISC (children) tests. Most commonly used tests today, with a mean of 100 and an SD of 15.
What is the Flynn effect?
It was believed that IQ was higher in smaller families but due to these families not having kids IQ was slowly decreasing over time.
James Flynn discovered that IQ had actually increased over historical time so this was false!
Briefly explain the UK story regarding Intelligence.
The compulsory educate age increased. Tripartite system. Only gifted children went to grammar school and the 11+ exam determined this.
This system was increasingly critiqued and eventually dismantled (although it still exists in some areas!).
How did Cyril Burt contribute to the UK Intelligence Testing Movement?
Conducted mass IQ testing of London children and found large differences by postcode.
Produced estimates of IQ heritability based on MZ twins reared apart.
