Unit 11 (testing and individual differences)

Question 1

Intelligence Test

Answer 1

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Question 2

Intelligence

Answer 2

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Question 3

General Intelligence (g)

Answer 3

A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Question 4

Factor Anaysis

Answer 4

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score

Question 5

Savant Syndrome

Answer 5

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

Question 6

Emotional Intelligence

Answer 6

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Question 7

Mental Age

Answer 7

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

Question 8

Stanford-Binet

Answer 8

The widely used American revision (by Therman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test

Question 9

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Answer 9

Define originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) mulitplied by 100 (thus, IQ=ma/ca x 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Question 10

Achievement Tests

Answer 10

Tests designed to assess what a person has learned

Question 11

Aptitude Test

Answer 11

Tests designed to predict a person’s future performance; apititude is the capacity to learn

Question 12

Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 12

The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Question 13

Standardization

Answer 13

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Question 14

Normal Curve

Answer 14

The symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scares fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Question 15

Reliability

Answer 15

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting

Question 16

Validity

Answer 16

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to see

Question 17

Content Validity

Answer 17

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Question 18

Predictive Validity

Answer 18

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correllationbetween test scores and the criterion behavior (also called criterion-related validity)

Question 19

Intellectual Disability

Answer 19

(formerly reggered to as mental retardation) A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound

Question 20

Down Syndrome

Answer 20

A condition of intelectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Question 21

Stereotype Threat

Answer 21

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype