Unit 11: Testing and Individual Differences Flashcards
Define aptitude
Natural ability to do something
Define intelligence
- Concept
- Mental trait w/ ability to learn from experience, solve problems, + use knowledge to adapt to new situations.
Why do intelligence experts agree that intelligence is a concept and not a “thing”?
- It has a diff. meaning to people based on culture, their own definition on how it contributes to success
- Ex: Not like weight or height which are universal
Define intelligence test
Assessment of ppl’s mental abilities and compares them with others using # scores
What is the “memory war”?
Discussion if traumatic events are repressed + can later be recovered w/ therapeutic(healing) benefit
What is the “gender war”?
Discussion about extent to which nature/nurture shape our behaviors as men/women
What is the “intelligence war”?
Discussion on if we have an inborn general mental capacity(intelligence) and can we quantify( define by amount) this capacity as a meaningful #.
What are arguments for and against considering intelligence as one general mental ability?
For: We can see the g factor in many correlations.
Against: There are social v. academic smarts
Define general intelligence (g)
According to Spearman + others: underlies specific mental abilities + therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test.
Ex: Underlies behavior such as navigating the sea to excelling in school.
Define factor analysis
Statistical procedure developed partially by Spearman. It is a statistical procedure that identifies correlations of related items (factors) on a test.
Define factor analysis
Statistical procedure developed partially by Spearman. It is a statistical procedure that identifies correlations of related items (factors) on a test
What is factor analysis used for?
To identify diff. aspects/dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score.
Who is L.L. Thurstone
Disagreed w. Spearman
Instead identified 7 main mental abilities
Therefore ranking ppl on diff scales not a single one
-Even so investigators notices an indv. who scored well in one category did so in others, therefore g factor still present
Label the 7 mental abilities identified by Thurstone
Word fluency
Verbal comprehension
Spatial( having to do with space) ability
Perceptual(ability to interpret/ become aware of things) speed
Numerical ability
Inductive reasoning( specific observations resulting in gen. conclusion)
Memory
How do Gardener’s + Sternberg’s theories of multiple intelligences differ?
Gardner has 8, Sternberg has 3
What is savant syndrome?
Condition where 4 our of 5 are males, a person limited in mental ability (from intelligence test) has an amazing specific skill: drawing/computation
Does general intelligence matter?
Yes, it predicts performance on various complex tasks and various jobs (recent research found)
Identify Gardner’s 8 intelligences
Naturalist Linguistic Logical-Mathematical Musical Spatal Bodily-Kinesthetic Intrapersonal Interpersonal
Identify Gardner’s 8 intelligences
Naturalist Linguistic Logical-Mathematical Musical Spatal Bodily-Kinesthetic Intrapersonal Interpersonal
Define grit
In psych, it is a passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals
Who is Robert Sternberg
Agreed w/ Gardner that there are more than 1 type of intelligence, but only identified three
Identify Sternberg’s three intelligences
Analytical(academic-problem solving) intelligence
Creative intelligence
Practical intelligence
What are the 4 components of emotional intelligence?
Perceiving emotions: recognizing them in diff. places
Understanding emotions: Predict them + how they change/blend
Managing emotions: How to express them in diff. situations
Using emotions: To enable adaptive/creative thinking
Define emotional intelligence
Ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.
To what extend is intelligence related to brain anatomy?
- There is a correlation between brain size and intelligence
- In this instance, bigger is better
Identify important brain areas for intelligence
Frontal and Parietal lobes
Having a lot of neural cell bodies
A lot of axons
which increase brain communication
To what extent is intelligence related to neural processing speed?
- Smart ppl use less energy to solve problems
- More efficient speed= smarter
Compare Spearman, Thurstone, Gardner, and Sternberg
Spearman: One general intelligence (g factor) seen in everything
Thurstone: 7 factors in intelligence, correlation is seen as support that g factor is present
Gardner: 8 intelligences, more variety and skills
Sternberg: 3 intelligences, predicting real life success and supports g- factor.
When and why were intelligence tests created?
1900s (1904 Binet and 1911 Terman)
Binet: To help identity children w/ needs
Terman: To rank children
Who is Alfred Binet
Along with Theodore Simon, they tried to solve how to identify kids with special needs w/o biases.
-Started by assuming all children have same course of intellectual development, but some develop slower.
(Ex: “slow kid” performs = as avg. younger child, “bright kid”= avg. older child.)
Therefore, goal was to measure mental age
Define mental age
Level of performance usually related w/ certain age.
Purpose of Binet’s intelligence test
Identify French schoolchildren needing special attention.
Hoped it would b used to improve their education
Feared labels would restrict them
Purpose of Binet’s intelligence test
Identify French schoolchildren needing special attention.
Hoped it would b used to improve their education
Feared labels would restrict them
Who is Lewis Terman and what is he known for?
Stanford professor who tweaked Binet’s test and renamed it the Stanford-Binet. His intelligence test focused on innate knowledge and on diff. rankings.
