Week 4

Question 1

Misuse of IQ testing: Sterilization

Answer 1

1912: identified “feebleminded” people in effort to keep them from having children

sterilized 65,000 people with low IQ (most poor and people of color)

Question 2

Terman’s Claims

Answer 2

1916, professor at Stanford

Argued certain raced had genetically lower IQs than whites, and that school wouldn’t be able to change that

Said Spanish-Indian, Black, and Mexican families had low IQs

Wanted children of these groups to be in segregated classrooms so they can be efficient workers with practical teaching (not able to be abstract thinkers)

*used intelligence testing to justify different curricula based on race

Question 3

Claims of Racial Differences in Intelligence

Answer 3

Different researchers claimed:

• Black-White differences in IQ scores had large genetic component (1960s)
• Claiming racial groups have different mean IQs because of genetics, which is the cause for lack of social mobility (bell curve, 1990s)
• Mean IQ of different nations explained why some were less advanced

Question 4

Language and IQ Scores

Answer 4

Language is perhaps the biggest most systematic confound in measuring intelligence across context/cultures

Question 5

The Flynn Effect – General

Answer 5

1999

Gathered data from 73 studies on over 7,500 people between 30s and 70s. Results showed gain of 14 IQ points, 3 points every 10 years. Increase was roughly uniform over time and similar for all ages

Question 6

The Flynn Effect – How much did IQ rise?

Answer 6

14 points, 3 points every 10 years

Question 7

The Flynn Effect: possible reasons

Answer 7

nutrition
tv
test sophistication (no evidence for this)
enhanced SES
urbanization
better education
video games

Question 8

The Flynn Effect: revisited in 2007

Answer 8

evidence suggests that the flynn effect is reaching a plateau in some societies (developed countries), perhaps as they reach optical social environments

Question 9

Black-White IQ score Differences today

Answer 9

1972-2002, evidence that the gap between Black and White children diminished by 5.5 IQ points

Question 10

Asian-White IQ score Differences

Answer 10

Similar IQ but Asians show higher achievement (SAT)

perhaps due to emphasis in Asian culture on achievement

Question 11

Jewish vs non-Jewish IQ scores

Answer 11

People of jewish heritage show 7-15 points advantage over white non-jews on IQ scores

Maybe cultural differences, maybe biology

Question 12

Genes and the enviornment

Answer 12

Both genes and environment affect IQ

Heritability of IQ is between .4 and .8 (twin study says .3 and .5)

BUT hard to say because heritability is relative to the population studied AKA we don’t know

Question 13

IQ Tests as Predictors

Answer 13

IQ Scores predict….

school performance and achievement test scores pretty well

years of education (although better predicted by test scores)

occupation level, social class, and thus income (maybe this is because it predicts income)

Question 14

Social Class and Heritability

Answer 14

In low SES samples, IQ variance accounted for by enviornmental factors, not genes (low heritability)

As SES increases, variance explained by environment decreases and by genetics increases

In high SES, most variance in IQ is explained by genes and little by environment (high heritability)

Possibility that low SES children show low heritability of IQ because environment doesn’t allow development of full genetic potential

Question 15

Ways to recognize cultural bias

Answer 15

Content bias: (test’s content is comparatively more difficult for a particular group of students than for others.)

Standardization bias

Language bias

Construct mismatch

Differential predictive validity: (a situation where a test is predictive for all groups but to different degrees.)

Question 16

Stereotype Threat

Answer 16

ex. if girls are told they are bad at math, they won’t do well on math

Powerful influence on performance. See high rates with Hispanic and verbal ability, elder and short-term memory, low income students and verbal abilities

Interventions have substantially raised achievement of Black students and girls in math (although some controversy around effects)

Question 17

Stress and IQ

Answer 17

Chronic stress can damage the brain, unkown if its reversible

potentially impacts attention, short term memory, long term memory and working memory

stress is greater in low income enviornments

Question 18

Self regulation skills

Answer 18

Self regulation skills (delaying gratification, self-regulated learning, emotion regulation) are important for higher-level cognitive functioning and a result of higher-level functioning

*SO tow uncorrected abilities become correlated because they reinforce each other

Question 19

Non-cognitive factors that can confound IQ results

Answer 19

self-regulation skills

chronic stress

environmental influences

motivation systems

lack of practice

Question 20

Caution with IQ and Minoroties

Answer 20

Minorities are at a disadvantage because:
- stereotype threats
- language barriers
- lack of familiarity with culturally loaded items
- difficulty establishing rapport with tester of different race

Question 21

GEnearl Caution with IQ

Answer 21

• can be used to classify into stereotyped categories
• results often looked at as facts, a permanent characteristic
• short-term and long-term predictions aren’t accurate (motivation, training, etc.)
• Current measurements have bias towards analytical modes of thoughts rather than creative, artistic ones
• reflect richness of past experience (especially in younger kids)

Question 22

Values of IQ testing

Answer 22

a good predictor of performance: IQ has largest effect for occupation and tasks that are demanding of cognitive skills

Helps people understand their streangths and weaknessess

Helps allocate resources to those who need it

Observe unique ways to deal with challenge

Provides baseline functioning for future comparisons (alzheimers, TBI)