Week 4 Flashcards
Misuse of IQ testing: Sterilization
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)
Terman’s Claims
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
Claims of Racial Differences in Intelligence
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
Language and IQ Scores
Language is perhaps the biggest most systematic confound in measuring intelligence across context/cultures
The Flynn Effect – General
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
The Flynn Effect – How much did IQ rise?
14 points, 3 points every 10 years
The Flynn Effect: possible reasons
nutrition
tv
test sophistication (no evidence for this)
enhanced SES
urbanization
better education
video games
The Flynn Effect: revisited in 2007
evidence suggests that the flynn effect is reaching a plateau in some societies (developed countries), perhaps as they reach optical social environments
Black-White IQ score Differences today
1972-2002, evidence that the gap between Black and White children diminished by 5.5 IQ points
Asian-White IQ score Differences
Similar IQ but Asians show higher achievement (SAT)
perhaps due to emphasis in Asian culture on achievement
Jewish vs non-Jewish IQ scores
People of jewish heritage show 7-15 points advantage over white non-jews on IQ scores
Maybe cultural differences, maybe biology
Genes and the enviornment
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
IQ Tests as Predictors
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)
Social Class and Heritability
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
Ways to recognize cultural bias
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.)
Stereotype Threat
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)
Stress and IQ
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
Self regulation skills
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
Non-cognitive factors that can confound IQ results
self-regulation skills
chronic stress
environmental influences
motivation systems
lack of practice
Caution with IQ and Minoroties
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
GEnearl Caution with IQ
- 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)
Values of IQ testing
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)
