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chapter 9 psych

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Chapter 9: Intelligence and Psychological Testing
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Psychological test: is a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behaviour. They
measure the individual differences that exist among people in such things as intelligence,
aptitudes, interests and aspects of personality.
Intelligence tests measure general mental ability.
Aptitude tests are designed to measure potential more than knowledge. Assess specific types of
mental abilities.
Achievement tests gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge on various subjects such as reading
or history.
Personality tests measure various aspects of personability, including motives, interests, values
and attitudes.
Standardization refers to the uniform procedures used in administering and scoring the test. All
participants get the same instructions, same questions and same time limits to that their scores
can be compared.
Test norms: produce information about where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation
to other scores on that test.
Standardization group: the sample of people that the norms are based on. Ideally they are
carefully selected to be representative of a broader population. Separate norms exist for
Canada and America.
Percentile score indicates the percentage of people who score at or below the score one has
obtained.
Reliability: refers to the measurement consistency of a test (or other types of measurement
techniques)
o A test’s reliability can be checked by doing a test-retest reliability – which is estimated
by comparing subject’s scores on two administrations of a test. The same test is taken
by the same participants a few weeks apart. The differences in the participant’s scores
across the two administrations would reflect inconsistency in measurement.
 A similar scores on the two administrations means there is a substantial positive
correlation. The closer the correlation comes to +1.00 the more reliable the test
is.
Validity: refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure. Validity can
be estimated in several ways, depending on the nature and purpose of th test. The most
common and useful techniques for stablishing validity are content, criterion-related and
construct validity.
o Content validity refers to the degree to which the content of a test is representative of
the domain its supposed to cover.
o Criterion-related validity is estimated by correlating subject’s scores on a test with their
scores on an independent criterion (another measure) of the trait assessed by the test.
IE: a test is created to test pilots knowledge, and the independent criterion is their flight
record.
o Construct validity: the extent to which there is evidence that a test measures a
particular hypothetical construct.
Evolution of Intelligence Testing
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Chinese imperial examinations began over 1400 years ago.
Sir Francis Galton created the modern psychological test in the 19th century. Decided that
intelligence passed genetically through generations of well-bred, upper class families without
discussing the advantages of such an upbringing.
Binet-Simon scale: used in schools to single out children in need of special education training.
Expressed a child’s score in terms of “mental level” or “mental age”
o Mental age indicated that he or she displayed the mental ability typical of a child of that
chronological (actual) age.
o Revised in 1908 and 1911.
Lewis Terman revised the Binet Simon scale calling it the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale. It
scored based on an intelligence quotient.
o Intelligence quotient: IQ: is a child’s mental age divided by chronological age x 100.
o Still used today.
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS): created by David Wechsler in 1939. Test is less
dependent on verbal ability than Stanford Binet.
Intelligence:
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British psychologist invented a complicated statistical procedure called factor analysis. In factor
analysis, correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of
variables. If a number of variables correlate highly with one another, the assumption is that a
single factor is influencing all of them. Factor analysis attempts to identify these hidden factors.
Thurstone developed a test that evolved into the scholastic aptitude test. Concluded that
intelligence involves many abilities, opposing factor analysis.
o Decided there were 7 independent factors called primary mental abilities including
numerical ability, inductive reasoning, verbal comprehension.
In the 1980s, developers of IQ tests began to focus on multiple indicators rather than a single
indicator. Now intelligence is best represented as a series of layers with general intelligence (g)
at the top, as you move down each layer intelligence is subdivided into more specific abilities.
One theory suggests it can be divided into fluid (gf) and crystalized intelligence(gc) .
o Fluid intelligence involves reasoning ability, memory capacity and speed of information
processing.
o Crystalized intelligence involves ability to apply acquired knowledge and skills in
problem solving.
Biological Correlates of Intelligence:
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Larger head and brain is correlated with higher intelligence.
Higher intelligence is correlated with increased volumes of grey and white matter, more so grey
matter.
Smarter people tend to be healthier and live longer than others.
Emotional Intelligence:
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Measurement of emotional intelligence can enhance the prediction of success at school, work
and interpersonal relationships
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Emotional intelligence consists of the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate
emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion and regulate emotion
Four essential components:
o First, people need to be able to accurate perceive emotions in themselves and others
and express their own emotions effectively
o Second, people need to be aware of how their emotions shape their thinking, decision
making and coping with stress.
o Third, people need to be able to understand and analyze their emotions, which may
often be complex and contradictory.
o Fourth, people need to be able to regulate their emotions so that they can dampen
negative emotions and make effective use of positive emotions.
The most empirically sound test for analyzing emotional intelligence is the MEIS: multifactor
emotional intelligence scale
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