Intelligence Reviewer
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Spearman’s psychometric approach and the “g” factor
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Spearman suggested that along with the influence of “g,” all tasks require specific abilities.
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Intelligence consists of a general ability factor plus related specific abilities – musical, arithmetical, logical, etc.
Fluid intelligence: Learning the skills of a new game or school.
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Crystallized intelligence: The knowledge base and skills of a person who’s played the game or studied the subject for many years.
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This distinction is useful but not absolute. Any task taps some of both types of skills.
Howard Gardner proposed that human beings actually possess multiple intelligences.
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Multiple intelligences are a collection of separate unrelated forms of intelligence.
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He makes distinctions between several different abilities.
Robert Sternberg proposed the Triarchic Theory of intelligence, distinguishing between three aspects of intelligent behavior:
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The cognitive processes occurring within the individual
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The situations that require intelligence
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The relationship of intelligence to the external world
Intelligence quotient (IQ) tests are intended to measure probable performance in school and similar settings.
Binet and Simon, psychologists working for the French government in the early 20th century, developed the first IQ test to identify
schoolchildren with serious intellectual deficiencies.
The Stanford-Binet test
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Crystallized intelligence is acquired skills and knowledge and the application these to the specific content of a person’s experience.
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He proposed that performance in tasks of mental ability depended on a single general ability factor - “g”.
Fluid intelligence is the power of reasoning and applying information.
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It is designed for children aged 2 through adults, but the scores of preschool aged children on this or any IQ test must be interpreted
with caution.
The Wechsler tests
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David Wechsler devised two IQ tests, one for children (to age 16), and the other for adults.
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The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) are also
individually administered.
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They also have a designated average or mean IQ of 100, and use the adaptive method of testing.
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The Wechsler test provides an overall score, a score in two major areas (Verbal and Non-verbal) with six individual subscale scores
each.
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The profile of strengths and weaknesses produced are very useful in planning educational and other interventions with students.
Raven’s Progressive Matrices
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The Raven’s Progressive Matrices test is one a culture-reduced test.
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The matrices that comprise the test progress from easy to difficult.
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It is designed to measure the subject’s abstract reasoning abilities.
10. The Standardization of IQ Tests
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To be clear and specific about the meanings of test scores, tests must be standardized.
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Standardization establishes rules for administering a test and for interpreting the scores.
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An important step in the process is determining the norms - descriptions of score frequencies.
11. Periodic restandardization of IQ tests has revealed a trend - the Flynn Effect.
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Raw scores on IQ tests have risen and test makers have had to make the tests harder to keep the mean score at 100.
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This been noted on a global basis and in all ethnic/racial groups.
12. Reliability
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The reliability of a test is the repeatability of its scores
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A reliable test is consistent.
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Psychologists use correlational procedures and calculate a coefficient to indicate how reliable a test is.
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They test the same group of people twice with the same test, equivalent versions or its two halves.
13. Test-retest reliability is the correlation between the scores on a first test and a retest.
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Reliability coefficients range between 0 and 1.
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A reliability coefficient of near 1 indicates that the same person’s score on the two versions will be very similar.
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If the coefficient is near 0, the person’s score will vary randomly between test administrations.
14. Validity
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How well a test measures what it claims to measure.
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There are several types of validity.
15. Content validity is achieved when the test’s items accurately represent the information that the test is designed to measure.
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While taking the test, test-takers should be using the skill being measured.
16. Utility
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Utility is the practical application(s) of the results of a test..
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A test can be reliable and valid but not useful.
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The University of Pennsylvania requires both SAT reasoning and subject tests.
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First year grades could be equally well predicted from SAT subject test scores alone.
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An institution may need to examine if a test will actually be useful.
17. Stereotype Threat
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The significance of group differences in IQ scores and bias in testing are politically charged issues about which people hold strong
opinions.
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We must examine the evidence related to them despite these challenges.
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IQ tests seem to correlate well with and predict school performance. The unpleasant reality is that on average black students are not
doing as well in American schools as whites and students from other ethnic backgrounds.
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Various plausible causes (besides innate differences) have been proposed.
NLEE/NLEE
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