CHAPTER 9.1 and 9.2 READING GUIDE:
Name: ____________________________
Key Concepts in Psychological Testing/The Evolution
of Intelligence Testing
1. What do your responses on a psychological test represent and why should this alert you?
2. How do aptitude tests differ from intelligence tests? How do achievement tests differ from intelligence and
aptitude tests?
3. Why is it important that tests be standardized (same procedures for all)? What role do test norms play in
interpreting standardized tests? Explain how test norms allow you to convert raw scores into something
meaningful.
4. Explain how a test’s reliability can be determined using the testretest method, including the procedure and the role of correlation
coefficients.
5. If we develop a new test of something, what do we have to do?
6. Give a specific example of A) a test that does NOT have content
validity, and B) a test that DOES have criterion-related validity.
Figure 9.1: Explain why the left side is
labeled High reliability. _______________
__________________________________
__________________________________
Why is the left labeled Low reliability?
__________________________________
__________________________________
Figure 9.2: What does it mean the
closer correlation coefficients get
to 1 or -1? ___________________
____________________________
What’s the minimum reliability
coefficient? ___________ For
“high stakes” tests? __________
Figure 9.3: What do the results on the left
tell you about the test? ______________
__________________________________
On the right? _______________________
7. Explain why psychologists are concerned with construct validity (don’t just define it). What are two important
steps in demonstrating construct validity?
The Evolution of Intelligence Testing
1. Summarize what Galton concluded in Hereditary Genius and how he tried to measure this objectively. What are
some things he left us with despite his flawed ideas?
2. What first did Alfred Binet come up with? Briefly explain how a score on
his scale was to be interpreted.
Alfred Binet: Based on his
quote, do you think he comes
down on the side of nature or
nurture? _________________
Lewis Terman: What two words in his
quote indicate that some of his ideas
3. How did Terman adjust Binet’s scoring system when he revised his test? were/are controversial? ___________
_______________________________
Summarize the legacy of the Stanford-Binet test.
4. What two innovations did Wechsler bring to his Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)?
5. Explain what Spearman meant by g. How did he say it related to
specific areas of intelligence?
Table 9.1: What would be the problem in
using Mental Ages to determine IQs in
adults? ___________________________
__________________________________
6. Discuss how Thurstone’s idea of intelligence differed from Spearman’s, including his premise of primary mental
abilities.
7. What purpose does dividing g into fluid and crystallized intelligence Figure 9.5: According to Spearman, are g
serve? How has this division influenced contemporary IQ tests?
and specific mental abilities positively or
negatively correlated? _______________