Unit 11, Testing and Individual Differences Notes
(Updated for 2011; goes with Chapter 11 in 2007 test)
Intelligence tests give a numerical value to one’s mental abilities in order to compare
them with others.
I. What is intelligence? 524
Intelligence the ability to learn from experience, solve problems and use knowledge for
new situations
Reification: viewing an abstraction (IQ score) like it is a real object
Don’t say: Her IQ is 120
Say: her score on the intelligence test was 120
A. Is intelligence one general ability ot several specific abilities?
What arguments support intelligence as one general, mental ability, and what
arguments support the idea of multiple distinct identities?
B. Factor analysis: a statistical method that identifies a variety of related factors in a
test
1. Charles Spearman. g factor underlies specific mental abilities;
measured by every item on intelligence tests
2. L.L. Thurstone. Critic of Spearman.
Identified seven clusters of
primary mental abilities. Critics of Spearman note that those who do well
in one cluster do well in the others, thus, proving g does exist.
Theories of multiple intelligences 525
C. Multiple intelligences
1. Havard psychologist Howard Gardner has identified nine intelligences
relatively independent of one another; their source can be traced in the
brain; each intelligence requires unique creations to demonstrate it; MI
theory; agreed with Thurstone
2. Gardner’s critics say he doesn’t have tests to measure these other
intelligences and that his intelligences are really abilities or talents (Sandra
Scarr, 1989).
3. Success, however, is not based on your level of g, but rather grit:
combining ability and intelligence with persistence and effort.
Savants: have a special ability or brilliance in one area
One example was Kim Peek, whose father called him “a human google” for
his ability to memorize nearly everything he read.
4. Robert Sternberg agrees with Gardner’s multiple intelligence concept, but
says there are only three. He distinguishes three intelligences: analytical,
assessed by typical tests
Creative, generating new responses and practical, defined by everyday tasks
that have multiple solutions
Critics, such as Linda Gottfredson---a strong proponent of the g concept of
intelligence, say his concepts lack usefulness.
Emotional intelligence 528
What makes up emotional intelligence?
Social intelligence: comprehending social situations and handling one’s self
well in them. (E.L. Thorndike, 1920)
Peter Salovey, John Mayer and David Caruso (2002):
a. perceiving emotions, understanding them, managing them and
using them
b. critics say it stretches the concept of intelligence too far
(Howard Gardner---himself criticized for stretching the concept
too far)
Walter Mischel tested emotional intelligence when he asked four year olds to sit
and watch a marshmallow for about 15 minutes. If they didn’t eat it, they would
receive another tasty treat. Those who resisted---about half of these kids---were
later found to be more responsible, competent, assertive, and better students.
Intelligence and creativity
Creativity: the ability to produce new ideas that are useful
Five components of:
a. expertise
b. imaginative thinking skills
c. venturesome personality
d. intrinsic motivation
e. creative environment
Teresa Amabile’s experiment showed that people are more creative when they are not
graded on their work.
To promote creativity managers should activate employees’ intrinsic motivation
Is intelligence neurologically measurable? 529
To what extent is intelligence related to brain anatomy and neural processing speed?
5. Brain size: does moderately correlate with smarts (+.33)
6. Phrenology sought to correlate brain size and intelligence: failed
Brain function
High performing brains are less active (guzzling less glucose); more quick witted (more
quickly perceiving data)
Perceptual Speed
Correlation to intelligence of +.3 to+.5.
Neurological speed
Highly intelligent people register info more quickly and with greater complexity
III. Assessing Intelligence 533
Intelligence tests give a numerical value to one’s mental abilities in order to compare
them with others.
A. Francis Galton
His research led to the eugenics movement.
His goal: link strength, reaction time, sensory abilities and head size to general mental
abilities.
He failed.
B. Alfred Binet (and Theodore Simon): Predicting School Achievement 534
Founded modern intelligence testing
His goal: identify those with mental deficiencies
He created the concept of your mental age. He thought the environment was the major
factor.
This approach eventually led to labeling children and limiting their opportunities, a fear
he expressed before his death.
C. Lewis Terman: The Innate IQ
This Stanford researcher took Binet’s concept and changed it into one measuring the
innate intelligence of people in order to rank them. In doing this he reified intelligence.
Developed the current Stanford Binet intelligence test
Helped develop army tests for WWI recruits
William Stern developed the formula for computing the score. Terman borrowed it so
he could rank students to assess their “vocational fitness.”
The test creates your IQ: mental age/chronological age times 100
The modern version scores it by producing a mental ability score based on the person’s
performance relative to the average performance of others the same age.
Modern tests of mental abilities 535
A. Aptitude tests: predict future performance; college entrance tests (SAT, ACT) are
examples though Howard Gardner notes they are essentially intelligence tests.
GPA, class rank, and high school activities are all better predictors of college
success; Robert Sternberg, at Oklahoma State, now admits students without much
emphasis on test scores.
B. Achievement tests: reflect you have learned
C. WAIS David Wechsler’s widely used adult intelligence test
Test construction principles 537
1. Standardization allows you to compare scores with a pre-tested standardized
group
2. Normal curve: the results of a standardized test form a bell shaped curve
68% fall within the center, or average; also known as norming.
Tests are constantly re-normed to keep the average at 100 for the WAIC.
3. Flynn effect: James Flynn (1987) found the rise in intelligence scores across the
world since the 1960s; (but aptitude tests are decreasing)
Why?
a. greater academic diversity
b. better nutrition
c. improved education with increased years of schooling
4. reliability: a test is reliable if it measures similarly each time given
5. validity: it’s valid if it measures what it’s supposed to measure
Content validity: (for achievement tests); does a test measure it’s intended behavior?
Predictive validity: (for aptitude tests): does it predict intended behavior?
6. Criterion: an independent measure of what a test aims to assess
The behavior being tested
To sum up: the criteria of a good test-Standardization, reliability, validity
IV. Intelligence Dynamics 539
A. Stability or change?
How stable are intelligence scores over the life span?
APGAR test: standard procedure for assessing newborn development
By age 3 intelligence test scores can predict adolescent and adult scores
By 7 test scores stabilize
Ian Deary (2004) re-tested people in Scotland after 65 years! The correlation was +.66.
Extremes of intelligence 541
What are the traits of those at the low and high intelligence extremes?
The Low Extreme
Intellectual disability: IQ below 70 and extreme difficultly adjusting to life
a. varies from mild to profound
b.only one percent
c. more males than females
1.
Down syndrome
a. cause of intellectual disability
b.
one more chromosome
The High Extreme
Terman’s 1921 study: he studied kids with IQs over 135; they did very well in life.
a. tracking: controversial
b. labeling students gifted and non-gifted widens the gap in their performance as
a result of a self fulfilling prophecy
c. also leads to social isolation between groups and promotes racial segregation and
prejudice
V. Genetic and environmental influences on intelligence 544
What does evidence reveal about hereditary and environmental influences on
intelligence?
Genetic influences (heredity)
2. IQ scores of identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins
2. brain scans: twins have near identical gray matter
3. The strongest evidence for this factor is that IQ scores of
identical twins raised separately are more similar than those of
fraternal twins raised together
4. Intelligence is polygenetic: many genes play a role.
Heritability 546
The proportion of the variability we can attribute to genes
If it is 50% for intelligence it means we can attribute to heredity 50 of the variation in
intelligence among those studied
It’s not the same as saying what % of intelligence of any one person is inherited
James Flynn (2003) notes that if you appear to have genetic advantages, you get
better coaching, more attention, and so forth. This happens in any endeavor and acts
as a social multiplier.
Environmental influences
1. Fraternal twins who are treated alike score closer than other siblings
2. J. McVicker Hunt studied responsive care giving; showed the
importance of environment on intelligence
3. The Mozart Effect, the influence of music on a child’s
development is no longer supported by evidence
Schooling and Intelligence 547
Head start and other early schooling efforts contribute to long term boost to emotional
intelligence and aptitude
Carol Dweck notes the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset (2006).
Kids with a growth mindset view their intelligence as the result of hard work. Early
interventions help the mind grow like a muscle.
Group differences in Intelligence Test Scores 548
1. Racial differences not based mainly on genetics
2. Racial groups differ in their test scores
3. higher scoring people attain more education and income
4. 10 point gap between black and white on most tests
5. Groups differences can’t be used to predict any one individual
Is the racial test score gap environmental? 546
Most psychologists believe this
Differences within a race are far greater than between races
Race isn’t a neat biological category
Asian students do better than North Americans on math tests; but it is a recent
phenomenon.
The test scores of today’s students are better by the same amount as whiteblack gap is today
Whites and blacks score equally on infant intelligence measures
Different eras result in different groups leading intellectually
Gender similarities
i. Girls are better spellers; boys better at math problems
ii. Girls better at nonverbal memory
iii. Girls more sensitive to touch, taste, color
iv. Geary & Silverman use evolutionary perspective to explain differences.
Ex. Males went hunting; needed navigation and tracking skills
Biological explanation: exposure to male sex hormones during prenatal period enhances
spatial abilities
Other factors (Steven Pinker): life priorities, risk taking
Emotion detecting ability
Robert Rosenthal’s study: women better than men
The question of bias 554
Are intelligence tests inappropriately biased?
Two meanings of bias: the second focuses on the scientific one, a test’s validity. Does it
measure what it claims?
v. the result of cultural knowledge needed to measure a performance
vi. research: aptitude tests show no bias
vii. Is the test valid for all groups? Major research groups say no major test--SAT, etc.---is biased. The predictive validity is relatively the same for all
groups.
Test –Taker’s Expectations
Stereotype threat
Claude Steele (2002): The concern that you will be evaluated based on a negative
stereotype; leads to poor test performance
Examples:
1. Women scored higher on a math test when no men took the test
2. blacks scored lower on a test when tested by whites than when tested by blacks
Key terms: 558 (see study guide)
AP Quiz: 558-559