Jodie Allen
Unit 2 AOS 1
Chapter 15
Chapter 18 Suggested Answers
Review 18.1
1
2
3
•
Test norms—intelligence scores are distributed normally within the human
population of any specified age group, so an IQ test result must be seen in
relation to the test norm of the participant’s age group to be meaningful.
•
Percentiles—give an indication of a person’s performance in relation to the rest
of the population of their age group.
•
Validity—the ability of the test to measure what it is supposed to. A test with
low validity means its results are not to be trusted (e.g. like most fashion
magazine survey results).
•
Reliability—the ability of the test to give consistent results. An unreliable test
will give the same person different IQ scores even though the person is
performing at the same level each time.
•
Standardisation—ensures that the conditions for sitting the test remains the
same each time, so no environmental factors affect the testing performance.
•
Normal distribution—every intelligence test needs to take into account that
most people (68 per cent) have average intelligence, and that only 2 per cent of
the population are extremely intelligent or of extremely low intellectual ability.
An intelligence test that does not result in a normal distribution when tested on a
large sample may not be very useful or valid.
•
Fairness of the test—no cultural or linguistic bias.
•
Quality control of the test design and administration and interpretation.
•
Understanding of the application of the results and particularly of the limits of
the interpretation of the results—only measures what the test covers, taking into
account the motivation and purpose of the test from the participant’s perspective,
and confidentiality limits.
•
Need for informed consent and voluntary participation.
a
Score is meaningless as it doesn’t measure what it claims to.
b
Score is meaningless as it likely the person will receive a wildly different score
next time he or she sits it
c
Score is meaningless as it difficult to interpret what the score means in relation
to others in the population.
d
Score is inaccurate as it has been affected by environmental factors that can raise
or lower the person’s potential performance.
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ISBN 978 0 19 556716 8 © Oxford University Press Australia
Jodie Allen
Unit 2 AOS 1
Chapter 15
Investigate 18.1
Students’ own responses.
Review 18.2
1
Percentiles provide more meaningful information about the score in relation to their
peer population, whereas an IQ score alone can be meaningless or misinterpreted by
the client.
2
Every intelligence test needs to take into account that most people (68 per cent) have
average intelligence, while only 2 per cent of the population is extremely intelligent
or of extremely low intellectual ability. IQ scores are always in comparison with
others in a specific population.
Review 18.3
1
Intelligence is a hypothetical construct, and intelligence tests are influenced by the
cultural construct of what is valuable intelligence in that culture. They generally
involve linguistic questions and questions involving shared knowledge and
understandings of that culture, e.g. Who is the current prime minister of Australia?
Additionally, participants who do not have English as their first language will often
struggle just to understand questions phrased in English.
2
People of a different culture may be assumed to have lower intelligence and thus be
discriminated against, when in fact the test was culturally biased.
3
Children of lower linguistic ability (maybe due to being raised with parents of
limited English-speaking ability) will have less depth of vocabulary and will be
judged as ‘less intelligent’ than a child of equal intellectual ability but with greater
linguistic ability.
4
By developing tests that use minimal language or cultural knowledge, and utilising a
range of assessments.
Investigate 18.2
Students’ own responses.
Investigate 18.3
Students’ own responses.
Investigate 18.4
Students’ own responses.
Oxford Psychology Units 1 & 2
ISBN 978 0 19 556716 8 © Oxford University Press Australia
Jodie Allen
Unit 2 AOS 1
Investigate 18.5
Students’ own responses.
Investigate 18.6
Students’ own responses.
Test Your Understanding
1
a
2
a
3
b
4
b
5
d
6
d
7
c
8
a
9
c
10 b
11 b
12 c
13 b
14 d
15 a
16 a
17 d
18 a
19 c
20 d
21 Normal distribution or bell-shaped curve.
22 Verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing
speed.
23 That it measures what it is supposed to measure.
24 Standardised.
Oxford Psychology Units 1 & 2
ISBN 978 0 19 556716 8 © Oxford University Press Australia
Chapter 15
Jodie Allen
Unit 2 AOS 1
Chapter 15
25 Validity and reliability.
26 •
External reliability—consistent with an alternate form or different sitting.
•
Internal reliability—scores of one half are consistent with scores of the other
half.
27 Content, face, predictive, concurrent or construct (see page 260 for definitions).
28 Standardisation, fairness (cultural/linguistic bias), motivation, or practice (see Fig
18.2 on page 258).
29 It ensures that the conditions for sitting the test remain the same each time, so no
environmental factors affect the testing performance.
30 Percentiles give an indication of a person’s performance in relation to the rest of the
population of that person’s age group.
31 •
Make minimal assumptions of cultural knowledge or experiences.
•
Ensure that participants of different cultures are equally represented in the
standardisation group or have similar normal distribution curves to the
standardisation group.
SAC
Aim
To apply your analytical skills and knowledge to a ‘popular’ intelligence test.
Task
Find an online IQ test, and critique it. Consider the following areas in your analysis:
•
psychometric test category
•
theory of intelligence it is most likely based on
•
number of questions
•
type of tasks involved
•
areas of intelligence examined
•
standardisation issues
•
fairness
•
reliability
•
validity (and what type of validity)
•
test norms.
Remember to include a web reference and, preferably, include a copy of the test.
Oxford Psychology Units 1 & 2
ISBN 978 0 19 556716 8 © Oxford University Press Australia