Testing and Individual Differences Chapter 10: Intelligence

Testing and Individual DifferencesChapter 10: IntelligenceThere are positive and negative aspects to using intelligence testsin school, for college admissions, and job placement that can have lasting effects on the course ofa person’s life.ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is intelligence?Learning Standards:The learning standards below are taken directly from the College Board Course Description for AP PsychologyAn understanding of intelligence and assessment of individual differences is highlighted in thisportion of the course. Students must understand issues related to test construction and fair use.AP Students in psychology should be able to do the following:1. Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure intelligence:abstract versus verbal measures; speed of processing.2. Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence.3. Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence (e.g., CharlesSpearman, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg).4. Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and othertechniques to establish reliability and validity.5. Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve.6. Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing (e.g., gifted, cognitively disabled).7. Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses.8. Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testinga. Alfred Binetb. Francis Galtonc. Howard Gardnerd. Charles Spearmane. Robert Sternbergf. Louis Termang. David Wechsler

Important Terms/Concepts/Theorists:1. Intelligence2. Factor analysis3. General intelligence (g-factor)4. Reification—construct treated asa concrete tangible object but it’snot (ex: intelligence)5. Savant syndrome6. Emotional intelligence andGoleman (EQ)7. Spearman8. Thurstone9. Robert Sternberg and triarchictheory10. Howard Gardner and MultipleIntelligence Theory (MI Theory)11. Rosenthal and Pygmalion Effect12.13. Creativity14. Intelligence test15. Mental age16. Chronological age—a person’sage in years17. Stanford-Binet18. Intelligence quotient (IQ)19. Aptitude test20. Aptitude—a capacity for learningcertain abilities21. Achievement test22. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test23. Lewis Terman24. Wechsler Adult IntelligenceScale (WAIS)25. Performance intelligence—intelligence measured by solvingpuzzles, assembling objects,completing pictures, and othernonverbal tasks26. Verbal intelligence—intelligencemeasured by answeringquestions involving vocabulary,general information, arithmetic,and other language or symboloriented task27. Individual intelligence test—atest designed to be given to asingle individual by a trainedspecialist28. Group intelligence test—anyintelligence test that can beadministered to a group ofpeople with minimal supervision29. Culture-fair test—a test designedto minimize the importance ofskills and knowledge that may bemore common in some culturesthan others30. Standardization31. Normal curve32. Norm—an average score for adesignated group of people33. Flynn Effect—steady increase ofperformance on IQ tests over thelast 80 years, possibly resultingfrom better nutrition, educationalopportunities, and health care34. Reliability35. Validity36. Content validity37. Criterion38. Construct validity39. Predictive validity40. Test-retest—the same exam isadministered to the same groupon two different occasions andthe scores compared. The closerthe correlation coefficient is to1.0 the more reliable the test.41. equivalent forms or alternateform method—two differentversions of a test on the samematerial are given to the sametest takers and the score arecorrelated42. split-half reliability—the scoreon one half of the test questionsis correlated with the score onthe other half of the questions tosee if they are consistent. Scoreall odd and all even is anexample43. Mental retardation44. Down syndrome45. Fragile-X syndrome—a geneticform of mental retardationcaused by a defect in the Xchromosome

46. Familial retardation—mildmental retardation associatedwith homes that areintellectually, nutritionally, andemotionally impoverished47. Stereotype think48. Giftedness—either the possessionof a high IQ or special talents oraptitude49. Speed of processing—the speedwith which a person can mentallyprocess information50. Neural intelligence—the innatespeed and efficiency of aperson’s brain and nervoussystem51. Creativity—the ability togenerate ideas and solutions thatare original, novel, and useful.This is not usually measure byintelligence tests. There are testsfor creativity but they do nothave high criterion-relatedvalidity.52. Stereotype threat—ClaudeSteele’s concept that anxietyinfluences achievement ofmembers of a group concernedthat their performance on a testwill confirm a negativestereotype. This may account forlower scores of blacks onintelligence tests or girls on mathtests.53. Psychometricians—focus onmethods for acquiring andanalyzing psychological data;measure mental traits, abilities,and processes.What is Intelligence? pages 405-415 due 2/1Assessing Intelligence pages 415-422 due 2/3The Dynamics of Intelligence pages 423-427due 2/6Genetic and Environmental Influences onIntelligence pages 427-439 due 2/7Period 4 on Wednesday, 2/8Period 5 on Thursday, 2/9