Gould (1982)

Question 1

(Gould) What did Yerkes do regarding the study?

Answer 1

Carried out the research into intelligence testing.

Question 2

(Gould) What did Gould do regarding the study?

Answer 2

Reviewed the research done by Yerkes.

Question 3

(Gould) Describe the background to Yerkes’ study.

Answer 3

Bint-Simon test (1905) - first intelligence test designed to identify school children who would not benefit from regular schooling because of their inferior intelligence and should be placed into ‘special schools’.

Question 4

(Gould) Define the term ‘intelligence’ regarding this study.

Answer 4

An inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, or adapt to changes in the environment.

Question 5

(Gould) Define the term ‘psychometric tests’ regarding this study.

Answer 5

Tools that seek to provide numerical measures of human personality traits, attitudes and abilities.

Question 6

(Gould) Define the term ‘eugenics’ regarding this study.

Answer 6

The belief that it is possible to breed a superior group of people by encouraging those deemed superior to reproduce while inhibiting the growth of those groups deemed inferior.

Question 7

(Gould) Define the term ‘hereditarianism’ regarding this study.

Answer 7

The belief that genetic inheritance is more important than environmental factors in determining intelligence and behaviour.

Question 8

(Gould) What were Yerkes’ 2 aims?

Answer 8

• To produce a reliable and valid measure of intelligence.
• To prove that psychology (intelligence testing) could be as objective and quantifiable as the other scientific disciplines.

Question 9

(Gould) Describe the research method used in this study.

Answer 9

Yerkes’ research has been described as a quasi experiment as the IV is ethnic origin (which is naturally occuring) and the DV being intelligence/average mental age.

Question 10

(Gould) Describe the data collection used in this study.

Answer 10

Yerkes obtained his data through self report as recruits would answer questions during the intelligence tests to get their average mental age.

Question 11

(Gould) Describe the sample used in this study.

Answer 11

• 1.75 million men within the US military
• White Americans, ‘Negroes’ and European immigrants
• Varying education levels

Question 12

(Gould) What were the 3 different tests?

Answer 12

Alpha, beta and spoken exam.

Question 13

(Gould) Describe the alpha test.

Answer 13

• A written examination for literate recruits.
• 8 parts and took less than 1 hour.
• Its tasks included number sequences, unscrambling sentences and analogies.

Question 14

(Gould) Describe the army beta test.

Answer 14

• A series of tests designed for illiterate recruits and those that failed the Alpha.
• E.g. maze running, cube counting and translating numbers into symbols, picture completion.
• Instructions were written in English and in 3/7 parts the answers had to be given in writing.

Question 15

(Gould) How should the army alpha test have been administered?

Answer 15

Should have been taken by literate recruits.

Question 16

(Gould) How should the army beta test have been administered?

Answer 16

Should have been taken by illiterate recruits and those who failed the alpha.

Question 17

(Gould) How should the spoken exam have been administered?

Answer 17

Should have been taken by those who failed the beta.

Question 18

(Gould) Explain the 3 findings from this study.

Answer 18

• Average mental age of a white American adult is 13, was just above that of a moron (standard score = 16)
• Darker people of southern Europe and the Slavs on eastern Europe were less intelligent than the fair people of western and northern Europe (e.g. Russians = 11.34, Poles = 10.74)
• Black recruits scores lowest, with a mental age of 10.41. Some camps separated black individuals into 3 groups based on intensity of skin colour, light individuals scored higher.

Question 19

(Gould) What was interpreted from these findings?

Answer 19

That these ‘facts’ were used to provide a genetic explanation for the differences.

Question 20

(Gould) What is a review?

Answer 20

A process of subjecting an author’s scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field.

Question 21

(Gould) What are the strengths of reviews? (2)

Answer 21

• You’re able to reassess research, as it offers a fresh perspective on what was found originally.
• Highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the research (psychometric testing).

Question 22

(Gould) What are the weaknesses of reviews? (2)

Answer 22

• May miss important data or the data being analysed may not be accurate in the first place.
• Reviewer could be biased.

Question 23

(Gould) Describe the problems with the test design for the alpha test.

Answer 23

The criteria to sit the Alpha test were lowered but not consistently across camps.

Question 24

(Gould) Describe the problems with the test design for the beta test.

Answer 24

The Beta test still required reading, writing and number knowledge.

Question 25

(Gould) Explain how the test design may have been influenced by bias.

Answer 25

Many of the questions were culturally biased.

Question 26

(Gould) Explain the problems with administration of the tests regarding conditions.

Answer 26

The conditions were extremely chaotic.

Question 27

(Gould) Explain the problems with administration of the tests regarding the spoken exam.

Answer 27

Only 1/5 of those who failed Beta were allowed to take the individual examinations.

Question 28

(Gould) Explain the problems with administration of the tests regarding skills.

Answer 28

Black recruits and recent immigrants were most likely to be taking the wrong test. This is because they often couldn’t read/use a pencil but due to demand they had to take whatever test was available.

Question 29

(Gould) Explain the problems with administration of the tests regarding the Beta test.

Answer 29

Many individuals took the Alpha when they should have been taking the Beta. They then should have been picked up due to their low score, but many weren’t.

Question 30

(Gould) Explain the problems with the interpretation of results.

Answer 30

The questions were framed so that White Americans did best - it was not because they were naturally more intelligent.

Question 31

(Gould) Explain the use of findings for this study.

Answer 31

The result were used to suggest that some racial groups were superior to others (eugenics argument).
This helped inform political policy and in particular was used as ‘evidence’ to restrict immigration (The Immigration Restriction Act, 1924).

Question 32

(Gould) What was the long term impact of the findings from the study?

Answer 32

It is estimated that 6 million people from southern, central and eastern Europe tried to enter America between 1924 and 1939 but were denied. Many of these people suffered due to this.
One of the groups that were found to be low in intelligence were Jewish. Many tried to leave Europe when WW2 started but were unable to, due to immigration restrictions.

Question 33

(Gould) What were Gould’s conclusions?

Answer 33

There were ‘systematic errors’ in the design of the tests and how they were administered which led to black recruits and immigrants scoring lower.
Itelligence testing of this kind is culturally biased and if interpreted incorrectly can lead to racial discrimination.

Question 34

(Gould) What quantitative data did Yerkes produce?

Answer 34

Number of correct answers in tests and a grade given by army psychologists.
This yielded an ‘average mental age’ of ethnic backgrounds.

Question 35

(Gould) What qualitative data did Gould produce?

Answer 35

‘Yerkes had overlooked or consciously bypassed something of importance’ - recruits tests relying on pencil work.
He also criticised the conditions in which the tests took place saying that they would have been ‘either utterly confused or scared shitless’ and that he struggled to see how ‘recruits could have been in a frame of mind to record anything about their innate abilities’.

Question 36

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of consent, in regards to this study.

Answer 36

No consent received - recruits were forced to take the tests.

Question 37

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of confidentiality, in regards to this study.

Answer 37

Recruits were told to add their name, age and education level on the test.

Question 38

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of harm, in regards to this study.

Answer 38

Stress of the conditions plus harm based on the results.

Question 39

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of right to withdraw, in regards to this study.

Answer 39

Recruits faced punishment if they didn’t finish the tests.

Question 40

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of debrief, in regards to this study.

Answer 40

There was no time to debrief in the chaotic conditions.

Question 41

(Gould) Explain the ethical consideration of deception, in regards to this study.

Answer 41

No deception…although they do not know how the results would be used.

Question 42

(Gould) How could this studied be argued to be ethnocentric?

Answer 42

The tests themselves assumed knowledge of American culture.

Question 43

(Gould) How could this studied be argued to be not ethnocentric?

Answer 43

The men came from a wide range of backgrounds.

Question 44

(Gould) How does internal reliability affect this study?

Answer 44

The tests were standardised and also were instructions of how to do them but these were not often followed.

Question 45

(Gould) How does external reliability affect this study?

Answer 45

There was a large sample size of 1.75 million recruits.

Question 46

(Gould) How does internal validity affect this study?

Answer 46

Obviously the tests were not a valid measure of intelligence but were affected by a range of other factors (how long they had lived in the USA, how much schooling they had, knowledge of US culture).

Question 47

(Gould) How does population validity affect this study?

Answer 47

The sample represents a fairly wide set of cultural backgrounds with those from easter, central, northern and southern Europe as well as white and black Americans and the sample was very large so the results should be fairly generalisable (but no women).

Question 48

(Gould) How does criterion validity affect this study?

Answer 48

The tests were used to predict if recruits were intelligent enough to be considered for roles as officers (bias in tests meant that findings are unlikely to be a good predictor of this).