Chapter Eleven

Question 0

Factor Analysis

Answer 0

A statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one’s total score.
Developed by Charles Spearman.

Question 1

Intelligence

Answer 1

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Question 2

General Intelligence (G)

Answer 2

A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Question 3

Primary Mental Abilities

Answer 3

7 clusters identified by L. L. Thurstone.

- Word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, memory

Question 4

Howard Gardner

Answer 4

Supports Thurstone’s idea that intelligence comes in multiple forms (believes there are 8). Notes that brain damage may diminish one type of ability but not others.

Question 5

Savant Syndrome

Answer 5

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as computation or drawing.
-4/5 with this are male & many have autism (a highly male condition)

Question 6

Triarchic Theory

Answer 6

Robert Sternberg identifies 3 intelligences as opposed to Gardner’s 8.

• Analytical (academic problem solving) Intelligence
• Creative Intelligence
• Practical Intelligence

Question 7

Social Intelligence

Answer 7

The ability to comprehend social situations and manage oneself successfully
Coined by Nancy Cantor and John Kihlstrom.

Question 8

Emotional Intelligence

Answer 8

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.
Coined by John Mayer and Peter Salovey

Question 9

Creativity

Answer 9

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

Question 10

Convergent Thinking

Answer 10

Thinking in terms of only one right answer.

Damage to the left parietal lobe affects this type of thinking.

Question 11

Divergent Thinking

Answer 11

Thinking in terms of multiple solutions.

Damage to some areas of the frontal lobes affects this type of thinking.

Question 12

Reification

Answer 12

Viewing an abstract immaterial concept as if it were a concrete thing

Question 13

Neural Plasticity

Answer 13

The ability during childhood and adolescence to adapt and grow neural connections in response to the environment.

Question 14

Intelligence Test

Answer 14

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Question 15

Mental Age

Answer 15

A measure of intelligence test performance designed by Frenchman Alfred Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8 year old is said to have a mental age of 8.

Question 16

Stanford-Binet

Answer 16

The widely used American revision (by Lewis Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s intelligence test

Question 17

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Answer 17

IQ = mental age / chronological age x 100

On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100

Question 18

Aptitude Test

Answer 18

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

Question 19

Achievement Test

Answer 19

A test designed to assess what a person has learned.

Question 20

Aptitude tests _____, achievement tests _____.

Answer 20

Predict; Reflect

Question 21

Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Answer 21

The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests

Question 22

To be widely accepted, psychological tests must be ___, ___, and ___.

Answer 22

Standardized, reliable, valid

Question 23

Standardization

Answer 23

Defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization group.

Question 24

Normal Curve

Answer 24

The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that scribes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, with fewer and fewer scores lying near the extremes.

Question 25

Flynn Effect

Answer 25

The worldwide phenomenon of improving intelligence test performance

Question 26

Reliability

Answer 26

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of test, or on retesting.

Question 27

Validity

Answer 27

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Question 28

Content Validity

Answer 28

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks)

Question 29

Criterion

Answer 29

The behavior that a test is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity

Question 30

Predictive Validity (AKA Criterion-Related Validity)

Answer 30

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior

Question 31

Mental Retardation

Answer 31

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound

Question 32

Down Syndrome

Answer 32

A condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome 21 in one’s genetic makeup

Question 33

Mainstreaming

Answer 33

Being integrated into a regular classroom

Question 34

Stereotype Threat

Answer 34

A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype