Ch 9 Flashcards
Why did Binet and his colleague Simon devise a test in 1905 (the Binet-Simon test)? What was its purpose?
The binet-simon scale expressed a child’s score in terms of “mental level” or “mental age”. A childs mental age indicated that he or she displayed the mental ability typical of a child of that chronological (actual) age
Raw scores on their scale were “converted” to represent mental level or mental age. What does a mental age of X (for example, 6) mean?
A child’s mental age indicated that he or she displayed the mental ability typical of a child of that chronological (actual) age. so a 6 would mean a 6 year old I thiiink???
Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University revised the Benet-Simon test and it became known as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale/Test (1916).
a. How was an IQ score calculated from a child’s performance on the test based on the concept of mental age? See textbook Table 9.1.
b. What does an IQ of 100 mean when it is calculated in that way?
IQ=(mental age/divided by chronological age) x 100
a n IQ of 100 I think means that their mental age matches their chronological age (since it’s mental age over chron age and the result of that is times 100)
Wechsler developed a well-known intelligence test for adults in 1939: the WAIS scale. Modern versions use a roman numeral to indicate the version (for example, WAIS-IV). How did the content of this test differ from the Stanford-Binet test? See also textbook Figure 9.4.
Weschler made his test less dependent on participants verbal abilities, he also discarded the intelligence quotient and started using normal distribution -
What was Spearman’s conclusion about the structure of intelligence from using factor analysis? a. What did Spearman call the common factor that he found?
b. What has most modern research shown about Spearman’s concept of a general factor of intelligence?
Spearman invented a procedure called factor analysis- in factor analysis correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables
a. What did Spearman call the common factor that he found? He called it “g” for general factor
b. What has most modern research shown about Spearman’s concept of a general factor of intelligence? Comment: While g dominates our current understanding of intelligence, there have also been some attempts to develop hierarchical models where the general factor, g, is at the top, with other levels below it.
This is a complex topic, and the basis for one view, factor analysis, is a statistical technique beyond the scope of an introductory course. The basic difference between the two main views of intelligence is the question of whether intelligence involves many forms of ability, or whether it partly or even mostly consists of one singular intelligence.
The evidence from factor analysis, which assesses the correlations among the sub-tests (or scales) of an intelligence test (or many separate tests of what appear to be very different skills), suggests that there is one overall contributor to intelligence that accounts for a good portion of the performance on all of the tests. In simple terms, a person who does well on any sub-scale tends to do well on all of them, and someone who does poorly on one tends to do poorly on all of them: the sub-tests are positively correlated with one another to a moderate degree. This is a general statement about the pattern of results across the sub-tests for the population as estimated by a representative sample. It does not imply that every individual will obtain the same relative score (compared to the group mean) on all of the sub-tests. There are also other factors that influence an individual’s performance on a particular sub-test.
What are crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence?
Comment: While our textbook notes that crystallized intelligence is associated with using “acquired knowledge,” it doesn’t clearly indicate that many of the sub-scales that correlate most with crystallized intelligence assess knowledge that one would probably learn in school, such as vocabulary, math, and world knowledge. Notice that this is similar to what academic achievement tests (see below) are designed to measure.
Fluid intelligence is more related to speed of processing, working-memory capacity, and solving novel, often abstract, problems using general strategies (that is, not known solution methods).
Fluid intelligence involves reasoning ability memory capacity and speed of information processing
Crystalized intelligence involves ability to apply acquired knowledge and skills in problem solving
Describe Carroll’s three-level model of intelligence. Where is g in the model?
g is at the top of the of the strata -it was a hierarchy that Carroll proposed- where intelligence is represented by 3 strata, as well as eight broad abilities such as crystallized and fluid intelligence (referred to as GF and GC) in the middle layer (stratum II), and abilities like spelling at the bottom (stratum III).
In general, one’s IQ score in childhood predicts one’s health later in life and one’s longevity. Discuss what the correlation between IQ and these outcomes may mean, and how they should be interpreted. What are possible causal explanations for these correlations?
I assume that somehow IQ is related to intelligence in decision making? Book says: it could be hereditary, or related to grey matter in brain… cold probably expand on this answer but whatever
Describe what standardization means with respect to the administration of a test.
standardization refers to the uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of a test. all participants get the same instructions, the same questions and the same time limits so that their scores can be compared meaningfully.
Explain how the scores of a test are standardized. Describe how a standardization sample/group is involved. a. What are test norms?
b. Why are test norms needed and how do they denote relative standing (for example, ability, personality traits, psychological functioning)?
c. How is the raw score on a test converted to one that can be compared to the test norms?
the standardization of a tests scoring system includes the development of test norms. Test norms provide info about where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to other scores on that test. The sample of ppl that the norms are based on is called a test’s standardization group… test norms allow you to convert your raw score on a test into a percentile. A percentile score indicates the percentage of ppl who score at or below the score one has obtained.
Describe reliability.
a. A test with high test-retest reliability would have what kind of correlation between two administrations of the test? What does this mean?
Comment: Another form of reliability is whether the test score remains the same regardless of who marks it: inter-rater reliability. This kind of reliability is only an issue for tests that must be graded, since they often involve subjective judgment.
b. Correlation coef icient:
Relibability refers to the measurement consistency of a test (or of other kinds of measurement techniques). a test’s reliability can be stimated in several ways including the approach to check test-retest reliability which is estimated by comparing subejcts scores on two adminstrations of a test…. Correlation coefficient=is a numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables. if ppl get two similar scores on the two different adminstrations of the test, then the test-retest reliability must be positively corelated
See textbook Figure 9.1. 14. Describe the concept of validity. How can validity be thought of with respect to decision making or drawing an inference?
a. Produce some examples of tests that are not valid measures of specific constructs (for example, math ability).
b. Describe the types of validity: content, criterion, and construct.
c. How can criterion-based validity be assessed by comparing a test/scale with another trusted test of the same ability or trait using correlation? Describe the correlation value one would expect to find (strength and direction).
Validity=refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure if we develop a new test of assertiveness, we have to provide some evidence that it really measures assertiveness. …book points out that a specific test might be valid for one purpose such as placing students in school and invalid for another purpose such as making employment decisions for a particular occupation… validity can be estimated several ways depending on the nature and purpose of a test. Content validity refers to the degree to which the content of a test is representative of the domain it’s supposed to cover. Criterion-related validity is estimated by correlating subjects’ scores on an independent criterion (another measure) of the trait addressed by the test
What a does an IQ score mean in the modern way in which they are constructed and interpreted (that is, with respect to a normal distribution of scores)?
Comment: The raw score one gets on an IQ test or other tests that are standardized (with norms, and usually with a specified mean and standard deviation) is simply the sum of the items correctly answered. These raw scores are then converted into a standardized score, so that IQ scores from different tests (variants of the same test or different tests entirely) are comparable. Thus an IQ score of 107 means the same thing across tests and individuals, even though the raw scores on the tests may be different. This is most obvious with children. A six year-old child who completed an IQ test and received an IQ score of 100, and who then completed the same IQ test when they were ten years old and again got an IQ score of 100, would not have gotten the same raw score on both attempts. The child would have answered more questions correctly at ten years of age. The raw score would have been higher for the second test, but compared to the population of ten-year-old children, the child’s IQ score would still have been 100.
Describe a normal distribution with respect to its characteristic shape. In a normal distribution, where are the mean and median (fiftieth percentile) located?
see pg 47. It would be like a bell shape or like a a camel hump or something. figure 2.9 shows a normal distribution - the horizontal axis shows how far above or below the MEAN a score is . The vertical axis shows the number of cases obtaining each score. 50 th percentile would be right in the middle.
What, by convention, is the mean of an IQ score distribution? And the standard deviation?
Comment: A normal distribution (normal curve), as shown in textbook Figure 9.8, should not be read as a line graph. The line only marks out a specific, bell-shaped space, and it’s the area “under the curve” (under the line) that matters. The shape of the curve, and specifically the areas under each section of it, are identical for all normal distributions, no matter what they measure. The area between the mean and a deviation score of +1 is always the same for any normal distribution—for instance, 34% of the entire population.
see textbook Figure 9.8, although please note this error in the caption: it should say, “For instance, 68.26 percent of the cases fall between +1 and –1 standard deviation” (p. 323).
a. Realistically, what is the range of IQ scores that one would see in a typical sample of individuals? Which scores would be more and less common?
b. If a person’s raw score on an IQ test is 56 points, and the estimated population mean on the test is 50 points (the mean of the raw scores), then what do we know about the person’s IQ score? What don’t we know?
c. Discuss the difference between a score of 100% on an academic test and an IQ score of 100. d. If someone attained a deviation score of +1, then what IQ score did they attain? (Assume a typical IQ standard deviation of 15.)
For most IQ tests, the mean of the distribution is set at 100 and the standard deviation is set at 15. so a score of 115 means that the person scored exactly one SD above the mean. A score of 100 means that a person showed average performance. Modern IQ scores indicate exactly where you fall in the normal distribution of intelligence. getting 100 percent on a test is great, getting 100 on an IQ test is just average. sooo if a person scoared +1 deviation that means they got a 115 if the SD is 15.
Answer the following questions and complete the table below—that is, fill in the cells without numbers in them. See textbook Figure 9.8, although remember the error noted above: the caption should say, “For instance, 68.26 percent of the cases fall between +1 and –1 standard deviation” (p. 323).
Comment: Note that because the distribution is normal, it is also symmetric, and so the rows display an inverse pattern (the top and bottom rows are opposites with respect to the relative position on the IQ scores).
go back to study guide and see the table, work on this Thursday night
As a measure of “intelligence” how valid are IQ scores?
somewhat valid but they can’t account for all types of intelligence and are not necessarily definitive since they can’t account for culture, genetics… couldn’t find something succinct about this in text book
What is the currently recommended IQ score for determining intellectual disability? See textbook Table 9.2, in addition to the text.
a. What percentage of the population would be considered intellectually disabled given this IQ score cut-off alone and the distribution of IQ scores (see textbook Figure 9.8)?
b. According to our textbook, what is the prevalence of intellectual disability in the population?
average IQ score is 100; ppl who score well below the average are referred to as having an intellectual disability. This refers to general mental ability accompanied by deficiencies in adaptive skills, originating before age 18. text says “well below” the average is arbitrary. the american association of intellectual disabiltiies says 70 is the cut off. the DSM 5 tries to balance IQ testing WITH adaptive functiniong to determine the classification of intellectual disability instead of relying on IQ alone - the prevalence is high if the score is at 75, then the number of ppl needing special education would double
Discuss the general relation between the severity of intellectual disability and known organic (biological) causes and no known causes. What other factors may be involved in cases of mild intellectual disability?
many organic conditions can cause intellectual disability: IE down syndrome, FRM 1 Gene and fragile X syndrome, phenylketonuria. There are about 1000 known organic syndromes that cuase, but diagnosticians are unable to pin down an organic cause for as many as 50 percent of cases. some theories are that it is caused by environmental facotrs for mild cases, vast majority of mild cases are for children from the lower socioeconomic classes.
Contrast how experts suggest that giftedness should be assessed with how it is often assessed in school settings?
What is the typical IQ score or percentile used to categorize students as gifted?
Terman’s study had an average IQ score of 150 for the gifted kids; recent research clearly demonstrates that quality training, monumental effort and perseverance are crucial factors in greateness but many experts on giftedness maintain that extraordinary acheivement also requires rare , innate talent. the text talks about how hiddne gifted kids exist too, like girls or kids from minority groups who may not be acheiving academically for whatever reason
Explain why family studies of intelligence cannot separate heredity from social or environmental causes of intelligence.
a. Discuss why twin studies and adoption studies are useful in this context.
b. Describe the role of 1) genetic inheritance and 2) social environment in IQ. See textbook Figure 9.12.
(SEE COMMENT FOR QUESTION 26)
family studies can determine only whether genetic influence on a trait is PLAUSIBLE not whehter it is certain. family members share not just genes but environments, due to these researches have to turn to TWIN studies. and ADOPTION studies. to get more definitive evidence if it’s nurture or nature. Twin studies: rationale for these studies is that both identical and fraternal twins normally develop in similar enviroments. however identical twins share moer genetic kinship than fraternals, hence if pairs of identicla twins are more similiar in intelligence than pairs of fraternal twins, it’s presumably because oftheir greater genetic similairty.
Explain the term heritability ratio.
a. What is the consensus about the heritability ratio of intelligence as measured by IQ? b. Compare this with your conclusions in Table 9.B, which you filled out for Question 27c. Contrast Groups 1 versus 3 and Groups 1 versus 4, in particular.
Heritability ratio=an estimate of the proportion of trait variability in a population that is determined by variations in genetic inheritance. Heritability estimates for intelligence vary considerably vs something like heritability estimates for height is around 90 percent. BUT some theorists like Arthur Jense maintain that heritability of IQ ranges as high as 80 percent. they beleive that only about 20 percent of the variation of intelligence is attributable to environmental factors.
Describe the Flynn effect and explain why it strongly suggests that intelligence is influenced by environmental factors.
Look at textbook Figure 9.14 and focus on the right-hand vertical scale. How large is the “increase” in IQ across generational cohorts in these data? Why is that significant?
basically the IQ performance has been rising steadily over time, a score of 100 today would have earned you a score of about 120 back in the 1930s. researchers scramble to understand why this is and they can only agree that the FLynn effect has to be attributed to environmental factors, as the modern world’s gene pool could not have changed overnight.
