Gould/Yerkes Flashcards
(21 cards)
Outline the background to Gould/Yerkes
-professor of psychology at the univerity of Harvard #
-The subject was viewed as a soft science
-wanted to prove that psycholigy could be as rigorous a science as physics
outline the deifinition of intelligence
-the ability to acquire knowledge and skills
outline the definition of psychometric tests
-These are tests that measure any psychological trait
Outline what is meant by Eugenics
- a strategy to only allow certain people to have children
Outline Yerkes overall aim
-His aim was to prove that psycholgy could be as rigorous a scince as physics
Outline the sample used by Yerkes
-1.75 million army recruits
-men
Outline the way that the army alpha test was designed
-a written examination for literate recruits
-this included 8 parts that took less than an hour comprising of multiple things:
-number sequence
-unscrambling sentences
-analogies
-MCQ’s
Outline the way that Yerkes army beta test was designed
-test designed for illiterate recruits
-7 tasks and took less than 1 hour
-tasks included maze running, cube counting and translating numerals into symbols, pictoral completion (required to draw what was missing from the piture)
Outline the way that the indivual exam was carried out in Yerkes
-this was for failures of the beta test were to be recalled for an individual exam
Outline how Yerkes tests were meant to be administered
-protocols suggested that men who were illiterate in english must be automatically assigned to take the beta test
-men who failed the army alpha test should take the army beta test
Outline the findings from Yerkes mental tests
average mental age of white american adults was 13
average mental age of russian adults was 11.34
average mental age of itallian recruits was 11.01
average mental age of black americans 10.41
Outline how the mental age scored were interpreted and explained at the time
-interpreted as the darker your skin colour the lower your intelligence
-findings were taken up by politicians as ‘facts’ resulted in limits of immigration
-estimated that as a consequence up to 6 million europeans were bannes entry to the USA
Outline what is meant by a review study
-an expert will scrutanise the research and how it was conducted, in order to find if the findings and conclusions are genuine
-assembles all current research on a given topic
Outline the strengths of a review study
-reviewer capable of greater objectivity about someones research
-can suggest reliable effects by picking up on trends across a series of studies
-no ethical issues as there are no participants
Outline the weaknesses of review studies
-vulnerable to researcher bias
-only as valid as the research that is being based upon
-dont produce any new knowledge
Outline what problems Gould found with the design of the intelligence tests
Cultural bias
-included sections that presupposed familiarity with american culture
Systematic bias
-Beta test requires pencil work w.g finishing drawing picture. Many paryicpants hadnt held a pencil in their hands before
What problems were their with the way that the intelligence tests were admisnitered
-Illliterate recruits were often sent to do the army Alpha tests and were not given retests on the beta test
-Conducted in a frantic rush and there were men who took the test in not te correct frame of mind
-Changing definitions of literate so that more recruits did the army alpha test
-The interview was never conducted after the failure of the army beta test
What were the problems with the way in which Yerkes interpreted the findings
-Yerkes and his followers were so in thrall with hereditary explanations, they failed to give alternative explanations for the ‘facts’ they produced
Outline what happened as a result of Yerkes findings
-politicians used these results as facts and used them to lobby limits for immigration, e.g the lower intelligence officer the closer to the front line
-6 million europeans were denied entry to the USA before WW2
Outline what Yerkes concluded about his own research
1)intelligence is an innate quality with a hereditary basis. It is possible to grade individuals by the colour of their skin
2)The average man of most nations could be considered a ‘moron’
3)mental testing of this kind is a valid, scientific technique with wider implications for society
Outline what Gould concluded abot Yerkes research
-Yerkes doesnt have the evidence to support these claims and conclusions
-Gould ends his article with ‘paths to destruction are often indirect, but ideas can be agents sure as guns and bombs’
