Module 3: Culture and Assessment

Question 1

Culture

Answer 1

Refers to the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and products of work of a particular population, community or group of people

Question 2

Henry H. Goddard

Answer 2

He adapted Binet’s test and used interpreters in test administration, employed a bilingual psychologist and administered it to selected immigrants (Jews, Hungarians, Russians) who are being processed for entry into the United States at Ellis Island (1913)

Question 3

What did Goddard conclude about the immigrants he tested on?

Answer 3

He concluded that they are “feeble-minded” or mentally deficient (1917)

Question 4

Was Goddard’s study accepted?

Answer 4

No, his research soon became controversial, fueling the nature-nurture debate and questions on what intelligence tests actually set out to measure

Question 5

What was the reason for Goddard’s findings?

Answer 5

Goddard wondered whether the findings were due to “hereditary defect” or “apparent defect due to deprivation”, but actually, the result of using a translated Binet test overestimated mental deficiency