Psychological & Intelligence Testing Psychology Chapter 13 Psychological & Intelligence Testing

Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities Eight factors make up intelligence Visual and spatial ability Perceptual speed Numerical ability Verbal meaning Memory Word fluency Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Initially formulated a list of seven intelligences Linguistic intelligence Logical-mathematical intelligence Musical intelligence Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence Spatial intelligence Interpersonal intelligence Intrapersonal intelligence

Additional Intelligences Naturalist intelligence Spiritual intelligence Existential intelligence Moral intelligence

Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence Why are smart people not always as successful as might be expected Self-awareness: recognize own feelings Mood management: distract from uncomfortable feelings Self-motivation: moving ahead with confidence

Impulse control: ability to delay pleasure People skills: ability to empathize

Alfred Binet Devised the 1st modern intelligence test Mental age: the level of intellectual functioning in years, compared to chronological age 4 elements important for intelligence Direction: set a goal Adaptability: adjust the goal Comprehension: understand the problem Self-motivation: assess the problem

Louis Terman 1916 Binet’s test was brought to the US and revised by Terman of Stanford Standford-Binet Test Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is a number that reflects the relationship between a child’s mental age and chronological age

David Wechsler Wechsler Scales, more widely used today Intelligence tests for children and adults Scores on the Wechsler tests are based on a comparison of a persons answers with the answers of others in the same group Measures both verbal and nonverbal ideas Beneficial for identifying particular learning disabilities

Charles Spearman Two factor theory: proposes that 2 factors contribute to an individual’s intelligence Factor g: represents a person’s general intelligence Complex mental work, problem solving Factor s: represents a person’s specific mental abilities Verbal or math skills

2 points critics make Argue that g does not measure many other kinds of mental abilities such as motor, musical, or creative abilities Argue that intelligence cannot be reduced to just g and expressed by a single IQ score Thurston was a major opponent

Robert Sternberg Triarchic Theory: intelligence can be divided into three ways of processing information Analytic thinking: the ability to solve problems Creative thinking: applying creative thinking to solving problems and dealing with new situations Practical thinking: skills to help adjust to and cope with one’s environment

Reliability and Validity Reliability refers to a tests consistency, it is reliable if it gives highly similar scores every time it is used Validity is high if the test measures what it is supposed to measure Problems with testing: Education level Economic background Cultural bias Motivation to do well

Mental Retardation Defined as below average intellectual functioning Individuals are unable to handle tasks appropriate to chronological age Affects between 7-8 million people, 3% of the population 1 in 10 families has a member affected

Classifications 70-79 Borderline: slow learners 52-69 Mild: most people legally termed “retarded” fall into this category 35-51 Moderate: when fully grown will have the skills of a 4-7 year old (reading, writing, speaking) 20-35 Severe: require constant supervision, 75% have a physical defect or major disease 19- Profound: rarely mature beyond 2, communication minimal

Distribution of IQ Scores 80-89 Slow learner 90-99 Low average 100-109 High average 110-119 Above average 120-129 Superior 130-144 Gifted 145-159 Highly Gifted 160- Genius Einstein’s IQ was about 160

MENSA Founded in England in 1946 Aim was to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions Membership is open to anyone whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries

6 Points on IQ Scores IQ scores seem to be most useful when related to school achievement Are somewhat accurate in predicting which people will do well in school Critics of IQ testing wonder whether such tests actually measure intelligence Most Psychologists agree that intelligence is the ability to acquire new ideas, behaviors, and to adapt to new situations

5) Generally, IQ tests measure the ability to solve certain types of problems 6) An IQ score measures performance: it does not explain it

Controversy over IQ testing Do IQ tests directly measure ability? (no) Do genetic differences or environmental inequalities cause two people to receive different scores on IQ tests? Are IQ test culturally biased?

Heritability The degree to which a characteristic is related to inherited genetic factors As genetic relationship increases (parent and child, identical twins) the similarity of IQ also increases

Twin Studies and IQ The best way to study the effects of Nature and Nurture is to study identical twins separated at birth and raised in different environments Thomas Bouchard: leading authority on Twins His study has researched more than 100 sets of twins that were raised apart from one another

Bouchard concludes that IQ is affected by genetic factors, supported by the discovery of a specific gene for human intelligence Bouchard believes 70% of IQ variance can be attributed to heredity

9 points on the effect of environment on IQ Studies show that brothers/sisters raised in the same environment are more likely to have similar IQs Quality preschool programs help raise IQs initially (head start) Participating children are less likely to be in special education classes Participating children are less likely to be held back Participating children are more likely to graduate from high school

6) Each year of school missed may drop a person’s IQ as much as 5 points 7) The richness of the home environment affects IQ 8) The quality of food in the home affects IQ 9) The number of brothers and sisters in the family affects IQ

Family size and IQ Research suggests that the brightest children come from the smallest families Larger families increase the amount of time a child spends with other children and decreases the amount of parental attention, development of intelligence has been known to suffer Interpersonal skills however may improve

Adults and intelligence Older people who retain their health have very high levels of intellectual functioning Seattle study links several factors Level of income Level of education Stimulating jobs Intact family life Attendance at cultural events, travel, and reading Married to a spouse with high level of intellect A flexible personality

Objective personality Inventories List of statements about beliefs, habits, hopes, needs, and desires Consists of multiple-choice/ true-false -MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic personality -CPI California Psychology Inventory

Projective Personality Test Projects innermost self onto the stimulus provided Ink Blot Test (Rorschach test) TAT Thematic Apperception Test

Aptitude Tests Mechanical comprehension, verbal skillls, clerical speed and accuracy

Achievement Tests Tests used to measure student progress SAT Scholastic Assessment Test The SAT has good validity and reliability