Individual differences area Unique Personality Measuring differences Idiographic Quantifiable Characteristics Psychological attributes Complex behaviour Case studies Individual differences area

Is your intelligence fixed? Are you intelligent? What is intelligence? Is your intelligence fixed? Are you born intelligent? Can you measure intelligence? We are going to be looking at intelligence, so I want you to think.. How?

Gould (1982) Bias in IQ testing Area: Individual differences Theme: measuring differences

What is the purpose of an IQ test? To measure one’s intelligence It is assumed ones IQ score represents their intelligence

Did you think the IQ test represented your intelligence? If yes… Why? If no… Why not? Please be specific when praising or criticising the IQ test

Intelligence IQ A statistical concept Measurement of a persons ability to undertake language, numerical and reasoning through a test Measured on a nominal scale – tells us whether one person is more intelligent than another Is said to correlate with academic achievement A psychological construct Implied meaning of the ability to acquire information, to think and to reason No universal definition More contemporary definitions stress adaptation to the environment

Gould 1982 “A Nation of Morons” This is not a study conducted by Gould The research we are going to look at is by Yerkes. Stephen Gould did the very same when he published ‘A Nation of Morons’ in 1982, in which he reviewed Yerkes’ study. Gould, along with many others, was very critical of the research and the impact that it had on many people’s lives. This key study is about Gould. He conducted a review article of Yerkes’ original study. This presentation will discuss Yerkes in order to critique his work, just like Gould did.

Background: Intelligence is not fixed at birth nor is it down to genetics. It can be influenced by the environment In 1905, the Simon-Binet test, the world’s first intelligence test was developed 5 years later this was adapted for use in the USA and it became known as the Stanford-Binet test  In 1944 the most widely used test of adult intelligence, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was born. 

Similar to ‘quasi’ experiment Background: When America became involved in WW1, over a million recruits were required Colonel Yerkes combined his early ideas of inherited intelligence and the development of mental testing and developed the Army Alpha and Beta tests as a way of selecting recruits Note: this was not an experiment or piece of empirical research. It is an abstract from Gould’s (1981) book where he discusses measuring of human intelligence 

Army Alpha Written test for literate men Included questions about number sequences, analogies and other familiar IQ questions Yerkes believed the test measured native intellectual ability, which is not influenced by education or culture However, it is criticised for being very culturally bias – someone unfamiliar with American culture would perform poorly on this

Designed for illiterate individuals or those who failed the Alpha test Army Beta Designed for illiterate individuals or those who failed the Alpha test Picture test Pictures used were culturally specific and if participants had no knowledge of the items, they would have been unable to the answer questions correctly instructions were written in English and three parts of the test required written answers – hardly suitable for illiterate people! Those who failed this test = individual verbal exam Experimental design? Independent groups design

Aim: To examine… Issues with psychometric testing, specifically IQ tests Ways in which IQ test support racist views on inherited intelligence

Method: SAMPLE 1.75 million US army recruits from different backgrounds during WW1 The recruits included White Americans, ‘Negroes’ and European immigrants Do not refer to the Army recruits as ‘participants’

Issues Yerkes found that many recruits had spent little time in education and so the queue for the Beta test grew. The standards required to take the Alpha were lowered, but not consistently across all army camps. In some, schooling up to the third grade counted as literate (so they would have to take the Alpha) and in others anyone who could read took the Alpha. Those individuals who failed the Alpha should have filtered through the system and taken the Beta, but due to time constraints they didn’t and as a result many scored zero.

Is this good/bad? Results: Data was analysed (by E.G. Boring) looking for racial and national averages Found: Average white American male = mental age 13 Average Black male = 10.4 (the lighter the skin colour; the higher the score)

Why were there differences? Eugenicists (people who study in the possibility of improving the qualities of human species) suggested white American males scored so poorly because… “‘the poor, Negroes and feeble-minded’ had interbred and lowered the overall intelligence of the population.”

Why were there differences? Men were often allocated an inappropriate test – flawed results Culturally bias = test was designed by white, middle class American males. Therefore, suited to a particular group Language barrier – recent immigrants highly disadvantages Positive correlation between stay in US and score – what does this mean?

A number of conclusions IQ tests are both culturally and historically biased IQ tests do not measure innate intelligence IQ tests do not provide valid results, offering unreliable results. Inappropriate and poorly administered IQ tests have led to tragic consequences.

‘It was touching to see the intense effort … put into answering the questions, often by men who never before had held a pencil in their hands.’ Examiner for the Beta test, 1968, recalling his experience The Beta test was designed to be used by illiterate men, but it still relied on pencil work (writing), knowledge of numbers and how to write them.

These tests had large implications Bearing in mind that these tests were now accepted measures of innate intelligence, here was evidence that there really was a difference between racial and national groups in their levels of intelligence In 1924 the Immigration Restriction Act was passed, Europeans who had scored very poorly on the tests were consequently no longer welcome in the country It was then decided a quota of imigrants were to be allowed into America (2%), ensuring the ‘unwanted’ were low in the US One of the groups that was found to be low in intelligence were the Jews. Many fled their country of origin and were denied entry to the US. The fate of many of these are known from the Nazi regime

‘I believe those tests were worth what the war cost, even in human life, if they served to show clearly to our country, and the degrees of intelligence in different races who are coming to us, in a way which no one can say is the result of prejudice … We have learned once and for all that the Negro is not like us. So in regard to many races and sub- races in Europe we learned that some which we had believed possessed of an order of intelligence perhaps superior to ours [i.e. Jews] were far inferior.’ Henry Fairfield Osborn (president of the American Museum of Natural History), 1923 ‘We know what happened to many who wished to leave but had nowhere to go. The paths to destruction are often indirect, but ideas can be agents as sure as guns and bombs.’ Gould, 1982

Criticisms of the tests The data was analysed subjectively. One of Yerkes’ followers carried out the analysis and the conclusions were made to fit the hereditary argument. Many individuals took the Alpha when they should have been taking the Beta. They then should have been picked up due to their low score and completed the Beta, but many weren’t. The Beta test still relied on certain skills, like number, etc. (see next slide for more). Criticisms of the tests Black recruits and recent immigrants were the ones most likely to be taking the wrong test. This is because they often couldn’t read/use a pencil but due to demand they had to take whatever test was available. Many of the questions were culturally biased.

Evaluation Validity Ecological validity Reliability Other Ethics Did the tests measure intelligence? What extraneous variables were there? Evaluation Ecological validity Is being tested an everyday experience? Was the study conducted in the real world? Reliability Was the criteria for who did what test consistent across all camps? Did all camps receive the same questions? Sample size? Other Do the results support the nature or the nurture debate? Is the study scientific? Is the study useful? If so, who is it useful to? Ethics Did the participants give fully informed consent? Could they withdraw? Any harm? Short term or long term? In pairs/small groups, you will be given a point of evaluation. You must create a strong argument for your point Read through the handout you have been provided. Highlight any key information and add in any missed information

Links to areas/perspectives Activity 4 Links to areas/perspectives Gould’s study falls within the individual differences area because it is reviewing an attempt (by Yerkes) to develop a way of measuring how individuals differ in their intelligence. It is worth noting that many studies can come under more than one area. For example, Gould could also be said to come under developmental psychology.

Activity 4 Links to key themes The key theme of this study is ‘measuring differences’; Yerkes attempted to measure the intellectual differences of First World War recruits. Gould argues that psychologists should be careful when measuring differences as cultural biases may impact the findings. There is also the possibility of the results not being socially sensitive and being misused.