Intelligence and Psychological Testing Chapter 9 Intelligence and Psychological Testing

Key Concepts in Psychological Testing

Psychological Test- standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behavior Measure individual differences Responses represent a “sample” of your behavior (not necessarily representative) Test scores should be interpreted cautiously

Principal Types of tests Mental Ability Tests Intelligence Tests -measure general mental aptitude Aptitude tests measure potential more than knowledge, but they break mental ability into separate components Aptitude Tests – assess specific types of mental abilities Assess verbal reasoning, numerical ability, language usage, etc Achievement Tests –gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various subjects

Principal Types of tests Personality Tests Personality Tests- measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests, values, and attitudes

Standardization and Norms Standardization- refers to the uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of a test Everyone gets the same questions, time limits, instructions, etc Test Norms- information about where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to other scores on that test They tell you how you score relative to other people (average/above average) Percentile score – indicates the percentage of people who score at or below the score one has obtained Ex. Reading Score OGTA Standardization Group/Norm Group- large sample of people who are representative of the broader population

Reliability repeated measurements should yield reasonably similar results Tire gauge, stop watches Reliability- measurement consistency of a test (or of other kinds of measurement techniques) Psychological tests are not always perfectly reliable Test-retest reliability Correlation Coefficient is a numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables

Reliability coefficient Joe Sofia Josie Andy Clara Katie Matt Katie Matt Josie Andy Clara Joe Sofia

Validity Validity –refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure Refers to the accuracy or usefulness of the inferences or decisions based on a test (valid for one, invalid for another) Content Validity- refers to the degree to which the content of a test is representative of the domain its supposed to cover Psych tests covers psych not American History Criterion-Related Validity- estimated by correlating subject’s scores on a test with their scores on a test with their scores on an independent criterion (another measure) of the trait assessed by the test Pilot aptitude test-compare with a pilot training assessments Construct Validity- the extent to which evidence shows that a test measures a particular hypothetical construct Patterns of correlation .

Reliability vs Validity

Reliability & Validity podcasts http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2012/01/ep-168-reliability-the-foundation-of-any-good-personality-test/ http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2012/02/ep-169-validity-having-confidence-in-the-results-of-a- personality-test/

The Evolution of Intelligence Testing

Galton & Binet Sir Francis Galton- 1800’s, bright people have excellent sensory acuity, coined “nature vs nuture” Alfred Binet- first test of general mental ability (loaded with items that required abstract reasoning rather than sensory skills) Scores were expressed in terms of “mental age” or “mental level” Mental Age-indicated that he or she displayed the mental ability typical of a child of that chronological (actual) age

Terman and the Stanford-Binet Lewis Terman and colleagues at Stanford revised the test and incorporated the “intelligence quotient” “Intelligence Quotient” (IQ)- is a child’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100 Allowed for comparing children of different ages Made an articulate case for the potential educational benefits of testing IQ= Mental Age x 100 Chronological Age

Wechsler Measurement for adults – Weshsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Less focused on the verbal ability, many items that require nonverbal reasoning Separate scores for Verbal IQ, performance/Nonverbal IQ and full scale IQ Scoring system based on the normal distribution

Basic Questions about intelligence testing

What kinds of questions? Diverse- furnish information, recognize vocabulary, figure out patterns, demonstrate basic memory, manipulate words, numbers, and images through abstract reasoning

Modern IQ scores Normal Distribution – symmetric, bell-shaped curve that represents the pattern in which many characteristics are dispersed in the population Deviation IQ scores – locate subjects precisely within the normal distribution using the standard deviation as the unity of measurement

Intelligence tests are intended to measure intellectual potential- but people’s backgrounds are different and make things difficult to devise items that are completely unaffected by differences in knowledge Apply common knowledge IQ tests measure a blend of potential and knowledge

Adequate Reliability? Adequate validity? Most IQ tests report commendable reliability estimated (correlations usually range into the .90s They sample behavior (motivations for the test can sometimes produce misleading results) Valid in the sense of testing for success in academic work (not social competence, practical problem solving, creativity, mechanical ingenuity, or artistic talent) 1) verbal intelligence 2) practical intelligence 3) social intelligence

Vocational Success? IQ tests in other cultures? People who score higher on IQ tests are more likely than those who score low to end up in high-status jobs Specifics vary upon job performance Not really! Western IQ tests do not translate well into the language and cognitive frameworks of many non-western cultures

Extremes of Intelligence-Retardation Mental retardation- refers to subaverage general mental ability accompanied by deficiencies in adaptive skills, originating before age 18 Communication, self-care, social interaction, home-living, community use, and health/safety IQ score 70-75 below General deficits so the categorization is not solely based on the basis of individuals’ test ability Levels of Retardation 2-3% of the school-age population is diagnosed as mentally retarded (mild, moderate, severe, or profound) Most are mild cases and not easily distinguished from the rest of the population, 2/3 manages to shed the label when they leave school

Extremes of intelligence-giftedness Psychological Adjustment depends on level of giftedness High IQ vs Eminent (intersection of high intelligence, high creativity, and high motivation

Heredity and the environment

Evidence for hereditary influence Twin Studies- compare identical and fraternal twins Identical twins are similar in intelligence, fraternal is much lower Adoption Studies More similarity between biological relations than adopted Heritability Estimates Heritability ration- estimate of the proportion of trait variability in a population that is determined by variations in genetic inheritance (intelligence is 80% heredity and 20% environment)

Evidence for environmental influence Adoption studies- foster parents shape environment Environmental Deprivation Studies-poor environments will experience a gradual decline in Iqs Generational Changes: The Flynn Effect- average IQ is rising steadily over the years

Nature and NUrture Reaction range- refers to the genetically determined limits on IQ (and other traits)

Cultural Differences in iq scores Group differences: minority groups in US are slightly lower than the average Socioeconmic disadvantage Stereotype vulnerability disadvantage Cultural bias on IQ tests

New directions in the assessment and study of intelligence Jensen- reaction time and inspection time Brain Size & IQ Intelligence and longevity

Cognitive processes Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence Contextual subtheory- intelligence is a culturally defined concept Experiential subtheory- relationships between experience and intelligence (deal with new and old things) Componential subtheory- metacomponents, performance components, and knowledge-acquisition components Analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence

Expanding the concept of intelligence Howard Gardner and Multiple intelligences Emotional intelligence- the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion

Period 1 FRQ- Answer on the bottom of your Gradecam sheet (if I can’t read it I won’t grade it) You are a psychologist creating a personality test to help determine how aggressive someone is. Your supervisor asks for you to explain how your test is valid. Explain how your test will have content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity.

Period 5 FRQ- Answer on the bottom of your Gradecam sheet (if I can’t read it I won’t grade it)

Period 6 FRQ- Answer on the bottom of your Gradecam sheet (if I can’t read it I won’t grade it)