1. Intelligence

3. Intelligence
The global capacity to think rationally, act purposefully and deal effectively with the environment
Radical Ideas:
Can intelligence be measured?
Do intelligence tests measure cultural differences?
Does heredity or environment play a part in difference of intelligence

4. Development of Intelligence Tests
Alfred Binet
France Commissioned to identify children who may need special help in school
Devised a series of tests to measure different mental abilities- focused on memory, attention, ability to understand similarities and differences
Brighter children answered like older children and less capable answered like younger children
Binet developed the idea of a mental age which may be different from the child’s chronological age
His tests became the basis for modern intelligence tests

5. Binet’s Beliefs
He did not believe that he was measuring inborn intelligence or permanent level of intelligence
Believed intelligence was too complex to describe with a single number
Refused to rank “normal” children on basis of scores-only wanted to identify children who would need special help
Recognized individual factors might affect a child’s scores –motivation- and that score could change

6. Development of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
Lewis Terman took Binet’s intelligence test and did exactly what Binet didn’t want to do: Put a numerical measure on inherited intelligence
These scores expressed in a single number called intelligence quotient or (IQ)
IQ= Mental Age X100
Chronological Age

7. Group Intelligence Testing
Emerged during WWI when US needed to screen recruits to determine level of rank
From this it was adopted for civilian use- designed to test everyone- school children, prisoners, and immigrants
Terman did a study on school children with genius IQ’s and followed them using a longitudinal study

8. Negatives of Group Intelligence Testing
Terman and others became convinced that IQ was important to one’s success in different professions
Tried to identify min. IQ needed for certain professions and insisted that employers should test applicants for those jobs

9. Principles of Test Construction
Types of tests that measure intelligence of mental ability
Achievement- designed to measure a person’s level of knowledge, skill of accomplishment
Ex. Stanford Achievement, ITBS, California Achievement Test (CAT), ACTs
Aptitude- Designed to assess a person’s capacity to benefit from education or training- tests your ability learn certain types of information or perform certain skills
SATs

10. Three Requirements for Test Design
1. Standardization- test is given to a large number of subjects who are representative of the group for whom the test is designed
Subjects take same test under uniform conditions
Scores of this group establish the norms of standards against which an individual score is compared and interpreted
Norms follow a pattern of individual differences called the normal distribution- bell shaped curve where most scores cluster around the average score

11. 3 Requirements Continued
2. Reliability- test must consistently produce similar scores on different occasions
Can do this by giving two similar but not identical versions of the test at different times
3. Validity- test measures what it is supposed to measure
Ex- test measures mechanical aptitude- compare test scores with the degree of success that people have in jobs with mechanical skills

12. Wechsler Test of Intelligence
Specifically designed for adults rather than children
Provided scores on 11 subsets measuring different abilities: Verbal scores, vocabulary, comprehension, knowledge of general info/other verbal tasks
Performance score: nonverbal tests such as identifying missing parts, arranging pictures to tell a story, arranging blocks to match a pattern

13. Wechsler Test of Intelligence
Profile of an individual’s strengths and weakness-if low scores on some tests and high scores on other could indicate a learning disability
Now the most commonly administered intelligence test