INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING KEY CONCEPTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL

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INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

KEY CONCEPTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING • Psychological test: a standardized measure of a sample

KEY CONCEPTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING • Psychological test: a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behavior • Measure individual differences that exist among people in abilities, aptitudes, interests, and aspects of personality

MENTAL ABILITY TESTS • Most common • Include intelligence tests: measure general mental ability---assess

MENTAL ABILITY TESTS • Most common • Include intelligence tests: measure general mental ability---assess intellectual ability • Aptitude tests: assess specific types of mental abilities • Achievement tests: gauge a person’s mastery of knowledge and various subjects

PERSONALITY TESTS • DEF: measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests, values, and

PERSONALITY TESTS • DEF: measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests, values, and attitudes

STANDARDIZATION AND NORMS • Standardization: refers to the uniform procedures used in the administration

STANDARDIZATION AND NORMS • Standardization: refers to the uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of a test • Test norms: provide info about where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to other scores on that test • Percentile score: indicates the percentage of people who score at or below the score one has obtained

RELIABILITY • Refers to the measurement consistency of a test • Test-retest, split-half reliability

RELIABILITY • Refers to the measurement consistency of a test • Test-retest, split-half reliability • Reliability estimates require computation of correlation coefficients: a numerical index of the degree of relationship btwn 2 variables

VALIDITY • Refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was

VALIDITY • Refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure • Content validity: degree to which the content of a test is representative of the domain it’s supposed to cover • Criterion-related validity: estimated by correlating subjects’ scores on a test with their scores on an independent criterion of the trait assessed by the test • Construct validity: the extent to which there is evidence that a test measures a particular hypothetical construct

EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

GALTON’S STUDIES OF HEREDITARY GENIUS • Sir Francis Galton • Found that success and

GALTON’S STUDIES OF HEREDITARY GENIUS • Sir Francis Galton • Found that success and eminence ran in families • Wrote Hereditary Genius in 1869 • Coined the term nature vs. nurture • Invented concepts of correlation and percentile test scores

BINET’S BREAKTHROUGH • Alfred Binet asked to devise a test to identify mentally sub-normal

BINET’S BREAKTHROUGH • Alfred Binet asked to devise a test to identify mentally sub-normal children • Worked with Theodore Simon • The Binet-Simon scale expressed a child’s mental age: displays the mental ability typical of a child of a chronological age

TERMAN AND THE STANFORD-BINET • Lewis Terman of Stanford expanded and revised Binet’s test

TERMAN AND THE STANFORD-BINET • Lewis Terman of Stanford expanded and revised Binet’s test • 1916: Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale • Included intelligence quotient (IQ): a child’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100

WECHSLER’S INNOVATIONS • David Wechsler wanted a test for adults • Wechsler Adult Intelligence

WECHSLER’S INNOVATIONS • David Wechsler wanted a test for adults • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) published in 1939 • Less dependent on verbal ability • Discarded IQ in favor of normal distribution

INTELLIGENCE TESTING TODAY • 2 categories: • Individual tests and group tests • Individuals

INTELLIGENCE TESTING TODAY • 2 categories: • Individual tests and group tests • Individuals are time consuming and costly • Schools use Otis. Lennon School Ability Test and Lorge. Thorndike Intelligence Test

BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT INTELLIGENCE TESTING

BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT INTELLIGENCE TESTING

WHAT KINDS OF QUESTIONS? • Fairly diverse • Information, vocabulary, demonstrate memory • Manipulate

WHAT KINDS OF QUESTIONS? • Fairly diverse • Information, vocabulary, demonstrate memory • Manipulate words, numbers, and images through abstract reasoning

WHAT DO MODERN IQ SCORES MEAN? • Normal distribution: a symmetric, bell-shaped curve that

WHAT DO MODERN IQ SCORES MEAN? • Normal distribution: a symmetric, bell-shaped curve that represents the pattern in which many characteristics are dispersed in the population • Scores translated into deviation IQ scores: locate subjects precisely within the normal distribution, using the standard deviation as the unit of measurement • Scores indicate exactly where you fall in the normal distribution of intelligence

DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS MEASURE POTENTIAL OR KNOWLEDGE? • Intelligence tests are intended to measure

DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS MEASURE POTENTIAL OR KNOWLEDGE? • Intelligence tests are intended to measure intellectual potential • Reality: they measure both

DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS HAVE ADEQUATE RELIABILITY? • Correlations range into the. 90 s •

DO INTELLIGENCE TESTS HAVE ADEQUATE RELIABILITY? • Correlations range into the. 90 s • They are reliable, but represent a sample • Test anxiety can shift scores