Intelligence Part 2 Write EVERYTHING in BLUE You

Intelligence – Part 2

• Write EVERYTHING in BLUE • You Do NOT need to write what is in BLACK

Assessing Intelligence • Intelligence tests-method for assessing a person’s mental aptitudes & comparing them to others.

Intelligence Review • Mental ability is the capacity to reason, remember, understand, solve problems, and make decisions. • Western cultures indicate mental ability in terms of thought. . the pursuit of intelligence! (Intell)

Intelligence Review • Divergent thinking is the ability to think along many paths to generate many solutions to a problem. – More than one solution to the problem • Convergent thinking is the ability to think logically to come up with one answer • Divergent thinking tests measure the number of different or unusual plausible responses that one can list for each item.

History of intelligence testing • Alfred Binet & Theodore Simon – Developed child’s mental age: the chronological age typical of a given level of performance • Average 9 year old has mental age of a 9 year old (brilliant right? ) – Theorized that mental aptitude is a general capacity that shows up in various ways – Did not try to find out WHY children were below average

History continued… • Lewis Terman – wrote an English version of Binet’s test, the Stanford-Binet. Terman devised the IQ, or intelligence quotient • IQ=Mental Age (MA) chronological age x 100 – Most no longer do this; use mental age relative to average performance of others of same age

History continued… • In 1912 Henry Goddard created a test stressing English writing skills and American culture for immigration purposes. • In 1949, Wechsler developed the modern test w/ 11 subtests. WAIS: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale • Overall intelligence score + separate scores for verbal comp, perceptual organization, working memory & processing speed

History continued… • Most people score near the middle, so that has set the? – norm • Normal curve: symmetrical bellshaped curve clustered around the middle (average)

Reliability - Repeat the task and get the same results: - Stability - correlation coefficients are = to. 80 or above – Test-re-test reliability - same test given twice w/o practice & use alternative form of original exam. – Split half- first and second half scores should correlate. • Could compare results on odd versus even numbered questions.

Validity • A test may be reliable, without being valid • Validity – the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure. – What would happen if we used a inaccurate scale or tape measure? • Would be highly reliable (consistent) but would lack validity

Validity - continued • Content validity – testing for the correct material – Study math, test psy? ? • Construct Validity –determine whether or not a common factor can be shown to exist underlying several measurements using different observable indicators – Older people score higher on IQ exams + your test proves this remarkable feat. • Criterion validity –the behavior that a test is designed to predict – study Spanish I and I go to Mexico thinking I can communicate fluently. . . – The predictive V is very low because Spanish I does not groom fluently -speaking tourists. – i. e. SAT scores should show success in 1 st year of college. . Which Validity does this measure? • CONSTRUCT

Are IQ Tests Valid & Reliable • IQ scores lack stability in childhood, but are very reliable for teens/adult – But it is hard to assess IQ test validity because……. – Psychologists do not even agree on exactly what intell is. That is a big point • IQ tests assess only a few hypothesized intellectual ACTIVITIES - SOOOOO what is good about them? What do they prove? – DO predict academic success and performance in the workplace. Norms have been established in a variety of settings!

Nature versus Nurture • DO IQ SCORES MEASURE INNATE ABILITY? – Nature and nurture interact in affecting intell – Heredity + environment are often confounded. – Heredity strongly affects IQ scores. Identical twins (who share identical genes), even adopted from birth by separate families, have IQ scores correlated at r =. 6. – Yet, correlations between IQ scores are higher if twins share the same home versus being raised apart. 3). IT HELPS TO HAVE AN “ENRICHED” ENVIRONMENT