Psych chapter 8

When it comes to the nature-nurture debate of intelligence, what is the position that most psychologists take?

nature and nurture interact

Why did Alfred Binet and his colleague Theodore Simon originally develop a test to measure a student's mental abilities? What were the four features of the Binet-Simon approach to intelligence?

1.Tests given to assess students' current level of academic ability, not to measure innate intelligence 2.Scores intended to identify children who needed special help, NOT to label them as bright or dull 3.Believed training could improve performance 4.Test based on data, not a on theory of intelligence

Describe Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. How many types of intelligence does Sternberg propose? Does a person have to excel in all three areas or can someone be good in one area and only average in other areas?

3 Analytical Intelligence: Abilities required to solve familiar problem and to judge the quality of ideasCreative Intelligence: Abilities needed to develop new ways of solving problemsPractical Intelligence: Abilities to use intelligence in everyday life, i.e., "street smarts"

Describe Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. How many distinctly different types of intelligence has he identified?

8 types of intelligence

Spearman developed a measure of general intelligence he referred to as the g-factor. Based on his research findings, what did Spearman conclude about general intelligence compared to scores on a single measure of intelligence?

Argued that the g-factor was much more important than any other single measure

According to lecture, what are the three reasons that intelligence testing became so popular in America at the beginning of the 20th century?

Because performance subtests rely less language and words, scores are less likely to be affected by culture and educational experiences Significant differences in scores on verbal vs. performance tests may suggest a learning problem that needs attention A verbal score significantly lower than a performance score may indicate a reading or language disability

Describe Samuel George Morton's study in which he filled the cranium of skulls of different races with mustard seed and then measured their yield. What was he trying to demonstrate and what did he conclude about the relationship between race and intelligence?

Criticisms of method

According to lecture and your textbook, why were the scores on the Binet-Simon test significantly lower for immigrants entering the United States compared to the score of the average American?

I

Describe Lewis Terman's revised version of the Binet-Simon test that became known as the Stanford-Binet intelligence test. What was the formula used to determine a person's IQ?

IQ represented as a ratio of mental age divided by chronological age

Why did psychologists eventually abandon Terman's original IQ formula? Do people really become less intelligent when they get older?

The problem with the original formula is that gains in knowledge level off during adulthood but age continues to increase. Thus, the test scores of older people made it appear that intelligence declines with age

ESSAY: Describe the four important features of the Binet-Simon approach to intelligence that made it different from the assumptions of earlier theories of intelligence.

Tests given to assess students' current level of academic ability, not to measure innate intelligence 2.Scores intended to identify children who needed special help, NOT to label them as bright or dull 3.Believed training could improve performance 4.Test based on data, not a on theory of intelligence

What is the relationship between intelligence and culture? Do all cultures view intelligence the same way we do in America? Provide examples.

The Cree nation of Ontario defines intelligence as knowing others well and respecting them for what they are (Berry, 1992)

Describe the eugenics movement that began in the early 1900s. According to this view, who should be encouraged to have children and who should be discouraged from having children?

The movement that encouraged wealthy, successful people to have children and discouraged the poor from having children

Describe the Wechsler Intelligence test/tests. What are the advantages of the Wechsler test compared to earlier measures of intelligence?

Wechsler develops the deviation IQ score, i.e., how much scores deviate from the average score

What is the normal range of intelligence as plotted on the bell-shaped curve?

average

What is the "shape" of the normal distribution of intelligence scores?

bell shaped