Gen Psych Chp 9

What is the basic idea behind the psychometric approach to intelligence? What is G and S?

The measurement of differences in performance. Measuring different results from different tasks and comparing the differences. G is a general ability, S is specific ability, mechanical, spatial, logical, and arithmetical.

What are some of the different ways that psychologists have defined intelligence?

Ability to adapt, shape or select one's environment = to judge, comprehend, and reason = to understand and deal with people, symbols and objects. = to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment. = to deal with novel situations.

Describe the distribution of IQ scores. Discuss the nature of the problems of those who fall at the extreme lower end of the distribution and the qualities of those who all at the extreme upper end.

Distribution occurs as a bell-shaped curve, wit 68% of people within 1 standard deviation and 95% within 2 standard deviations. But the actual distribution is different, with the mod about 105 instead of 100. Those at the extreme lower end are mentally challenged, and have fewer friends as they go ahead in grade levels, while those at the higher end are "gifted," they are alee to learn rapidly without much help, seek to master knowledge, ask deep questions, and develop new ideas, But have trouble finding friends with similar interests.

Describe the difference between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Give examples of tasks that would rely on each.

Fluid intelligence is the power of using and reasoning information; this type of intelligence cannot be gained, declines after 20. Crystallized intelligence is acquired skills and knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in specific situations. This type of intelligence can be gained, increases with age. Fluid - Someone's first time playing chess. Crystallized - Someone practicing chess in order to compete.

What is the Flynn effect, and what are some possible explanations for it?

Flynn effect - generation by generation, people's IQ scores are increasing, making test makers change their tests to keep the mean score at 100. Explanations - improved education and test-taking skills, increased tendency for people to marry outside their own neighborhood, decreases in mental retardation, increased cognitive stimulation, improved health and nutrition. Most probable are increased cognitive stimulation (TV and games) and improved health and nutrition.

For what purpose are intelligence tests currently used? What is IQ? What does an IQ score indicate?

For selecting applicants to colleges and professional schools, and predicting someone's performance in school. IQ is someone's intelligent quotient, their aptitude - their fluid intelligence - their ability to learn.

How are family resemblances used to address the relative roles of heredity and environment in intelligence?

Members of the same family resemble each other in IQ. IQ scores of identical twins reared apart are strongly correlated. But separate environments are often similar in terms of resources and other important attributes.

Define reliability, and discuss its importance for psychological tests. How is reliability measured?

Reliability - the repeatability of its scores. It is important because psychologists want tests to be accurate, if someone has a fluctuating test scores than psychologists will not know if their information is reliable. Test-retests reliability - the correlation between scores on a first test and a retest, this correlation coefficient must be at 0-+1 in order to be reliable. The closer it is to +1 the more reliable the test is.

Describe the purpose of standardization. What are the desirable characteristics of a standardization sample?

Standardization - the process of evaluating the questions, establishing rules for administering a test, and interpreting the scores. The purpose is to make sure that the tests give objective evidence. A large group of people who are representative as possible of the population.

What does research on adopted children suggest about the influence of heredity on intelligence?

The IQ scores of adopted children tend to resemble those of their birth parents in the long run. Data suggests that adopted children don't receive the best prenatal/infant care prior to adoption.

What are the various forms of the Wechsler intelligence tests?

The WAIS - 4 and the WICS - 4, the WAIS is for adults and WICS for children.

Briefly describe the Stanford-Binet IQ test. How is it administered? How is it scored?

There are certain items, with different groups for each item. For example a group of items would be "age 8," this would indicate that 60-90% of 8 year olds would be able to answer the item correctly. Psychologists give items to children and ask them to answer. For 8-year olds this would mean that psychologists would give them 7-year old items, and if they answer most correctly then they move onto 8-year old items and so on; this occurs until the child gets to a group of items where the child answer wrong most of the time. This is called adaptive testing. It uses tables to find out the IQ of someone, they also provide sub scores for other specialized skills.

For what purpose were intelligence tests originally designed?

To measure intelligence in others, and then using that information to determine what is being researched. They tested other people's intelligence to find out what intelligence really is. To identify the least capable children who could not learn from ordinary schooling.

Give a general definition of for the concept of validity.

Validity - the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores for intended purposes. Does the test measure what it claims to measure. Content should match purpose, responses should be used by a certain skill (no shortcuts), items within the test should correlate with one another, score predict important kinds of performance, consequences of testing should be seen.

What is the basic idea behind Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences? What are the different types of intelligence, according to Gardner?

We will find that there are multiple intelligences - unrelated forms of intelligence. Someone might be outstanding in one intelligence, but poor in another. Contains no g factor. Language, musical abilities, logical and mathematical reasoning, spatial reason, ability to recognize and classify objects, body movement skills, self-control and self-understanding, and sensitivity to other people's social signals.