Chapter 11: Testing and Individual DifferencesAP Psychology

Intelligence Testing

A term that is used frequently, but often misunderstood is “intelligence.” What exactly is intelligence?

Many people disagree about what exactly intelligence is, but most do agree that it is:

Relative: defined in relation to the same abilities in a comparison group (usually age)

Hypothetically constructed: it is unobservable, but instead inferred from behavior

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence ability to learn from

experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

SO How do you figureout something that is

‘relative’ and ‘hypothetical’?

Can you truly measure Intelligence?

You decide 3rdYou decide 5th

Origins of Intelligence Testing

Intelligence Test a method of

assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them to those of others, using numerical scores

This foo’ here be Alfred Binet. Better know him!

Origins of Intelligence Testing: Testing IQ

IQ (intelligence quotient) became a popular way to classify people in the early 1900s when two French psychologists (Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon) developed a test to identify those students who were gifted, and those who needed extra help.

Origins of Intelligence Testing: Binet-SimonTest

The test had four important distinctions:Scores were interpreted at their current performance

Used to identify students in need of help, not label them or categorize them

Emphasized that training and opportunity could affect intelligence

Was empirically constructed

Scoring the test was done by calculating the mental age (MA) and the chronological age (CA).

MA= The average age at which normal individuals achieve a particular score

CA= The number of years since an individuals birth

Origins of Intelligence Testing: Mental Age

Mental Age a measure of intelligence test performance

devised by Binet chronological age that most typically

corresponds to a given level of performance

child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8

Coming to America

The idea of IQ testing became popular in America for three reasons:

A huge increase in immigration

New laws requiring universal education

Military assessing new recruits for WWI

It created an inexpensive and objective way to separate those could benefit from education or military leadership training and those who needed assistance.

Stanford-Binet the widely

used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test revised by

Terman at Stanford University

Downside of IQ Testing

Despite its utility, IQ testing had a big downside. Tests ended up reinforcing prevailing prejudices about race and gender.

Ignored was the fact that environmental disadvantages limit the full development of people’s intellectual abilities.

Same problem of NCLB!!!

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

When the Binet test was adopted by a Stanford professor, he changed the equation to make intelligence scores into non-decimal numbers. This now became known as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ).

=IQ

Are There Multiple Intelligences?

Savant Syndrome: Individuals with remarkable, but rare talent,(and usually very specific) even though they are mentally deficient in other areas.

Ex. Dustin Hoffman in Rain ManBased off Kim Peak

Wanna see what he is like

KIM PEEK

Savant Syndrome

juxtapositions of severe mental handicap and prodigious mental ability

Savant performances includeMentally calculating large numbers almost instantly

Determining the day of the week for any date centuries away

Playing long musical compositions after only hearing it once.

Savant Clips

Alonso Clemens

Daniel Tammet

Steven Wilcher

Are There Multiple Intelligences?

Social Intelligence the know-how involved in

comprehending social situations and managing oneself successfully

Emotional Intelligence ability to perceive, express,

understand, and regulate emotions

Intelligence and Creativity

Creativity the ability to produce novel and

valuable ideas expertise imaginative thinking skills venturesome personality intrinsic motivation creative environment

Theories of Intelligence

Spearman’s G Factor: Charles Spearman thought intelligence was a general factor behind all of our mental ability.

Catell’s Fluid and Crystallized IntelligenceThe G factor

Fluid- ability to change and adapt

Crystal- hard knowledge hard to change

Theories of IntelligenceHoward Gardner believed that IQ scores measured only a limited range of human mental abilities. He argued we have seven separate mental abilities he calls the multiple intelligences.

Linguistic intelligence ("word smart"):

Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")

Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")

Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")

Musical intelligence ("music smart")

Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")

Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")

Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCEWHY IT MATTERS

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

1990 – Salovey & Mayer coin term “emotional intelligence

“it is an intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action.”

1995 - Daniel Goleman publishes “Emotional Intelligence.”

GOLMAN’S THEORY

THE BRAIN HAS EMOTIONAL ARCHITECTURE

Limbic structures generate feelings & emotions

Reptilian brain downshift

as the amygdala performs

“neural hijacking”

COMPONENTS OF E.I.

Self-Awareness

Self-Management or trustworthiness

Motivation or resilience

Empathy or recognizing emotions in others

Social skills or handling relationships

COMPONENTS OF E. I.

FIRST THREE ARE PERSONALSELF-AWARENESS

SELF-REGULATION

MOTIVATION

LAST TWO ARE SOCIALEMPATHY

SOCIAL SKILL

SELF-AWARENESS

“THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE AND UNDERSTAND YOUR MOODS, EMOTIONS, AND DRIVES, AS WELL AS THEIR EFFECTS ON OTHERS

Do I know how I’m

coming off in this

situation?

SELF-REGULATION

“THE ABILITY TO CONTROL OR REDIRECT DISRUPTING IMPULSES AND MOODS OR THE ABILITY TO SUSPEND JUDGMENT TO THINK BEFORE ACTING.”

Can I stop the

R brain downshifting?

SELF-REGULATION

ABILITY TO RELAX

ABILITY TO MANAGE STRESS

ABILITY TO CONTROL MOODS

ABILITY TO RECOVER FROM EMOTIONAL UPSET MORE QUICKLY

ABILITY TO EMPLOY THE 6 SECOND PAUSE

SELF-REGULATION

PEOPLE WHO SELF-REGULATECREATE AN ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST AND FAIRNESS

REDUCE EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY IN ENVIRONMENT

MOTIVATION

“A PASSION TO WORK FOR REASONS THAT GO BEYOND MONEY OR STATUS”

JOB CAPABILITIESAchievement drive

Commitment

Initiative

Optimism

EMPATHY

“THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL MAKE-UP OF OTHER PEOPLE.”

EMPATHY

ABILITY TO TAKE OTHER’S PERSPECTIVE

CARING ATTITUDE

CAN BETTER READ VERBAL & NONVERBAL CUES

ATTUNED TO NEEDS & EMOTIONS OF OTHERS

EMPATHY

EMPATHY BUILDS ON SELF-AWARENESS.

THE MORE OPEN WE ARE TO OUR OWN EMOTIONS, THE MORE SKILLED WE ARE IN READING OTHERS’ EMOTIONS

SOCIAL SKILLS

“PROFICIENCY IN MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS AND BUILDING NETWORKS.”

Using your empathetic knowledge

ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS

Work Profile Questionnaire—EI Version

Emotional Competence Inventory 360

Emotional Intelligence Appraisal

BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory

Mayer-Salovey-Caruso-EI Test

Emotional Intelligence: Criticism

Gardner and others criticize the idea of emotional intelligence and question whether

we stretch this idea of intelligence too far when we apply it to our emotions.

Assessing Assessing Intelligence

How do we measure intelligence?….if we even really can!

Assessing Intelligence

Aptitude Test a test designed to predict a

person’s future performance aptitude is the capacity to learn

Achievement Test a test designed to assess what a

person has learned

Assessing Intelligence

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) most widely used intelligence test subtests

verbal performance (nonverbal)

Assessing Intelligence: Sample Items from the WAIS

From Thorndike and Hagen, 1977

VERBAL

General Information Similarities Arithmetic ReasoningVocabularyComprehensionDigit Span

PERFORMANCE

Picture Completion Picture ArrangementBlock DesignObject AssemblyDigit-Symbol Substitution

David Wechsler

Wechsler developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

(WAIS) and later the Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children (WISC), an

intelligence test for preschoolers.

WAISWAIS measures overall intelligence and 11 other aspects related to intelligence that

are designed to assess clinical and educational problems.

Intelligence Tests

The Wechsler Intelligence ScalesThe Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Third Edition is the most commonly used test of intelligence for adults

WAIS-III is divided into to parts, one that focuses on verbal abilities and one that focuses on performance skills

Also a version for children, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third Edition

Intelligence Tests

Group TestsIntelligence tests that can be given to large groupsAdvantages

Quick scoring

No examiner bias

Easier to establish norms

DisadvantagesLess likely to detect someone who is ill or confused

Might make people nervous

Learning disabled children often perform worse

Intelligence Tests

Performance testsTests that minimize the use of languageUsed to test very young children or people with retardationAlso can be used to test those unfamiliar with English

Culture-fair tests Tests designed to reduce cultural biasMinimize skills and values that vary from one culture to another

Measuring Individual Differences

Psychology relies heavily on testing individuals, it is part of the foundation for psychological analysis. To be effective, however, strict guidelines must be followed.

Validity: Does the test actually measure what we say it does/what we want it to?

Ex. Reading on a math test

Face validity: Does the test look like it tests what it is supposed to test?

Content validity: Each part of the test is representative of the larger body of knowledge.

Measuring Individual Differences

Criterion Validity: The behavior (such as college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict

Predictive Validity: The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict.

Assessing Intelligence

As the range of data under consideration narrows, its predictive power diminishes

Greater correlationover broad rangeof body weights

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Little corre-lation withinrestricted

range

Football linemen’s

success

Body weight in pounds180 250 290

Measuring Individual Differences

The second part of a credible test is reliability.

Reliability: A test yields the same results over time

Test-Retest or Split-Half Reliability

Reliable, but not valid

Not reliable, not valid

Reliable and valid

Assessing Intelligence

Standardization defining meaningful scores by comparison with

the performance of a pretested “standardization group”

Normal Curve the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes

the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes

most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Creating Validity and Reliability

The most efficient way to create validity and reliability is to use a standardized test.

In the most basic sense, a standardized test means:

The administration and scoring is the same for each test

The results of the test can be used to draw a conclusion about the test takers in regard to the objectives of the test.

Ex. AP test, S.A.T.

Judging Normal

A “normal curve” is applied to test to determine establish “norms.” When a statistically significant sample of the population has been tested, strong conclusions can be drawn.

A normal range for IQ scores is 70-130. Scores below 70 indicate mental retardation while scores above 130 are considered gifted.

Normal Distribution of IQ Scores

Degrees of Mental Retardation

Causes

Not much is known for reasons behind mild retardation (90% of all diagnosed)

PKU (phenylketonuria) – liver fails to produce an enzyme necessary for early brain development

Down Syndrome – is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome.

Fragile X syndrome – boys harder hit due to only one X chromosone

Types of Tests

There are two main types of tests:1. Objective Tests: Tests that have one set

answer, that can be scored easily by machine

Ex. Multiple choice

2. Subjective Tests: Tests in which individuals are given ambiguous figures or an open ended question which requires some interpretation and analysis.

Ex. FRQsInter-rater reliability

Sample Subjective Test

The Rorschach Inkblot Test is one of the most widely known, and inaccurate subjective tests.

The following slides are real inkblots from the test that was, at one time, a widely used test. Today, it has lost much, if not all of its credibility in determining intelligence or mental illness.