Deck 9: C: Intelligence Testing

Question 1

Some researchers have used factor analysis to support the idea that there are multiple types of intelligences.Explain why evidence from head injuries,the existence of savants,and most people's everyday experiences with those around them also support the theory of multiple intelligences.

Answer 1

There are many individuals who show extreme abilities in a specific domain,such as music,art,math,memory,or sports,but very limited abilities in other domains such as language,social skills,or the ability to care for oneself.The presence of the exceptional ability independent of exceptional ability in other areas garners support for Gardner's notion of "multiple intelligences" and may suggest that when measuring a person's intelligence we need to take into consideration more than just those types of questions found on a typical IQ test.The experience of everyday people also suggests multiple intelligences;not all of us are able to become great musicians but are nonetheless capable at school.In addition,most people agree with Sternberg's observation that while a person may have a high IQ score and high "analytic" intelligence they may lack the common sense or creative ability of someone who has a lower IQ.When taken together,the results from savants and our experiences in everyday life suggest that humans possess the capacity for many highly variable aptitudes in addition to those scored on a typical IQ test.

Question 2

Alfred Binet's insight regarding a method of measuring achievement had an international impact in the twentieth century.What was the original purpose of his test and how did he quantify (measure)achievement? What scoring system did later researchers base on Binet's method,and how was it originally calculated?

Answer 2

The French government asked Alfred Binet to develop a test that would help identify school children who may need extra help.Binet thought that intelligence allows a person to think,understand,reason,and adapt to overcome obstacles and was the result of a complex interaction of processes including memory,attention,and comprehension.Binet and his colleague Theodore Simon developed thirty tasks of increasing difficulty that,when completed,would demonstrate the child's current abilities.The researchers gave the tests to children of different ages creating a "standard score" for each age.When a child was administered the test,the score was compared to Binet's standards to determine the child's "mental age." The mental age was divided by the child's chronological age to create an "intelligence quotient" (or IQ).The notion of dividing a test score by a standard score was carried over to the United States in the form of a Stanford-Binet intelligence test;however,administrators of this test claimed it measured innate intelligence instead of current abilities (which was the premise of Binet's tests).

Question 3

One reason individuals from certain populations underperform on aptitude tests is stereotype threat.Explain what stereotype threat is and then describe three different ways it can lower test scores.

Answer 3

Stereotype threat is the observation of lower test scores in a population that believes it lacks ability in the area being tested.A common example of stereotype threat is girls believing that they are worse at math than boys and consequently doing worse on math tests than boys.Stereotype threat can lower test scores in three ways.First,the group may avoid the subject and thus perform worse on tests.Second,the evaluators may be biased against one group (e.g.girls)and mark tests lower as a result.Third,the test taker may influence her own performance and do worse on a test simply because she does not believe she is capable of doing well.