INTELLIGENCE

A psychological test is a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behavior.

Most tests can be placed in one of two broad categories: mental ability tests and
personality tests.

-MENTAL ABILITY TEST

⁃ Intelligence tests measure general mental ability, intended to assess intellectual
potential
⁃ Aptitude tests assess specific types of mental abilities, potential more than
knowledge
⁃ achievement tests gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various
subjects, measure previous learning instead of potential.

-PERSONALITY TEST
Personality tests measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests,
values, and attitudes.

-Both personality scales and tests of mental abilities are standardized measures of
behavior.
-Standardization refers to the uniform procedures used in the administration and
scoring of a test.

-Test norms provide information about where a score on a psychological test ranks
in relation to other scores on that test.

-A percentile score indicates the percentage of people who score at or below the score
one has obtained.

-The sample of people that the norms are based on is called a test’s standardization
group or norm group.

-Reliability refers to the measurement consistency of a test (or of other kinds of

measurement techniques)

-A correlation coefficient is a numerical index of the degree of relationship between

two variables.

-Validity refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.
⁃ Content validity refers to the degree to which the content of a test is
representative of the domain it’s supposed to cover.
⁃ Criterion-related validity is estimated by correlating subjects’ scores on a test
with their scores on an independent criterion of the trait assessed by the test.
⁃ construct validity—the extent to which evidence shows that a test measures a
particular hypothetical construct.

-EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

1. Galton’s Studies of Hereditary Genius
Sir Francis Galton
success and eminence appeared consistently in some families over generations
he assumed that the contents of the mind are built out of elementary sensations
he hypothesized that exceptionally bright people should exhibit exceptional sensory
acuity
coined the phrase nature versus nurture to refer to the heredity-environment issue
invented the concepts of correlation and percentile test scores

2. Binet’s Breakthrough
Alfred Binet
abstract reasoning skills, rather than the sensory skills
it was inexpensive, easy to administer, objective, and capable of predicting children’s
performance in school fairly well
The Binet-Simon scale expressed a child’s score in terms of “mental level” or “mental
age.”
mental age indicated that he or she displayed the mental ability typical of a child of
that chronological (actual) age.

3. Terman and the Stanford-Binet

Lewis Terman
it incorporated a new scoring scheme based on the “intelligence quotient” suggested by
William Stern
An intelligence quotient (IQ ) is a child’s mental age divided by chronological age,
multiplied by 100.

4. Wechsler’s Innovations
David Wechsler
intelligence in adults
devised downward extensions of his scale for children.
less dependent on subjects’ verbal ability than the Stanford-Binet.
included many items that required nonverbal reasoning.
he formalized the computation of separate scores for verbal IQ, performance (nonverbal)
IQ, and full-scale (total) IQ.
Discarded IQ in favor of ‘normal distribution’
5. Intelligence Testing Today
⁃ individual tests
Individual IQ tests are administered only by psychologists who have special training for
this purpose.
A psychologist works face to face with a single examinee at a time
The Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler scales are both individual IQ tests.
expensive and time-consuming to administer.

⁃ Group tests
testimonial to their much greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness

-ABOUT INTELLIGENCE TESTING

The normal distribution is a symmetric, bell-shaped curve that represents the pat-
tern in which many characteristics are dispersed in the population.

raw scores are translated into deviation IQ scores that locate subjects precisely within
the normal distribution, using the standard deviation as the unit of measurement.

a specific score on a specific test always translates into the same percentile score,
regardless of the person’s age group.

Thus, IQ tests measure a blend of potential and knowledge.

IQ tests are exceptionally reliable

Variations in examinees’ motivation to take an IQ test or in their anxiety about the test
can sometimes produce misleading scores

IQ tests are reasonably valid indexes of school-related intellectual ability, or academic

intelligence.

focus somewhat narrowly on a specific type of intelligence: academic/verbal intelligence

there is a substantial correlation between IQ scores and job performance depending on

the complexity of a job’s requirements

The bottom line is that Western IQ tests do not translate well into the language and
cognitive frame- works of many non-Western cultures

-EXTREMES OF INTELLIGENCE
⁃ mental retardation
refers to subaverage general mental ability accompanied by deficiencies in adaptive
skills, originating before age 18.
IQ score of 70 to 75 or below.
experts feel that retardation should not be determined solely on the basis of individuals’
test ability
Category of IQ Range Education Life Adaptation
Retardation Possible Possible
Mild 51–70 Sixth grade Can be self-
(maximum) by late supporting in
teens; special nearly normal
education helpful fashion if
environment is
stable and
supportive; may
need help with
stress
Moderate 36–50 Second to fourth Can be semi-
grade by late teens; independent in
special education sheltered
necessary environment;
needs help with
even mild stress
Severe 20–35 Limited speech, Can help
toilet habits, and so contribute to self-
forth with support under total
systematic training supervision
Profound below 20 Little or no speech; Requires total care
not toilet-trained;
relatively
unresponsive to
training

-Down syndrome is a condition marked by distinctive physical characteristics (such as

slanted eyes, stubby limbs, and thin hair)
-Phenylketonuria is a metabolic disorder

⁃ giftedness
Terman’s gifted children were found to be above average in height, weight, strength,
physical health, emotional adjustment, mental health, and social maturity.

Ellen Winner asserts that moderately gifted children (those with an IQ of 130–150) are
very different from profoundly gifted children (those with an IQ above 180). She asserts
that profoundly gifted children are often introverted and socially isolated

high intelligence, high creativity, and high motivation

‘drudge theory’ of exceptional achievement. According to this view, eminence primarily

or entirely depends on dogged determination; endless, tedious practice; and outstanding
mentoring and training