Chapter 9- Intelligence and psychological testing

Learning Objectives
1. Identify the different types of mental tests (intelligence, aptitude, achievement)

 Intelligence test- measures general mental ability; designed to assess intellectual

potential rather than previous learning or accumulated knowledge
 Aptitude test- measures potential more than knowledge, but they break down mental
ability into separate components; assess specific types of mental abilities
 Achievement tests- have a specific focus, but they measure previous learning and
knowledge instead of potential
 Psychological test- is a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behaviour;
designed to measure the individual differences that exist among people in such things as
intelligence, aptitudes, interests, and aspects of personality

2. Describe the various ways in which intelligence has been conceptualized (g, specific
abilities, fluid and crystallized), including Sternberg’s theory (analytical, creative,
practical), Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence and emotional intelligence

 Spearman’s g: concluded that all cognitive abilities share a common core and are highly
intercorrelated, he called this “g” for general mental ability

 Hierarchical models of intelligence is best represented as a series of layers with general

intelligence “g” at the top; as you move down, each layer of intelligence is subdivided
into more specific abilities

 Fluid intelligence:
o Involves reasoning ability, memory capacity, and speed of information
processing.
 Crystallized intelligence:
o Involves ability to apply acquired knowledge and skills in problem solving

 Sternberg’s Theory:
o Analytical intelligence:
 Involves abstract reasoning, evaluation, and judgement- crucial to most
schoolwork and assessed by conventional IQ tests
o Creative intelligence:
 Involves the ability to generate new ideas and to be inventive in dealing
with novel problems
o Practical intelligence:
o Involves the ability to deal effectively with the kinds of problems people
encounter in everyday life, such as on the job or at home- acquiring tacit
knowledge
 Gardner’s eight intelligences:
 o Logical mathematical
o Linguistic
o Musical
o Spatial
o Bodily-kinesthetic
o Interpersonal
o Intrapersonal
o Naturalist

3. Describe the concepts of reliability and validity

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

measurement techniques); thus repeated measurements should yield similar results
o The closer the correlation between the two sets of scores come to +1.00 the
more reliable the test is
 Validity- refers to the ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure; the
most useful techniques to establish validity are:
o Content validity- refers to the degree to which the content
on a test is representative of the domain it’s supposed to
cover
o Criterion related validity- is estimated by correlating
participants’ scores on a test with their scores on an
independent criterion (another measure) of the trait
assessed by the test
o Construct validity- used in measuring hypothetical
abstract qualities such as creativity, extraversion,
intelligence, or independence; construct validity is
measured by the extent to which there is evidence that a
test measures a particular hypothetical construct

4. Discuss the extremes of intelligence – giftedness and intellectual disability

 Average IQ score is 100

 IQ scores- two standard deviations or more below the mean are regarded as subnormal
 IQ scores- two or three standard deviations above the mean are regarded as gifted
 Intellectual disability: 70 and below
o Refers to general mental ability accompanied by deficiencies in adaptive skills,
originating before age 18
 Giftedness:
o IQ of 130 or more
5. Discuss the relationship between creativity and mental health

6. Discuss the relationship between achievement and intelligence

7. Describe the new directions of research on the biological correlates of intelligence

8. Discuss evidence on the role of genetics and environment in determining IQ.

 Twin study:
o Very high correlation of intelligence between identical twins
o Lower correlation of intelligence between fraternal twins
o IQ is inherited to a considerable degree

9. Describe the concept of reaction range and explain how it applies to intelligence

10. Identify the explanations for cultural differences in IQ test scores