Assessing Intelligence

Why was intelligence tests created?

Is it better to separate students into ability groups or to have mainstreamed classes? Why?

Are intelligence tests the main way students are identified for special services in school?

How can intelligence tests keep students back? How can they help students succeed?

Origins of Intelligence TestingAlfred Binet

Created the First modern intelligence test along with Theodore Simon

Did not attempt to examine why children were different

Mental Age Based on the premise that all children

follow the same course of intellectual development

Lewis TermanStandford-Binet

Used a numerical measure of inherited intelligence that extended the upper end of the test’s range

William SternIntelligence Quotient or IQ

A person’s mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100

IQ = __Mental Age___ x 100 Chronological Age

Mental Age – Refers to the score a student receives on an intelligence test; it compares his score to those of other children of the same age, given the same test.

Who did what?Binet & Simon?

Concept of mental age

William Stern?IQ Formula

Lewis Terman? Used formula with Stanford-Binet Test

So what would be a “normal” score on an intelligence test?

100

What is being tested?Achievement Tests-

Reflect what you have learned

Aptitude Tests – Intended to predict your ability to be successful

Wechsler Adult Intelligence ScaleWAIS

Does not give an overall intelligence score but consists of 11 subtests broken into verbal and performance areas

WISC –Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

TEST CONSTRUCTIONStandardizationTesting in conditions as similar as possible – same directions, and same amount of time

NormingTaking the scores from the test and graphing them

Normal Bell Curve

Flynn EffectThe intelligence test scores from over 20

countries and found that overall intelligence test scores have risen anywhere from 5 to 25 points from the beginning of the 20th century

Regardless of Race, Ethnicity or Cultural BackgroundThis has perplexed researchers

oCaused many to question if intelligence tests actually measure intelligence.

oFlynn believes that intelligence actually measure problem-solving skills

Reliability

A test has reliability if it yields dependably consist scores

The way to test reliability is to Split-Half scores

This is splitting the test in half and see whether odd-questions and the even-questions score agree – if so then the test is reliable

ValidityPredictive Validity

Success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

Driver’s tests should predict good driving habits

Content Validity

Occurs when tests measure what they are supposed to measure

The AP Psych Exam should contain items about psychology

StabilityAfter the age of 7 intelligence test

scores become more stabilized.

Extremes of Intelligence

The Low Extreme

Those whose intelligence scores fall at 70 or below

The High Extreme

Those whose intelligence scores fall at 135 or above

Low Intelligence

Intellectual Disability – formerly Mental Retardation

A child must have both a low test score and difficulty adapting to the normal demands of independent living

1% of the populationMales outnumber females by 50%

High IntelligenceGenius IQ is generally considered to begin

around 140 to 145, representing ~.25% of the population (1 in 400).  Here's a rough guide:

115-124 - Above average125-134 - Gifted135-144 - Highly gifted145-154 - Genius155-164 - Genius165-179 - High genius 180-200 - Highest genius >200 - "Unmeasurable genius"

Genetic vs EnvironmentHeritability

Estimated at 50% of intelligence

This means that heredity is credited with 50% of the variation in the intelligence among people being studied

Heritability never pertains to n individual, only to why people differ from one another.

Early Environmental InfluencesMalnutrition, sensory deprivation, and social isolation can retard normal brain development

There is no environmental recipe to “fast-forwarding” a normal infant into a genius

All babies need normal exposure to sights, sounds and speech

“Mozart Effect” has been discredited

Gender DifferencesSpelling –

FemalesVerbal Abilities –

FemalesNonverbal Memory –

FemalesSensation –

FemalesEmotion-detecting Ability –

Females

Gender DifferencesSpatial Ability –

MalesMath and Spatial Aptitudes -

Equal Average ScoresMath Problem Solving –

MalesMath Computation

Females

EugenicsNazi Germany

Genetic Therapy

What is the difference?

The intelligence test performance of today’s better-fed, better-educated, and more test-prepared population exceeds that of the 1930s population- by the same margin that the intelligence test score of the average White exceeds that of the average Black.

RaceThere is no real basis beyond the surface qualities to justify racial categories.

Race is not a biological category but in reality is a socially construct to categorized people in easily discernible differences.