Intelligence Testing & Cognition - AP Psychology 2025

intelligence test

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores.

general intelligence (g factor)

a general intelligence factor that according to Spearman refers to the existence of a broad mental capacity that influences performances on cognitive ability measures.

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing.

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8.

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn.

standardization

Giving a test to a large population to establish norms in order to compare an individual's performance to the 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.

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to. (See also content validity and predictive validity.)

construct validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks).

predictive validity

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

Flynn effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Lewis Terman adapted the Stanford Binet results into the mental age divided by the chronological age and then multiplied by 100.

WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)

IQ test designed to measure intelligence and cognitive ability in adults and older adolescents.

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons in the brain to compensate for injury/disease to adjust their activities in response to new situations.

Chronological Age

The age of an individual measured in years.

Test Norms

Developed during test standardization. Represents the aggregate responses of a standardized representative group.

cultural bias

Interpreting and judging intelligence or other phenomen by the standards of one's own culture.

Intelligence

Mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems and use knowledge to adapt to new situations.

Fluid Intelligence

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Crystallized Intelligence

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills tends to increase with age.

Stereotype Threat

a self confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Early intervention

A support and educational system for children who have developmental delays or come from low socioeconomic backgrounds that may come from less stimulating environments.

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

longitudinal study

a study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time

Heritability

the ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next

grit

a person's perseverance or determination when faced with a difficult task

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score

divergent thinking

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

concepts

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. A schema

prototype

a mental image or best example of a concept or schema

algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem by trying every possible answer.

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

representativeness heuristic

Basing the estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the typical prototype or stereotype of that event.

availability heuristic

basing the estimated probability of an event on the ease with which an example or imagery comes to mind

functional fixedness

a block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects in terms of only their typical functions

belief perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory

A contemporary theory of intelligence proposing that intelligence is composed of multiple distinct abilities, including fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and various specific cognitive skills.

Stanford-Binet Test

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet's original intelligence test.

test-retest reliability

a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

split-half reliability

A measure of reliability in which a test is split into two parts and an individual's scores on both halves are compared.

stereotype lift

awareness of positive expectations can actually improve performance on tasks

cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit.

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

executive function

higher-order, complex cognitive processes, including thinking, planning, and problem solving

insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

gambler's fallacy

the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

sunk cost fallacy

people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our existing beliefs and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

growth mindset

a focus on learning and growing rather than viewing abilities as fixed

fixed mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change