Unit 11 Key Concepts

intelligence

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

intellligence test

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

general intelligence

a general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test 

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 

savant syndrome

 a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill (computation/drawing)

grit

 In psychology, grit is passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals 

analytical intelligence

assessed by traditional intelligence test, which present well-defined problems having a single right answer

creative intelligence

demonstrated in reacting adaptively to novel situations and generating novel ideas 

practical intelligence

 required for everyday task, which maybe ill-defined, with multiple solutions

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

stanford-binet

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

intelligence quotient

 defined originally as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. On contemporary intelligence test, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100, with scores assigned to relative performance above or below average 

achievement test

 a test designed to access what a person has learned

aptitude test

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

WAIS

the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests 

standardization

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a protested 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 

flynn effect

the tendency of IQ scores to change over time, and specifically, the apparent increase in intelligence in the general population evidenced by a steady increase in IQ scores.

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting 

validity

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

content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest 

predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. (also called criterion-related validity) 

cohort

 a group of people from a given time period 

cross sectional studies

a non-experimental, observational research design

longitudinal studies

 a correlational research study that involves observations of the same items over long periods of time, often many decades

crystalized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

fluid intelligence

 our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood 

intellectual disability

 a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life (Formally referred to as mental retardation) 

down syndrome

 a condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 

heritability

the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of population and environments studied

stereotype threat

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