Intelligence Flashcards

Covers vocab from Chapter 10 of the AP Psychology course: Intelligence and Achievement.

General intelligence (g)

Proposed by Charles Spearman who used factor analysis to define intelligence. Humans have one general intelligence that is at the heart of everything a person does. People who do well in one area tend to do well in other areas.

Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence; Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory

Theories that propose several different kinds of intelligence and discount the theory of “general intelligence”.

Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence

Intelligence consists of 3 distinct types: analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence.

Multiple Intelligence Theory

People have multiple intelligences, or ways of learning, rather than a single general intelligence.

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

Developed the first intelligence test to identify children who needed remedial education. Assumed all children follow the same course, but not the same rate, of intellectual development (intelligence is malleable).

Ratio IQ

Statistic obtained by dividing a person’s mental age by their physical age then multiplied by 100.

Binet’s Test (France)

Binet didn’t believe that his psychometric instruments could be used to measure a single, permanent, and inborn level of intelligence—and he stressed the limitations of his test.

Stanford-Binet Test (USA)

Standardized by Lewis Terman, this intelligence test used a single number known as the intelligence quotient (IQ).

The Flynn Effect

James R. Flynn discovered that IQ test scores increased from one generation to the next for all of the countries for which the data existed (gathered from the past 60 years).

Aptitude test

Test designed to predict a person’s future performance; designed to assess a person’s readiness to learn.

• eg. SAT or GRE

Achievement test

Test designed to assess what a person has learned / gauge a person’s mastery

• eg. AP exam, driver’s test, tests in school (usually)

Psychometrics

The field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement.

• 2 types: mental ability and personality tests

Standardization

A criterion of a “good” standardized test; requires uniform testing procedures (consistent directions, administration, criteria for scoring across groups, etc.)

Reliability

A criterion of a “good” standardized test. We’re looking for consistent results. A test yielding similar scores for a person who repeats the test is characteristic of this criterion.

Test-re-test reliability

Ensures reliability by using the same test again

Split half reliability

Ensures reliability by splitting the test in half (odd/even questions).

Validity

A criterion of a “good” standardized test; test should measure or predict what it’s supposed to.

Construct validity

The degree to which a test or instrument is capable of measuring a concept (eg. AP psych exam measuring psych knowledge).

Predictive validity

Eg. correlation between the SAT and college grades. This effect diminishes as students get older.

Stereotype threat

Risk of confirming negative stereotypes about an individual’s racial, ethnic, gender, or cultural group which can create high cognitive load and reduce academic focus and performance.

Stereotype Lift

An increase in performance when people are exposed to negative stereotypes about ANOTHER group

Growth mindset

Fostered with belief that intelligence is changeable; increased when effort rather than ability is encouraged

Ability + opportunity + motivation = success

Fixed mindset

Intelligence is fixed from birth

To keep in mind…

• There is a positive correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and scores on IQ

• Negative effects on cognitive abilities have been associated with factors such as poverty, poor nutrition, exposure to lead or alcohol, low birth weight, and complications during birth.