Lecture 14: intelligence

Question 1

Define intelligence?

Answer 1

Ability to…
- solve problems
- understand complex ideas
- adapt to environmental challenges
- use knowledge

Question 2

What was the major issue with Galton’s intelligence test? Despite that, what did he show?

Answer 2

Problems:
- he assumed that eminence runs in families (inherited)
- doesn’t account for privilege that comes from upper class families
- was anthropomorphic –> measured physical characteristics (grip strength, reaction time)

Conclusions:
- intelligence is quantifiable
- measured using objective tests
- has normal distribution

Question 3

What is the Binet-Simon test? How is it different from Galton’s test? Problems and conclusions?

Answer 3

• first to use a psychological evaluation (not anthropomorphic)** (different from Galton’s)
• designed to determine whether kids were at the right level in schools
• started simple, got progressively more difficult

Problems:
- many of the questions are biased towards older people who’ve had education
- many words and concepts would’ve been completely unknown to kids

Conclusion:
- intelligence for kids with mental disabilities wasn’t different from average kids, they just have a different mental age
- determined general learning abilities for different ages
- intelligence can be defined by comparison of kids performance at the same idea***

Question 4

Letta Stetter showed that women are as intelligent as men. How did she do it? Use the graph to explain your answer

Answer 4

• it was believed that male intelligence had a normal distribution, but women’s did not
• she went to mental hospitals to show that there were the same amount of women at the lower end of the intelligence spectrum
• once accounting for age, it was the same
• because the lower end was the same, the upper end had to be as well
• her design was simpler than IQ tests which have inequalities due to lower education for women

Question 5

Who were the Kallikaks? Why are they important in the study of intelligence?

Answer 5

• related to the study of hereditary eugentics
• described a family where a man had children with two women (one smart, one dumb)
• the children of the ‘dumb’ one were more likely to be ‘unintelligent’, but that was measured by crimes, not intelligence
• suggested that breeding should be forbidden among feeble minded
• had big impact on government policies of immigration and sterilization

Question 6

What were the army alpha and army beta? What were their limitations?

Answer 6

alpha: for people who could read
beta: for people who couldn’t read
- both were heavily biased towards upper class, white people
- based on acquired knowledge
- was used to determine what jobs people did in the military –> left ‘dumber’ people doing more risky jobs
- fueled eugenics movements

Question 7

What are the problems in general with intelligence testing?

Answer 7

• most intelligence tests are still biased towards white, upper class, educated people
• it’s impossible to measure all forms of intelligence, such as creativity
• primarily associated with scholastic achievement, not necessarily life long success

Question 8

Are the IQ tests reliable? And do they have validity? Explain your answer?

Answer 8

reliable:
- yes, they’re consistent, you’d score roughly the same IQ each time you take it
validity:
- does it measure what it claims to measure?
- high scholastic validity
- sometimes criticized for measuring schooling vs intelligence