EXAM 3: CH. 8-12

• Psychological assessment is the use of specialized procedures to evaluate abilities, behaviors, and personal qualities (rigid/formal procedures)
• In psychological assessment: abilities = intelligence and personal qualities = personality
• There are 3 important considerations in psychological assessment: reliability, validity, and standardization
• Reliability is the consistency of a measure (ex: test-retest reliability)
• Validity is the truthfulness of a measure (ex: predictive validity)
• Standardization involves uniform testing procedures, treating everyone the same way. "Same age peers".
• A teacher grades by giving men C's and women A's. This method is reliable because of the consistency of grades.
• Alfred Binet developed the first workable intelligence test in 1905 using the concept of mental age in determining IQ
• William Stern devised the IQ test: IQ = (MA/CA) x 100
• The concept of measuring mental age is inaccurate after 16 years of age
• The Wechsler tests are used to assess cognitive functioning in adults aged 16+ (standardized)
• The Wechsler tests consist of verbal and performance subscales, not considering mental age at all. There is a verbal IQ, performance IQ, and full-scale IQ.
• The Wechsler test is based on a normal bell curve (same-age peers)
• Genotype is the genetic makeup (genes/biology). Used to explain the role of nature in the nature/nurture debate.
• Phenotype is a physical expression of a gene (what you can see/observe). Used to explain the role of nurture in the nature/nurture debate.
• Twin studies show the nature side of IQ, while adoption studies show the nurture side of IQ
• In twin studies, there are monozygotic twins (MZ) and dizygotic twins (DZ)
• Monozygotic twins (MZ) are identical and share 100% of their genes (nature 100%)
• Dizygotic twins (DZ) are fraternal and share 50% of genes
• In twin studies where the monozygotic twins (MZ) are split apart into different environments, they still have a +0.75 correlation of IQ scores despite being in different environments. This shows that genes play a huge part in IQ (+0.75), when nurture plays a minor role (+0.25)
• Data from twin studies show nature's contribution to IQ

  1. MZ apart (2nd bar), they share 100% DNA, raised apart, but have a +0.75 correlation in IQ
  2. MZ together (1st bar) has a +0.86 correlation vs. DZ together (3rd bar) has a +0.60 correlation. There is less correlation in DZ than MZ, showing that genes matter
  3. Overall pattern: as people are less similar genetically, IQ scores are less similar to each other (have a lower R value)

  
• Data from adoption studies show nurture's contribution to IQ

  1. There is a small correlation of a child and adopted mother's IQ (+0.15). If IQ was 100% genetically driven, the r value would be 0
  2. Impoverished environment leads to a negative correlation between IQ and age (lower IQ score)
  3. The Flynn effect: Throughout the years, there is a gradually higher IQ in the population (enriched environment increases IQ)
• In the Wechsler test bell curve, the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is by 15 (standard deviation is about 68%)

  
• Correlations between the IQ scores of identical twins reared together are higher than the correlations between IQ scores of identical twins reared apart. This finding suggests that genes influence IQ scores
• Intelligence is one's innate ability to solve problems, adapt to the environment, and learn from experience
• English psychologist Charles Spearman speculated that humans have a general intelligence (g-factor) that is the sum of all other abilities, aka the common link. (ex: connection between spatial, verbal, and reasoning competencies)
• American psychologist Howard Gardner suggests that people have multiple intelligences: linguistic (verbal), logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential (9 in total)
• Logical-mathematical intelligence (Gardner): sensitivity to, and capacity to discern, logical and numerical patterns; ability to handle long chains of reasoning (ex: scientist, mathematician)
• Linguistic intelligence (Gardner): sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words; sensitivity to the different functions of language (ex: poet/journalist)
• Musical intelligence (Gardner): abilities to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch, and timbre; appreciation of the forms of musical expressiveness (ex: composer, violinist)
• Spatial intelligence (Gardner): capacities to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and to perform transformations on one's initial perceptions (ex: navigator, sculptor)
• Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (Gardner): ability to control one's movements and to handle objects skillfully (ex: dancer, athlete)
• Interpersonal intelligence (Gardner): capacities to discern and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and desires of other people (ex: therapist, salesman)
• Intrapersonal intelligence (Gardner): the ability to understand your own emotions/feelings, strengths, weaknesses, and behavior
• Naturalistic intelligence (Gardner): the capacity to categorize objects according to salient similarities and differences among them
• Existential intelligence (Gardner): the ability to think about the meaning of life and the purpose of existence, "the intelligence of big questions"
• People with savant syndrome have some area of extreme singular ability, such as mathematical calculation, drawing, or music.
• Kim Peek is an example of an individual with savant syndrome; he was able to read two pages of a book (one with each eye) and memorize all the information contained in the book.
• American psychologist Robert Sternberg proposed 3 kinds of intelligence; analytical, creative, and practical. They are known as the triarchic theory of intelligence
• Analytic intelligence (Sternberg): our capacity to solve problems