Gould

• background

  • Gould aimed to review the problems associated with the way yerkes measured intelligence
• method

  • self report of 3 different tests; army alpha, army beta, and individual examinaton
  • the tests were administered to large groups at a time and ps were graded from a-e
  • many took the wrong test due to bad planning creating long queues
• army alpha test - a written test for literate recruits
• army beta test - pictorial test for men who were literate or failed the alpha test.  Instructions were written in English and 3 others of sections required a written response
• individual examination - a spoken test for men who failed the beta
• results

  • argued his tests measures native intellectual ability
  • the average score for Americans was a moron (13)
  • fairer people of northern and Western Europe scored higher than slav and darker skinned people of southern Europe
  • the average score of black males was lower than white males
• implications

  • findings supoorted the idea of genetic differences between races, lead to the racial superiority of the nordic people.
  • provided support for the eugenics movement
  • an immigration ban was imposed in America based off this
• criticisms from Gould

  • He pointed to cultural bias the measure of the behaviour is heavily influenced by researchers culture. 
  • problems with the administration of the tests, many who were illiterate were allocated the alpha test and so failed when they shoudlve completed the beta. Yerkes overestimated literacy
  • Men who failed the alpha test did not take the beta test. Of those that were, 86% received a higher score on the interview test suggesting the reliability of the tests. 
  • the test also imposed systematic bias. 
• strengths

  • self report used which is standardised
  • tested on a large sample size so could argue population validity
• weakbeses

  • socially sensitive
  • Gould carried out his own review - potential biases
  • androcentric sample
• relate to key them - measuring differences

  • the test was found to have cultural biases and was heavily based off the ability to read and write English and be aware of American culture
  • the test tells us that the same test cannot be applied to large proportion of the population and expect it to work for all
• relate to area

  assumption - behaviour can be measured and quantified

  the army alpha and army beta produced quantitative data