5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition (59 page)

John Horn and Raymond Cattell determined that Spearman’s
g
should be divided into two factors of intelligences:
fluid intelligence
, those cognitive abilities requiring speed or rapid learning that tend to diminish with adult aging; and
crystallized intelligence
, learned knowledge and skills such as vocabulary that tend to increase with age.

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner is one of the many critics of the
g
or single factor intelligence theory.
Savants
, individuals otherwise considered mentally retarded, have a specific exceptional skill, typically in calculating, music, or art. To Howard Gardner, this is one indication that a single factor
g
does not underlie all intelligence. He has proposed a
theory of multiple intelligences
. Three of his intelligences are measured on traditional intelligence tests: logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, and spatial. Five of his intelligences are not usually tested for on standardized tests: musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. According to Gardner, these abilities also represent ways that people process information differently in the world, which has led to changes in how some school systems classify gifted and talented children for special programs. Peter Salovey and John Mayer labeled the ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions as
emotional intelligence
.

Salovey’s and Mayer’s emotional intelligence combines Gardner’s intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. Salovey, Mayer, and David Caruso developed the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS) to measure emotional intelligence. The items test the test taker’s ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions. Robert Sternberg also believes that intelligence is more than what is typically measured by traditional IQ tests, and has described three distinct types of intelligence in his
triarchic theory of intelligence
: analytic, creative, and practical.
Analytical
thinking is what is tested by traditional IQ tests and what we are asked to do in school—compare, contrast, analyze, and figure out cause and effect relationships.
Creative
intelligence is evidenced by adaptive reactions to novel situations, showing insight, and being able to see more than one way to solve a problem.
Practical
intelligence is what some people consider “street smarts.” This would include the ability to read people, knowing how to put together a bake sale, or being able to get to a distant location. Whether it is labeled as emotional intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, or practical intelligence, such emotionally smart people can often succeed in careers, marriages, and parenting, where people with higher IQ scores, but less emotional intelligence, fail.

Creativity

Creativity
, the ability to generate ideas and solutions that are original, novel, and useful, is not usually measured by intelligence tests. According to the
threshold theory
, a certain level of intelligence is necessary, but not sufficient for creative work. Although many tests of creativity have been developed, such as the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, the Christensen-Guilford Test, the Remote Associates Test, and the Wallach and Kogan Creative Battery, they do not have high criterion-related validity.

Because tests are used to make decisions, they are criticized for their shortcomings. Although psychometricians, other psychologists, educators, and ethicists agree that intelligence
tests measure the ability to take tests well, they do not agree that intelligence tests actually measure intelligence. Since results of intelligence tests correlate highly with academic achievement, they do have predictive validity.

A continuing theme of psychology known as the nature–nurture controversy asks to what extent intelligence is hereditary and to what extent it is learned. Mental retardation resulting from genetic defects, such as
Down syndrome
(see Genetics and Behavior in
Chapter 7
), is primarily hereditary, whereas mental retardation resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol,
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
(see Physical Development in
Chapter 13
), is primarily environmental.
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
results from the interaction of nature and nurture (see Genetics and Behavior in
Chapter 7
). About 75% of all cases of mental retardation result from nurture, from sociocultural deprivation in an impoverished environment, also called
cultural-familial retardation
. This illustrates that both nature and nurture contribute to intelligence. Theorists continue to argue about the relative contributions of heredity/genes and environment/experience to intelligence because of the important implications. If intelligence is inherited, then special educational programs for disadvantaged groups are unnecessary. If, on the other hand, intelligence can be affected by better education and an enriched environment, special programs are warranted. For example, the Head Start program is designed to provide economically disadvantaged children with preschool opportunities to ready them for elementary school. Research shows that, compared to matched control groups, children who had the Head Start experience do better in the first two grades, thus supporting the nurture position. The program reduces the likelihood that these students will have to repeat a grade or be placed in a special education class. Opponents of the program say that this advantage is short-lived. Continuing disadvantages experienced by these youngsters are not being addressed, according to the defenders.

Additional studies to gauge the influence of genes on intelligence include comparing the intelligence test scores of identical twins (who share all of the same genes) reared together with the scores of fraternal twins (who share about half of the same genes). Identical twins have much more similar scores. Intelligence scores of adoptees are more like those of their biological parents than their adopted parents, and get even more similar with age. Comparing the intelligence test scores of identical twins reared apart reveals that they are very similar, and get even more similar with age. Brain scans of identical twins reveal similar brain volume and anatomy. Experiments with other animals, such as mice, indicate that genetic engineering can produce more intelligent animals.

On the other hand, some studies support the influence of the environment on intelligence. During childhood, siblings raised together are more similar in IQ than siblings raised apart. The IQs of children from deprived environments who have been moved into middle- and upper-class foster or adoptive families tend to increase. School attendance seems to result in increased IQ scores. Performance on IQ tests has been increasing steadily over the past three generations. This trend was noticed by James Flynn, who observed that every time tests were renormed, more questions needed to be answered correctly to earn the same score, yet the same proportion of the population was earning that score. In other words, a score of 100 on a present test is equivalent to a score of about 120 on a test from 70 years
ago. This
Flynn effect
cannot be attributed to a change in the human gene pool because that would take hundreds of years. Theorists attribute the Flynn effect to a number of environmental factors, including better nutrition, better health care, advances in technology, smaller families, better parenting, and increased access to educational opportunities.

Heritability
is the proportion of variation among individuals in a population that results from genetic causes. Heritability for intelligence estimates range from 50 to 75%. Heritability deals with differences on the population level, not on the individual level. According to the
reaction range model
, genetic makeup determines the upper limit for an individual’s IQ, which can be attained in an ideal environment, and the lower limit, which would result in an impoverished environment.

Racial differences in IQ scores show African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans typically scoring 10 to 15 points below the mean for white children. When comparing groups of people on any construct, such as intelligence, it is important to keep in mind the concept of
within-group differences
and
between-group differences
. The range of scores
within
a particular group, such as Hispanic Americans, is much greater than the difference between the mean scores of two different groups, such as Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans. According to Leon Kamin, even if heritability is high, differences in average IQ between groups could be caused entirely by environmental factors. Neither of these statistics tells us how any one individual will score. The difference between the mean scores could result from socioeconomic differences. Claude Steele hypothesizes that at least part of the difference in IQ scores can be attributed to
stereotype threat
—anxiety that influences members of a group concerned that their performance on a test will confirm a negative stereotype.

Directions
: For each question, choose the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1
. Aptitude tests are designed to measure

(A) previously learned facts

(B) future performance

(C) previously learned skills

(D) current competence

(E) your IQ score

2
. A standardization sample for developing a test

(A) should be representative of all the types of people for whom the test is designed

(B) is an early version of the test to determine questions that differentiate individuals

(C) is a set of norms that will determine what score should be considered passing

(D) should include people from all different age groups, ethnic groups, and genders

(E) must include a standard set of directions for administering the test that all students will receive

3
. If Mrs. Delvecchio compared the scores of students on the odd-numbered questions on the test with their scores for the even-numbered questions, she would be attempting to determine if the test had

(A) content validity

(B) split-half reliability

(C) predictive validity

(D) test-retest reliability

(E) concurrent validity

4
. Advantages of group tests as compared to individualized tests include

(A) that they are cheaper and give more accurate results

(B) that they can be given to a large group of people at one time and are cheaper to grade

(C) the ability to establish rapport between the examiner and subjects to put them at ease

(D) that they have proven to be more reliable and valid in measuring abilities

(E) more subjective scoring of results by examiners who evaluate them

5
. Which of the following best describes Charles Spearman’s
g
of intelligence?

(A) There are many factors that determine intelligence, but genetics is the most important one.

(B) The internal validity of an intelligence test is
g
.

(C) A general intelligence that underlies success on a wide variety of tasks is
g
.

(D) Giftedness is determined by both innate ability to perform and experiences one has in life.

(E) The
g
is measured by the speed with which one can process information.

6
. According to Sternberg, which of the following types of intelligence in his triarchic theory are measured by standard IQ tests?

  I. analytic

   II. practical

III. creative

(A) I only

(B) II only

(C) III only

(D) I and II only

(E) I, II, and III

7
. Freddie is a 10-year-old boy with a mental age of 12. According to the scoring of the Stanford-Binet test, Freddie’s intelligence quotient score is

(A) 12

(B) 83

(C) 95

(D) 120

(E) 140

8
. A comparison of the scores of African-American test takers to the scores of European-American test takers on current popular intelligence tests such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Stanford-Binet indicates that

(A) black students outperform white students on creative and practical intelligence scores

(B) the difference between the means of scores between groups is larger than the range of scores within groups

(C) adopted black children score higher than their biological siblings

(D) there is no difference between the scores of whites and blacks

(E) the mean of black students is lower than the mean of white students

9
. During development of standardized tests, questions that are answered correctly by almost all students and those that are missed by almost all students are eliminated. Why?

(A) Only questions that are moderately difficult should be included on a test.

(B) These questions fail to show individual differences in abilities.

(C) These questions are poorly written.

(D) The questions may be valid, but they are not reliable.

(E) This eliminates bias in administering the test.

10
. Barika, who is 75, takes longer to solve problems that require abstract reasoning than she did when she was 35. This tendency indicates

(A) a decrease in her overall intelligence level

(B) an increase in her crystallized ability

(C) a decline in her fluid intelligence