Intelligence Theories
A common factor explaining positive correlations among different cognitive abilities.
What is general intelligence (g)?
The historical formula for ratio IQ.
What is mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100?
A test covers only two weeks of material from a full semester. This property is weak.
What is content validity?
Comparing the same students’ scores in September and October evaluates this.
What is test-retest reliability?
The generational rise in performance on many intelligence-test tasks.
What is the Flynn effect?
A theory recognizing musical, spatial, linguistic, and other relatively distinct abilities.
What is Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory?
A 10-year-old with a mental age of 12 has this historical ratio IQ.
What is 120?
A college admissions test is judged by how well scores forecast later GPAs.
What is predictive validity?
Correlating scores from two equivalent halves of an exam evaluates this.
What is split-half reliability?
A semester algebra exam measures learned mastery; it is this kind of test.
What is an achievement test?
Using past learning to solve a problem never encountered before illustrates this broad capacity.
What is intelligence?
The process of using a representative sample to establish test norms.
What is standardization?
A supposed creativity test actually measures vocabulary. This form of validity is threatened.
What is construct validity?
An exam has consistent results but does not measure its intended ability. It is this, but not valid.
What is reliable?
An exam designed to predict success in a future advanced program is this kind of test.
What is an aptitude test?
High performance across verbal, numerical, and spatial tasks supports this theorist’s proposal.
Who is Charles Spearman?
On a normal IQ distribution with mean 100 and SD 15, this percent scores between 85 and 115.
What is approximately 68%?
A math test samples all major skills but does not forecast advanced-course success. Identify its stronger and weaker validity evidence.
What are stronger content validity and weaker predictive validity?
Odd and even items correlate strongly, but total scores shift drastically two weeks later. Identify the two reliability findings.
What are strong split-half reliability and weak test-retest reliability?
A student says “I need a better strategy and more practice” after a poor score.
What is a growth mindset?
A student excels in music but struggles in mathematics. Explain how Gardner and Spearman would interpret this differently.
What is: Gardner emphasizes distinct intelligences, while Spearman emphasizes a shared general factor alongside specific abilities?
A student scores 130 on a test with mean 100 and SD 15. State the number of standard deviations above the mean and approximate percentile.
What are 2 standard deviations and approximately the 98th percentile?
A test is highly consistent but measures the wrong trait. Explain what this shows about validity and reliability.
What is that reliability does not guarantee validity?
Researchers want evidence that a consistent IQ test measures cognitive ability, not merely that it repeats scores. What type of evidence is needed?
What is construct validity evidence?
Explain why rising test scores alongside improvements in education and nutrition support an environmental interpretation of the Flynn effect.
What is that changing environmental conditions can influence measured cognitive performance across generations?