PSYC340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Twin, Divergent Thinking, Twin Study
9 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER #3
achievement test: gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various subjects (reading, English,
or history)
aptitude test: assess specific types of mental abilities, assess verbal reasoning, numerical ability,
abstract reasoning, perceptual speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relationships,
spelling, and language reasoning
intelligence test: measure general mental ability, intended to assess intellectual potential rather than
previous learning/accumulated knowledge
personality test: measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests, values, and
attitudes
psychological test: a standardized measure of a sample of a person’s behaviour
standardization: the uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of a test (all
subjects get the same instructions, questions, and time limits so that their scores can be compared
meaningfully)
test norms: provide information about whether a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to
other scores on that test (tell you how you score relative to other people)
adoption studies: research studies that assess hereditary influence by examining the resemblance
between adopted children and both their biological and their adoptive parents
twin studies: a research design in which hereditary influence is assessed by comparing the
resemblance of identical twins and fraternal twins with respect to a trait
reliability: the measurement consistency of a test (or of other kinds of measurement techniques)
test-retest reliability: estimated by comparing subjects’ scores on two administrations of a test
(taking a test on two occasions)
validity: the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure, the accuracy/usefulness of
the inferences/decisions based on a test
construct validity: the extent to which there is evidence that a test measures a particular
hypothetical construct
content validity: the degree to which the content of a test is representative of the domain it’s
supposed to cover, evaluated with logic more than statistics
criterion-related validity: estimated by correlating subjects’ scores on a test with their scores on
an independent criterion (another measure) of the trait assessed by the test
convergent thinking: narrowing down a list of alternatives to converge on a single correct answer
divergent thinking: trying to expand the range of alternatives by generating many possible
solutions
correlation coefficient: a numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables
creativity: involves the generation of original, novel, and useful ideas, does not usually involve
sudden insight, and consists of more than divergent thinking, Creativity tests are mediocre
predictors of creative productivity in the real world, creativity tests measure creativity in the
abstract, as a general trait, creative productivity over the course of an individual’s career will
depend on his/her motivation, personality, and intelligence, as well as situational factors such as
training, mentoring, and good fortune, creativity is only weakly related to intelligence
emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought,
understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion
heredity (and intelligence): Estimates of the hertitability of intelligence mostly range from 40% to
80%, but heritability rations have certain limitations, a heritability estimate applies only to the
specific group on which the estimate is based, hertibaility estimates for intelligence have been based
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Document Summary
Alfred binet: developed first mental intelligence test in 1905 for subnormal children in france to determine their mental age. To determine if mental ability was typical of child of that age. James flynn: developed flynn effect showed that iq performance is rising steadily all over the. Sir francis galton: determined that intelligence is governed by heredity by looking at family trees. Howard gardner: thought that 1q intelligence was too narrow. Believed there was a number of human intelligences. Created list of multiple intelligencies. (8) logical/mathematical, linguistic, Arthur jensen: argued that racial differences in iq scores are largely due to heredity. Also, had an idealized bell curve that minority groups could not escape their fates. Claude steele: stereotype vulnerability- social psychologist that argued that derogatory stereotypes of stigmatized groups" intellectual capabilities create unique feelings of vulnerability. Eileen luders: believes that profoundly gifted people (iq = 180 or above) are often introverted and socially isolated.
