Intelligence: Theories and Testing

Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 2009

There is no more central topic in psychology than intelligence and intelligence testing. With a history as long as psychology itself, intelligence is the most studied and likely the best understood construct in psychology, albeit still with many "unknowns." The psychometric sophistication employed in creating intelligence tests is at the highest level. The authors provide an overview of the history, theory, and assessment of intelligence. Five questions are proposed and discussed that focus on key areas of confusion or misunderstanding associated with the measurement and assessment of intelligence.

Applied Measurement in Education, 2019

This brief article introduces the topic of intelligence as highly appropriate for educational measurement professionals. It describes some of the uses of intelligence tests both historically and currently. It argues why knowledge of intelligence theory and intelligence testing is important for educational measurement professionals. The articles that follow in this special issue will provide readers with considerable information about the history of intelligence theory and testing, and especially of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of testing and its implementation. The following articles will also provide a well-reasoned approach to the way science should work in evaluating tests and the models on which they are based.

Introduction to Psychology, 2021

Introduction: individual differences and the basics of intelligence testing 323 1.1 What is intelligence? 324 1.2 Correlation 325 1.3 Galton and Binet 326 1.4 The concept ofthe intelligence quotient 1.5 The normal distribution 1.6 Conversion to IQ scores 1. 7 Advantages of the statistical approach Summary of Section 1 2 Modern psychometric approaches to intelligence 2.1 Wechsler scales 2.2 British Ability Scales 2.3 Raven's Progressive Matrices and the Mill Hill Vocabulary scale 7 2.4 General intelligence and specific factors 2.5 How accurate are IQ tests? 2.6 Does intelligence decline in later life? Summary of Section 2 3 The nature-nurture controversy 344 3.1 Heritability ofIQ 345 3. 2 Separated identical twins 347 3.3 Family studies 350 3.4 Adoption studies 351 3.5 Conclusions 353 Summary of Section 3 354 4 Race and intelligence 354 4.1 Racial admixture studies 356 4.2 Racial crossing studies 357 4.3 Test bias 358 4.4 Environmental influences on IQ 360 Summary of Section 4 361 5 Cognitive styles 361 5.1 Field dependence-independence 361 5.2 Convergence-divergence 363 5.3 Concluding comments 365 Summary of Section 5 366 Further reading 366 References 367 Answers to SAQs 371

Due to the prevalence of IQ tests in Western cultures as a method of categorization (McClelland, 1973), intelligence testing has thus accumulated a large volume of literature. An objective definition of intelligence seems to have escaped the grasp of academics, with many conceptualisations of intelligence owing their origins to socio-cultural influences (Sternberg, 2000). The aim of this experiment was to examine intelligence testing measures and understand how to transform z scores into standardised IQ scores. Digit Span, a subset of the Working Memory Index of the WAIS-III was administered to 12 undergraduate university students. Participants were asked to perform two tasks independently of each other, Digit Span Forward (DSF), and Digit Span Backward (DSB). To ensure validity and objectivity in the administration of the test, the examiner was required to adhere to certain rules concerning voice inflection on the final number of a sequence, and speaking the numbers at a rate of one number per second. A more detailed procedure concerning examiner guidelines can be found in the method section of this report. Z scores were calculated from the participant’s raw data scores, which were then transformed into standardised IQ scores. The standardisation of z scores allows for a broader interpretation of an individual’s raw data scores in comparison to others of a similar age and demographic. Furthermore, in this experiment the validity of intelligence testing measures as accurate measures of intelligence was investigated.

Intelligence, 2007

This 5-year prospective longitudinal study of 70,000+ English children examined the association between psychometric intelligence at age 11 years and educational achievement in national examinations in 25 academic subjects at age 16. The correlation between a latent intelligence trait (Spearman's g from CAT2E) and a latent trait of educational achievement (GCSE scores) was .81. General intelligence contributed to success on all 25 subjects. Variance accounted for ranged from 58.6%

American Psychologist, 2012

We review new findings and new theoretical developments in the field of intelligence. New findings include the following: (a) Heritability of IQ varies significantly by social class. (b) Almost no genetic polymorphisms have been discovered that are consistently associated with variation in IQ in the normal range. (c) Much has been learned about the biological underpinnings of intelligence. (d) "Crystallized" and "fluid" IQ are quite different aspects of intelligence at both the behavioral and biological levels. (e) The importance of the environment for IQ is established by the 12-point to 18-point increase in IQ when children are adopted from working-class to middle-class homes. (f) Even when improvements in IQ produced by the most effective early childhood interventions fail to persist, there can be very marked effects on academic achievement and life outcomes. (g) In most developed countries studied, gains on IQ tests have continued, and they are beginning in the developing world. (h) Sex differences in aspects of intelligence are due partly to identifiable biological factors and partly to socialization factors.

Intelligence and education are correlated to each other; one can still act as a moderator with respect to the life outcomes, such as success in life. Intelligence defined as common cognitive problem-solving skill. An intellectual capability concerned in reasoning, perceiving relationships and parallelism, calculation, learn promptly, understanding self-awareness, having emotional knowledge, and problem solving. Objectives of study: (i) To assess the intelligence level of respondents and observe differential in it to assess educational attainment and observed differential in it (ii) To examine influence of socioeconomic factors on the level of intelligence (iii) educational attainment and to reveal the impact of intelligence on the educational attainment of respondents. Methodology: Study area: The data was collected from three High School of Sambalpur District of Odisha i.e. Jyoti Bihar High school, Burla Girls High School, and Burla Boy's high school Burla, Sambalpur District. Research Design: Purposive sampling has been selected for the study. Universe: The sample was collected from the respondent belonging to Burla Higher Scondary School studying in class 9 th and 10 th coming in age group of 13 to 17 year and the size of samples is 50 from both the sexes. Tool and techniques: A small interview schedule and Group Test of Intelligence Scale developed by the G.C. Ahuja (1971) for the measurement of Intelligence, where its consist of 135 questions in objectives nature. Analysis of Data: The data was analyzed by using statistical tools. Result: Intelligence and education have been studied together and academic achievement in relation to overall achievements and this study reveals that girl's students were more intelligent than boys whereas normal students are more intelligent rather than malnourished adolescent's students.

Frontiers in Psychology

Intelligence is considered the strongest single predictor of scholastic achievement. However, little is known regarding the predictive validity of well-established intelligence tests for school grades. We analyzed the predictive validity of four widely used intelligence tests in German-speaking countries: The Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS), the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS), the Snijders-Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Test (SON-R 6-40), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), which were individually administered to 103 children (M age = 9.17 years) enrolled in regular school. School grades were collected longitudinally after 3 years (averaged school grades, mathematics, and language) and were available for 54 children (M age = 11.77 years). All four tests significantly predicted averaged school grades. Furthermore, the IDS and the RIAS predicted both mathematics and language, while the SON-R 6-40 predicted mathematics. The WISC-IV showed no significant association with longitudinal scholastic achievement when mathematics and language were analyzed separately. The results revealed the predictive validity of currently used intelligence tests for longitudinal scholastic achievement in German-speaking countries and support their use in psychological practice, in particular for predicting averaged school grades. However, this conclusion has to be considered as preliminary due to the small sample of children observed.

American Psychologist, 1996

In the fall of 1994, the publication of Herrnstein and Murray's book The Bell Curve sparked a new round of debate about the meaning of intelligence test scores and the nature of intelligence. The debate was characterized by strong assertions as well as by strong feelings. Unfortunately, those assertions often revealed serious misunderstandings of what has (and has not) been demonstrated by scientific research in this field. Although a great deal is now known, the issues remain complex and in many cases still unresolved. Another unfortunate aspect of the debate was that many participants made little effort to distinguish scientific issues from political ones. Research findings were often assessed not so much on their merits or their scientific standing as on their supposed political implications. In such a climate, individuals who wish to make their own judgments find it hard to know what to believe. tatives. Other members were chosen by an extended consultative process, with the aim of representing a broad range of expertise and opinion.