AP Psychology Chapter 11 Test Answers – Flashcards

mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. EX- We often think of intelligence as school smarts

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie one’s total score. EX- Vocabulary items and paragraph comprehension are in a cluster that helps define a verbal intelligence factor.

a general intelligence factor that according to Spearman and others underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test. EX- believed that the g factor underlies all of our intelligent behavior, from navigating the sea to excelling in school.

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing. EX- often scores low in intelligent tests but has an incredible ability in musical memory or drawing.

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. EX- emotionally intelligent people are self-aware.

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. EX- thinking of things in a new light, out of the box.

a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores. EX- “Intelligence is as intelligence does in an IQ test”

a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as the average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8. EX- children with below average mental ages would struggle with schoolwork considered normal for their age.

the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test. EX- was originally use for identifying slow learning in need of special help.

defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ = ma/ca × 100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance for a given age is assigned a score of 100. EX- an 8 year old who answers questions as would a typical 10 year old has an IQ of 125.

a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn. EX- a college entrance exam

a test designed to assess what a person has learned. EX- driver’s license examinations

the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests. EX- consists of 11 different subtests, made for school-age children and for preschool children.

defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested standardization group. EX- standardized test results typically form a normal distribution, a bell shaped pattern of scores.

the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes. EX- we call this average score 100.

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting. EX- the higher the correlation between the test-restest or the split-half scores, the higher the test’s reliability.

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to. (See also content validity and predictive validity.) EX- if an inaccurate tape measure is used to measure people’s heights your height report would have low validity.

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest (such as a driving test that samples driving tasks). EX- course exams have validity if they assess one’s mastery of a representative sample of course material.

the behavior (such as future college grades) that a test (such as the SAT) is designed to predict; thus, the measure used in defining whether the test has predictive validity. EX- for some tests, the criterion is future performance.

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior. (Also called criterion-related validity.) EX- predict future achievement.

a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life; varies from mild to profound. EX- 1% of the population meets both criteria, males outnumbering females by 50%.

a condition of retardation and associated physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup. EX- a mental retardation that has a known psychical cause.

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. EX- explains why women have scored higher on math tests when no male test-takers were in the group.