Question | Answer |
intelligence test | a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores. (p. 524) |
intelligence | mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. (p. 524) |
general intelligence (g) | 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. (p. 524) |
factor analysis | a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person’s total score. (p. 524) |
savant syndrome | a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing. (p. 525) |
emotional intelligence | the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. (p. 528) |
mental age | 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. (p. 533) |
Stanford-Binet | the widely used American revision (by Terman at Stanford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test. (p. 534) |
intelligence quotient (IQ) | 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. (p. 534) |
achievement tests | tests designed to assess what a person has learned. (p. 535) |
aptitude tests | tests designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn. (p. 535) |
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) | the WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance (nonverbal) subtests. (p. 535) |
standardization | defining meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group. (p. 536) |
normal curve | (normal distribution) a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes. (pp. 40, 536) |
reliability | the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting. (p. 538) |
validity | the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to. (See also content validity and predictive validity.) (p. 538) |
content validity | the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest. (p. 538) |
predictive validity | 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.) (p. 538) |
intellectual disability | (formerly referred to as mental retardation) 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. (p. 542) |
Down syndrome | a condition of intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. (p. 542) |
stereotype threat | a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. (p. 555) |