British Ability Scales
Because the Stanford- Binet and
Wechsler tests were designed
primarily for use with American
populations, the British Ability
Scales designed for 2 to 17 year
olds were developed in 1983.
This test, in addition to using
traditional items concerned with
reasoning and short term memory
measures aspects of
development and moral
reasoning.
Factors influencing Intelligence test performance: Population
The norms established for 1.Q.
tests must be based on a sample
representing the population being
tested.
If you test another population
Asian or West Indian for example,
when the norms are European, or
secretaries when the norms are
for doctors – the results will be
invalidated because the test is not
culture fair.
Factors affecting Intelligence test performance
(cont)
In 1960, when the Stanford Binet
I.Q. test was revised, many
migrant workers and unemployed
were excluded from the group that
the test was standardised on.
However, it was used to test both
black and white children, thus
giving an unfair comparison
between cultures as it looked at
how black children performed on
tests of white people’s
intelligence.
A further revision was made in
1973 which attempted to address
this problem.
Factors affecting Intelligence test performance(cont)
Cultural expectations may also be responsible for a similar difference in
IQ scores between the low caste and high caste populations in India,
Japan and New Zealand.
Factors affecting Intelligence test performance
Despite revisions, problems still
remain with IQ tests.
For example,a difference in
average 1Q has been reported by
Ogpu(1986) between two groups of
equally bright African- American
students.
One group did well at their studies
and went on to obtain high status
jobs.
The other group regarded doing
well and obtaining a high status job
as “acting white” i.e. betraying their
racial identity.
This group was unsuccessful in
their studies.
Culture fair I.Q.tests
Some tests are designed to be culture fair. These are
usually non-verbal, for example Raven’s Progressive
Matrices- a test based on spatial abilities.
However, given the key role of language in human
thinking, this kind of test may be criticised.
Also, culture fair tests must be perceived to be
desirable by those undertaking them.
Anastasi(1988) noted several cultural factors related to
test performance including familiarity with the testing
situation, rapport with the tester and experience of
solving problems alone rather than with others.
Culture fair tests
Warburton(1951) showed the
importance of social and cultural
influences on IQ testing when he
described some of the difficulties
encountered in devising ability
tests for Gurkha recruits.
Brought up in a less competitive
society than out own , they were
nor motivated to succeed in
what appeared to be irrelevant
abstract tasks and they
unaccustomed to working within
a set time limit. Consequently,
their achievement was thought
not to be reflection of true ability.
Vernon(1969) reflects the view
of many psychologists when he
argues that there can be no
such thing as a truly culture fair
test.
Intelligence Quotient: I.Q.
The idea of an intelligence quotient (IQ) which refers to a
measurement of intelligence was first introduced in 1912 by Stern.
The calculation used is:
Mental age
I.Q =
--------------- x 100
Chronological age
If an individual’s mental age and chronological age are equal then an
IQ of 100 is obtained.
IQs over 100 indicate that intellectual age is higher than average and
IQs below 100 indicate that the individual is scoring less than average.
I.Q. Testing
Psychologists have shown that IQ
test results correlate to some degree
with certain important aspects of life
such as socioeconomic standing and
even longevity.
Intelligence remains, however, a trait
that we struggle to define , let alone
test.
We do not really know what IQ tests
tell us about individuals, and yet for a
century we have relied on them to
sort people in circumstances that are
frequently life defining and sometimes
fearsomely dangerous.
The Nazis and intelligence
testing
Nowhere are the potential
horrors of using IQ tests to
make medical decisions
made more manifest than in
Nazi Germany ,where to be
too dumb( which the Nazis
often defined as useless
and burdensome) meant
sterilization and then as the
years progressed, death.
The Nazis and intelligence testing(cont)
In 1933 the Nazis enacted the
Law for the Prevention of
Offspring with Hereditary
Diseases which was modelled on
an American statute of 1914.
Hereditary health courts were set
up to rule on sterilization cases
of in the category of
feebleminded and eight other
hereditary ailments.
Between 1934 and 1936 approx.
388,000 sterilisations were
approved and carried out.
The Nazis and intelligence testing(cont)
However, top Nazis had decided early on, before the war, to
kill the
genetically unworthy, and the disabled, although they could
not
execute as publicly as they could sterilize.
By the end of the war they would have killed over 200,000
disabled people many of whom were diagnosed as
feebleminded,
which required the use of an IQ test to assess intellectual
ability.
Intelligence test and the death
penalty in the Unites States
In 1998, Daryl Atkins was convicted
of murder and sentenced to death.
His lawyers appealed against the
death sentence as his I.Q when
tested was only 59, and the cut off
level for execution was an 1.Q of
70.
The execution was postponed and
appeals from both sets of lawyers
continued to be lodged.
However, when he was tested
again in 2005, Atkins scored 76 and
was again sentenced to death.
His sentence was commuted to life
imprisonment in 2008.
The United States supreme court
considered this cut off level of IQ in
2013 in relation to another similar
case , but has yet to make a ruling.
Problems with IQ testing
One problem is that the
Wechsler tests along with the
Stanford- Binet to some
degree are so dominant that
psychologists don’t have many
other test to turn to, even if
they’re interested.
Both of these test are
considered by many
psychologists to be “the gold
standard” of intelligence
testing.
The problem is that “ IQ tests
don’t offer insight into how
people actually think.”
Stephen Murdoch 2007