Test Validity Does the test actually measure what it purports to?

The test measured the ditziness of blonde OHS girls. I got a very high score, indicating I was ditzy. The test is therefore valid.

Test reliability Does a test yield the same results

Face validity “On the face of it,” does the test evaluate ?

Content validity Each question asked represents the larger learning objectives Criterion-related validity Is performance measured against a specific performance goal?

Construct validity validity exists work, (most meaningful kind of ): if an independent measure already that has been established to identify those who will make fine pilots and enjoy their we can correlate prospective pilots’ performance on that measure with their performance on any new measure

Test Reliability

Inter-scorer reliability: does the test yield the same results when scored by different people?

Split-half reliability: divide the test in half and score each half separately. If the two scores are about the same, the test is reliable.

Test-Retest reliability: does a test yield similar

You are so right, Adam. So here we go with the different types of tests.

Aptitude tests measure ability or potential (The Scholastic Aptitude Test or a test to determine aptitude for a specific job or skill—ie. pilot) Achievement tests measure what one has learned or accomplished problems) (a chapter test) Speed tests generally consist of a large number of questions asked in a short amount of time (goal: to see how quickly you can solve

Here are a few more.

Power tests gauge the difficulty level of problems an individual can solve (increasing difficulty) Group tests are administered to a large number of people at a time (the SAT) Individual tests involve greater interaction between the examiner and examinee (Rorschach inkblot tests)

OK you people. What is a standardized test ?

You jerk! It is a test whose administration and scoring guidelines are the same for each student and the results can be used to draw conclusions about the test takers regarding the test’s objectives.

The people used to represent the population for whom the test was intended

How can results between test takers be compared?

conclusion The method most frequently used to establish norms uses a normal, or bell-shaped, curve.

To establish norms, a test must be pre-tested and scores plotted When a statistically significant sample of the population has been tested, you can draw

Scores in the middle of the distribution are considered to be in the normal range

S T U D E N T S 5 4 3 2 1 0 Scores 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Mr. Simoncini, will you tell us the difference between objective and subjective tests?

Ethics and standards in testing Confidentiality of the information elicited on tests Individual IQ test results are never released (most cases) Should explain significance or relevance of test results A great deal of IQ, SAT and AP testing has been scrutinized to control for culture bias or anything else that may skew the results of a test

Discussion topic: Should OHS honors and AP classes and integrate honors students with all other students, including ELD and resource

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon: The Binet & Simon School Abilities Test 30 problems sampling a variety of abilities that seemed necessary for school Predicted which children could/could not handle normal schoolwork

Binet-Simon Test —4 features 1) Interpreted scores as an estimate of current performance, not as a measure of innate intelligence 2) Wanted scores to be used to identify students who needed help 3) Emphasized that training and opportunity could affect intelligence 4) Constructed the test empirically

U. S. modification of Binet-Simon test  Modified scoring procedure  Expanded test’s content  Obtained scores from a large, normative group, including adults

Three forces that “conspired to make intelligence testing seem like an orderly way out of growing turmoil and uncertainty.” Immigration Classifying new military recruits

large-scale group Public accepted the idea that abilities intelligence tests could accurately differentiate people in terms of mental Led to widespread use of tests in US schools and industry Tests also used to reinforce prevailing prejudices

Simple to administer Means of assessing and classifying people according to their scores Public perceived the tests as objective and democratic

Key factors about the Stanford-Binet Simon test for US

Intelligence Scale Result: Stanford Binet test scale; better suited for spotting learning problems Stanford-Binet Test kit

How is a person’s IQ calculated?

Mental Age Chronological Age X 100 Normal IQ = 100

What was the loudest objection to the Stanford Inconsistent concept of intelligence because it measured different mental abilities at different ages

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

The WISC yields a deviation IQ score. The mean is set at 100 A person scoring 100 is at the 50 th percentile The standard deviation is set at 15 Approximately 34% of scores in a normal distribution fall between the mean and one standard deviation above or below the mean 50 th 16 th percentile percentile 84 th percentile

Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence

What problems with the IQ formula does the By mid-to-late teenage years, gains in mental age scores usually level off, as people develop mentally in many different directions; therefore, mental growth appears to slow down Normal children appear to become mentally retarded adults—an erroneous picture of adult mental abilities

Learn vocational and independent living skills Biological scientists hope that one day they will be able to treat genetically based forms of mental retardation with therapies that are just now being conceived

Savant Syndrome Individuals who have a remarkable talent even though they may be mentally slow in other domains

Psychometrics The field of mental measurements—it is the psychology specialty that has given us most of our IQ tests, personality tests, the SAT and a variety of testing instruments

Carl Brigham created the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and psychologists design how questions on that test are presented.

The College Board created the new SAT because of criticism begun by the President of the University of California System .

The new SAT is intended to measure academic preparedness , not raw intelligence.

Remember the first SAT essentially an IQ test .

was Students, you may recall that I am Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University. Remember in the article about the SAT, I said that the old SAT measures how good your tutor is .

Charles Spearman 1904—Two-Factor Theory G Factor: a person’s general intelligence Involves a person’s ability to perform complex mental work Problem solving S Factor: a person’s specific mental abilities (verbal or math skills)

Spearman believed that every individual has a certain innate level of general intelligence Criticism: the G factor does not measure many other kinds of mental abilities: just a g score motor, musical, or creative—you cannot reduce intelligence to

L. L. Thurstone (1938) Spearman’s theory. opposed Tested numerous subjects on over 50 different ability tests Concluded that no evidence for Spearman’s g factor Instead, proposed that intelligence is composed of seven primary abilities

Thurstone’s Seven Primary Mental Abilities Verbal comprehension Numerical ability Spatial relations— ability to visualize and manipulate patterns and forms Perceptual speed stimuli —ability to grasp perceptual details quickly and accurately and determine similarities and differences between

Thurstone’s Seven Primary Mental Abilities (continued) Word fluency —ability to use words quickly and fluently in performing such tasks as rhyming and doing crossword puzzles Memory Inductive reasoning —ability to derive general rules and principles from presented information

J. P. Guilford: proposed 100 different mental abilities broken into 3 main dimensions The Operation dimension: cognition, memory, divergent production convergent production (gener ating multiple solutions to a problem), (deducing a single solution to a problem), and judgment The Content dimension: figural (non-verbal or pictorial), symbolic (verbal thinking and communication), semantic (symbols like numbers or letters with no meaning on their own), and behavioral

J. P. Guilford: proposed 100 different mental abilities broken into 3 main dimensions The Product dimension: Unit—single item of information Class—set of items that share some attributes Relation—connection between items System—interaction of items, or networks with interacting parts Transformation—changes in attributes Implication—expectation or prediction

Raymond Cattell’s theories of crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence Crystallized: the knowledge a person has acquired, plus the ability to access that knowledge; the ability to store and retrieve Information from semantic memory Fluid: ability to see complex relationships and solve problems (algorithms and heuristics)

Robert Sternberg of intelligence (1985) The Triarchic (or three-part) theory Three ways of processing information 1. Analytical thinking skills— the ability to solve problems (tradit ionally measured on intelligence tests) 2. Applying

creative thinking

to problem solving in dealing with new situations

Robert Sternberg (1985) The Triarchic (or three-part) theory of intelligence 3. Practical thinking skills to help adjust and to cope with one’s environment Sternberg believes that traditional intelligence tests do not measure and assess intelligences found in daily life —his theories make it difficult to measure intelligence

Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) Rejected the traditional idea of intelligence as primarily the ability to think logically Argues for a that includes intelligences broader perspective 8 types of Last semester you did an experiment in which you determined your strongest intelligence.

Spatial Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Verbal/linguistic Mathematical-logical Musical

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Body-kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalist—ability to identify and classify patterns and relationships in natural surroundings

Gardner is also now considering a ninth and a tenth intelligence, existential intelligence —experience of existence—and spiritual intelligence —the ability to think in abstract spiritual terms and put oneself in a spiritual frame of mind.

Emotional Intelligence

(1995) Concept of Emotional Intelligence expressed in terms of an EQ, or Emotional Quotient Corresponds to Gardner’s notion of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence Argument: people with highest IQs are not always the most successful people; both EQ and IQ are needed to succeed

Emotional Intelligence

want to achieve. (1995) People with high EQs would be likely to find jobs well suited to their individual strengths. Emotional intelligence is thought to help people achieve what they Someone with a high EQ will not necessarily want a high paying job, go to college, be a creative problem solver or have many close friends.

Benjamin Bloom divided thinking skills (intelligence skills) into six progressive categories Focus: teachers need to address all six categories in daily teaching and evaluating students Bloom’s Taxonomy is also divided into three different levels—two categories in each level

Bloom’s Taxonomy Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation Lower thinking Medium thinking Higher thinking

Here is a website that discusses each category

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson and Self-fulfilling prophecies 1968: rats through a maze Told some students their rats were exceptionally bright; others heard their rats were slow learners; rats believed to be bright outperformed perceived duller littermates

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson and Self-fulfilling prophecies Later: gave school teachers erroneous information about the academic potential of about 20% of students The students the teachers expected to blossom did; teachers rated them as more curious and having more potential for life success; teachers considered same children happier, more interesting, better adjusted, etc.

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson and Self-fulfilling prophecies When retested, the children expected to blossom DID Key point: self-fulfilling prophecy— people live up to their own expectations or those of others

The IQ Gap + 15 points

Intelligence and heredity Stronger genetic correlation than IQ scores of fraternal twins or triplets

Intelligence and heredity The Flynn Effect (James R. Flynn) Performance on intelligence tests has been increasing steadily throughout the 20 th and 21 st centuries.

Since the gene pool has remained the same, the finding suggests that environmental factors such as nutrition, education and, interestingly, television and video games, intelligence play a role in

Arthur Jensen Racial differences in IQ have a genetic basis May limit how far education can boost the IQ scores of some races government programs designed to help disadvantaged black children had not erased racial differences in performances Critics: Jensen ignored several factors: effects of racism, lower teacher expectations, lack of opportunity, low self esteem; white, middle class bias built into IQ and achievement tests

Sandra Scarr and Richard Weinberg IQs; Scarr and Weinberg Adoption Study Compared black and white children adopted into similar home environments 115 white children; 176 black children, Minnesota, 1950s; all adopted into white families Both groups: biological parents had average adoptive parents averaged above 115 Results: no differences; average about 110 ; indicates strong environmental effects

How does social class affect IQ? Clear correlation Affluent people: higher IQ scores Lowest IQ scores:  Poverty   Illiteracy Hopelessness Poor nutrition, inadequate health care, lack of access to books and computers, job schedules that leave parents little time to stimulate a child’s intellect Poor health care during pregnancy: low birth weight and associated low mental ability

How does social class affect IQ? Wealthy neighborhoods can provide bigger and better school facilities and amenities; poorer districts may suffer from crowding, physically deteriorating structures, threats to personal centers and a lack of high tech educational opportunities

Evaluate the success of the Head Start Program Controversy • Does help disadvantaged children get ready for school • Enrolled children: higher IQ scores and higher school achievement in early grades • Differences diminish over time • Head Start children are less likely to be placed in special education classes and less likely to fail a grade

What biases, if any, are incorporated into IQ tests?

Controversy • Built-in biases favoring white, middle or upper class children • Most IQ tests rely heavily on vocabulary level—big advantage to children who have been read to and who are encouraged do read • Lowered expectations among some minority groups can contribute to low scores • Examiner’s attitude or bias; Black students score higher with Black examiners

And if you guess don’t know an answer right off —use , don’t be blonde (note person to my left). Go ahead and common sense .

Bring all needed materials

Thanks, Ty and Max. OK, here are some tips about multiple guess, er, I mean multiple CHOICE tests.

Read all directions carefully Budget your time and don’t waste time on questions that are difficult. Come back to them at the end of the exam, but remember if you skip, also skip on the Scantron answer sheet.