AP Psychology Testing Overview

AP Psychology: Testing - A test with items that have been piloted on a population similar to those who are meant to take the test and whose achievement norms have been established. Standardized Tests - For example, people taking the SAT on a particular testing date are fairly representative of the population of people taking the SAT in general. Such a group of people is known as the standardization sample. - This process of standardization yields equivalent exams, allowing a fair comparison between scores of different people. - The repeatability or consistency of the test as a means of measurement. Reliability - For instance, if you were to take a test three times that purportedly determined what career you should pursue, and on each occasion you received radically different recommendations, you might question the reliability of the test. - If we are to have any faith in the meaning of a test score, we must believe the test is both reliable and valid. - One of the ways to measure reliability of a test. Test-Retest Reliability - Refers to the correlation between a person's score on one administration of the test with the same person's score on a subsequent administration of the test. - A test is valid when it measures what it is supposed to measure. - For example, a personality test is valid if it truly measures an individual's personality. Validity - A test cannot be valid if it is not reliable. If subsequent administrations yield grossly disparate results for the same person, it is not reliable (consistent) and therefore not valid (accurately measuring what it is supposed to). - A test may be reliable without being valid. Even if someone's performance on the test is consistent, that performance may not be an accurate measurement. - Measure ability or potential. Aptitude Tests - Different than achievement tests, which measure what one has learned or accomplished. - Intelligence tests are supposed to be aptitude tests: they are made to express someone's potential, not his or her current level of achievement. - Measure how much you have learned in a given subject area. - Different than aptitude tests, which measure ability or potential. Achievement Tests - Most of the tests you take in school are supposed to be achievement tests. They are supposed to indicate how much you have learned in a given subject area. - Making a test that exclusively measures achievement is virtually impossible. Whatever one's aptitude for a particular field or skill, one's experience affects it. 1/3 - The ability to gather and use information in productive ways. Intelligence - Many psychologists differentiate between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence refers to our ability to solve abstract problems and pick up new information and skills, while crystallized intelligence involves using knowledge accumulated over time. - Several different theories of intelligence try to explain and categorize intelligence, including theories that define intelligence as a single ability (Spearmen) and those that define intelligence as multiple theories (Gardner). - One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Spearman's Intelligence Theory - Charles Spearman argued that intelligence could be expressed by a single factor. He used factor analysis, a statistical technique that measures the correlations between different items, to conclude that underlying the many different specific abilities s that people regard as types of intelligence is a single general factor g. - One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Gardner's Intelligence Theory - Howard Gardner argued that intelligence an best be described as multiple abilities (multiple intelligences). - Three of Gardner's multiple intelligences - linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial - fall within the bounds of qualities traditionally labeled as intelligences. To that list Gardner added musical, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist intelligence. - One fundamental issue of debate is whether intelligence refers to a single ability, a small group of abilities, or a wide variety of abilities. Sternberg's Intelligence Theory - Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory argues that three types of intelligence exist: 1. Analytic intelligence involves the skills traditionally thought of as reflecting intelligence: the ability to compare and contrast, explain, and analyze. 2. Creative intelligence focuses on people's ability to use their knowledge and experiences in a new and innovative ways. 3. Practical intelligence refers to "street-smarts" or the ability to apply what we know to real-world situations. - Alfred Binet was a Frenchman who wanted to design a test that would identify which children needed special attention in schools. Stanford-Binet IQ Test - Louis Terman, a Stanford professor, developed the intelligence quotient (IQ) score. - IQ score is computed by dividing the person's mental age by his or her chronological age and multiplying by 100. Weschler Intelligence Scales - David Weschler developed three different intelligences scales: Weschler Adult Intelligences Scale (WAIS), Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of intelligence (WPPSI). - Do not involve finding a quotient, but are still known as IQ tests. 2/3 - Standardized so that the mean is 100, the standard deviation if 15, and the scores form a normal distribution. - A distribution of scores that falls into a bell curve or normal curve. - The percentages of scores that fall under each part of the normal curve are predetermined. Normal Distribution - Approximately 68 percent of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean, approximately 95 percent fall within two standard deviations of the mean, and 98 and 99 percent of the scores fall within three standard deviations of the mean. - IQ scores form normal distributions. - For a specific characteristic, the percentage of variation between people that can be attributed to genetic factors. Heritability - For example, if a trait is highly heritable (e.g.,height), much of the variation between a group of people on that trait is determined by genes. - Heritability can range from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates that the environment is totally responsible for differences in the trait and 1 means that all of the variation in the trait van be accounted for genetically. - Performance on intelligence tests has been increasing steadily throughout the century. Flynn Effect - Since the gene pool has remained relatively stable, this finding suggests that environmental factors such as nutrition, education, and, perhaps, television and video games play a role in intelligences. 3/3