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” for exclusion derived from case studies of two families, the
Juke and the Kallikak families, that allegedly had produced defective
human offspring for generations
B. Heredity and IQ
1. Heritability is based on an estimate within a given group, but cannot
be used to interpret between group differences
2. A heritability estimate of a particular trait, such as intelligence, is based
on the proportion of the variability in test scores on that trait that can
be traced to genetic factors
3. For human characteristics in general, differences between gene pools
of different racial groups are minute, as compared to genetic
differences among individual members of the same group
C. Environments and IQ
1. Research has most often focused on global measures of environment,
such as the influence of socioeconomic status on IQ
2. “Head Start” taught us that:
a) IQ can easily be affected by the environment
b) An enriched environment must be sustained if the results are
to last
D. Culture and the Validity of IQ Tests
1. Systematic bias makes some tests invalid and unfair for minorities
2. Ongoing concern exists as to whether it is possible to devise an IQ test
that is “culture-fair”
3. Stereotype Threat–the threat of being at risk for confirming a negative
stereotype of one’s group–can bring about the poor performance
encoded in the stereotype
V.Creativity
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CHAPTER 10: INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT
A. Creativity is the individual’s ability to generate ideas of products that are both novel and
appropriate to the circumstances in which they were generated
B. Assessing Creativity
1. Many approaches to rating individuals as creative or uncreative focus
on divergent thinking, the ability to generate a variety of unusual but
appropriate solutions to a problem.
2. Exceptional Creativity and Madness
a) The exemplary creator who emerges from assessments of
creativity as almost off the scale
b) Gardner alludes to a common stereotype of the exemplary
creator—their life experiences border on or include the
experience of madness
VI. Assessment and Society
A. The primary goal of psychological assessment is to make accurate assessments of people
that are as free as possible of errors of assessors’ judgments
B. Three ethical concerns are central to the controversy of psychological assessment
1. The fairness of test-based decisions
2. The utility of tests for evaluating education
3. The implications of using test scores as labels to categorize
individuals
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Western culture places high value on intelligence, so much so that we begin intelligence
testing of our children as soon as they enter the public school system. Children are
routinely tested, using a variety of assessment instruments. Testing is followed by school
counselors meeting parents to provide feedback regarding the child’s performance.
Inevitably, the child’s scores become “cocktail party conversation,” with parents
comparing their children’s scores, even though their children may not have been assessed
using the same instruments, or under the same circumstances. Discuss with the class the
range of potential problems that can result from such activities.
2. Given the current three-part definition of intelligence as proposed by Sternberg, ask if
members of the class feel that any one aspect of intelligence is more important than the
others?