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Testing and Individual Differences (5-7%)
When covering the different types of psychological assessments, such as intelligence and personality, you should examine how such assessments are constructed and consider the concepts of standardization, reliability, and validity. One means of conveying the difficulty of defining such constructs is to have students write questions for a hypothetical intelligence or personality test. Discuss with them the historical roots of intelligence testing and consider the ethical issues surrounding testing and the use of test results. You should present the definitions of intelligence and the role of nature and nurture in its development.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure intelligence:
— abstract versus verbal measures; speed of processing.
• Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence.
• Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence (e.g., Charles Spearman, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg).
• Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and other techniques to establish reliability and validity.
• Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve.
• Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing (e.g., gifted, cognitively disabled).
• Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses.
• Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testing (e.g., Alfred Binet, Francis Galton, Howard Gardner, Charles Spearman, Robert Sternberg, Louis Terman, David Wechsler).
Essential Questions:
How do psychologists define and study intelligence?
How did the use of intelligence tests evolve throughout the last two centuries?
How do testing scores differ between group administrations and individual
administrations of intelligence tests? Between genders? Races? Socioeconomic
groups?
How do psychologists know whether a test is reliable and/or valid? Why are these
qualities of tests important?
• Compare and contrast Gardner’s and Sternberg’s theories of intelligence.
• Evaluate Alfred Binet’s contribution to intelligence testing.
• Evaluate Lewis Terman’s role in the development of intelligence testing.
• Describe David Weschler’s contribution to intelligence testing.
• Explain how group tests of intelligence differ from individual tests.
• Differentiate between an aptitude test and an achievement test.
• Explain the difference between reliability and validity.
• Analyze the reasons for the differences in test scores among people of different genders, races, and ethnic groups.
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