Greetings.
We continue to study the Psychodiagnostics and Psychological Assessment course.
Last time, we discussed specific mental abilities.
One specialist consider general abilities, they talk about intelligent tests at first.
Intelligence is a general mental capability
that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly,
comprehended ideas and language, and learn.
And today, we will talk about, so called, traditional approach
to psychodiagnostics of intelligence.
There are techniques which have been used for many decades in psychological diagnostics.
This tests involve the measurement of IQ, intelligence quotient, a standardized factor.
Its expected value is always 100 points.
And the norm is from 80 to 120 points in all tests.
Intelligence is the structure of human cognitive properties arising and forming
on the basis of inherited abilities in the traditional also called testing approach.
Traditional intelligence tests are based on the following principles.
The first, intelligence ability is inherent and, therefore, inevitable.
The second.
It has normal law of description and, hence, there are not so many clever people.
Most of us have the average level of intelligence.
The thought, people have only quantitative differences in abilities.
The force, we can control only the final result, solved or not solved in tests.
Thus, the concept of intelligence as an ability to successfully implement
complex activities gradually changed into the concept of learning ability.
Intelligence tests usually have complicated structure
and consist of a number of sub-tests aimed at measuring some intellectual functions.
These quantitative results are presented in the form of the profile.
The most widespread traditional intelligence tests are:
Raven Progressive Matrices test usually provides an assessment of non-verbal ability,
an important feature for our ethnically diverse population.
The test is laid down on the principle of progressivity.
The execution of the precedent item is a preparation for the implementation of follow up.
As a result, we carry out learning of a testee.
Raven Progressive Matrix test measures the ability to make sense
and meaning out of complex and confusing data,
the ability to perceive new patterns and relationships,
and to forge largely non-verbal constructs which make it easy to handle complexity.
Rudolf Amthauer's Intelligence Structure Test, IST, is an intelligence test battery
with a broad range of applications based on the structural model of intelligence.
The IST measures verbal, numerical, and figural intelligence.
Each area of intelligence is assessed through three sub-tests.
The verbal intelligence sub-tests are: sentence completion,
verbal analogies, and similarities.
The numerical intelligence sub-tests are: numerical calculation,
number series, and numerical signs.
The figural intelligence sub-tests are: figure selection, cubes, and matrix.
The inclusion of three sub-tests in each area means
that several different types of item are used to measure each area.
Thus, the battery avoids the error of simply acquainting one particular type of item,
reason individual area of ability.
When all nine sub-tests are administered together, an overall score
for reasoning is computed along with separate scores for each ability area
and the sub-test reason that area.
Sub-tests can also be administered individually
with completion times ranging from six to 10 minutes.
And the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
is the most popular intelligence test in the world
and the second most popular among all psychological tests.
The WAIS is founded on Wechsler's definition of intelligence which he defined as:
the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally,
and to deal effectively with his environment.
Intelligence is made up of specific elements
that could be easily defined and subsequently measured.
However, these individual elements are all interrelated.
The current version of the test, the WAIS 4, which was released in 2008,
is composed of 10 core sub-tests and five supplemental sub-tests.
There are four index scores representing major components of intelligence:
Verbal Comprehension Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index,
Working Memory Index, Processing Speed Index.
Two broad scores which can be used to summarize general intellection abilities
can also be derived - Full Scale IQ based on the total combined performance
of these four indices and General Ability Index based only on the six sub-tests
that comprise the first two indices.
And the main advantage of a Wechsler's Adult Intelligence Scale
is its high reliability and validity.
Best regards.
Валерия Николаевна ПетроваКандидат психологических наук, доцент
