GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY (PSYC 290)
STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS,
A+ GRADED AND VERIFIED
ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY
, PSYC 290
Unit Three
1. Describe and provide examples, where available, of the principal broad categories
and subcategories of psychological tests. (pp. 395-396)
- Mental Ability Tests:
1. Intelligence Tests: measure general mental ability (1st one by Galton)
2. Aptitude Tests: assess specific types of mental abilities
3. Achievement Tests: gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various
subjects
- Personality Tests: measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests,
values, and attitudes.
2. Explain the concepts of standardization and test norms. (p. 396)
- Standardization: uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of
a test
- Test Norms: where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to other
scores on that test.
3. Explain the meaning of test reliability and validity and discuss how these qualities
are estimated. What is the difference between content validity, criterion-related
validity, and construct validity? (pp. 396-400)
- Reliability: measurement consistency of a test
- Validity: test to measure what it was designed to measure.
1. Content Validity: degree to which the content of a test is
representative of the domain it’s supposed to cover
2. Criterion-Related Validity: correlating subjects’ scores on a test with
their scores on an independent criterion (another measure) of the
trait assessed by the test.
3. Construct Validity: the extent to which there is evidence that a test
measures a particular hypothetical construct.
4. Summarize the contributions of Galton, Binet, and Wechsler to the evolution of
intelligence testing. (pp. 400-402)
Galton: intelligence passed from generation to generation, correlation/percentile
scores, nature vs nurture
- Galton: was the half-cousin of Charles Darwin he believed that great
intelligence is passed from generation to generation through genetic
inheritance.
1. Coined the phrase “nature vs. nurture”
2. Invented the concepts of correlation and percentile test scores
.
Binet: “Binet-Simon scale”, mental level, mental age
- Binet: devise a test to identify mentally subnormal children
1. “Binet-Simon Scale” and use abstract reasoning rather than (Galton’s)
sensory skills.
1. The scale used Mental Level or Mental Age to score a child’s
ability.
STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS,
A+ GRADED AND VERIFIED
ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY
, PSYC 290
Unit Three
1. Describe and provide examples, where available, of the principal broad categories
and subcategories of psychological tests. (pp. 395-396)
- Mental Ability Tests:
1. Intelligence Tests: measure general mental ability (1st one by Galton)
2. Aptitude Tests: assess specific types of mental abilities
3. Achievement Tests: gauge a person’s mastery and knowledge of various
subjects
- Personality Tests: measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests,
values, and attitudes.
2. Explain the concepts of standardization and test norms. (p. 396)
- Standardization: uniform procedures used in the administration and scoring of
a test
- Test Norms: where a score on a psychological test ranks in relation to other
scores on that test.
3. Explain the meaning of test reliability and validity and discuss how these qualities
are estimated. What is the difference between content validity, criterion-related
validity, and construct validity? (pp. 396-400)
- Reliability: measurement consistency of a test
- Validity: test to measure what it was designed to measure.
1. Content Validity: degree to which the content of a test is
representative of the domain it’s supposed to cover
2. Criterion-Related Validity: correlating subjects’ scores on a test with
their scores on an independent criterion (another measure) of the
trait assessed by the test.
3. Construct Validity: the extent to which there is evidence that a test
measures a particular hypothetical construct.
4. Summarize the contributions of Galton, Binet, and Wechsler to the evolution of
intelligence testing. (pp. 400-402)
Galton: intelligence passed from generation to generation, correlation/percentile
scores, nature vs nurture
- Galton: was the half-cousin of Charles Darwin he believed that great
intelligence is passed from generation to generation through genetic
inheritance.
1. Coined the phrase “nature vs. nurture”
2. Invented the concepts of correlation and percentile test scores
.
Binet: “Binet-Simon scale”, mental level, mental age
- Binet: devise a test to identify mentally subnormal children
1. “Binet-Simon Scale” and use abstract reasoning rather than (Galton’s)
sensory skills.
1. The scale used Mental Level or Mental Age to score a child’s
ability.
