To examine the early history of intelligence testing as conducted by Yerkes on army recruits in the USA during WW1
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What issues did Gould aim to identify in psychology?
The problematic nature of psychometric testing (esp. measuring IQ), the problem of theoretical bias influencing psychological research (genetic link to IQ, prejudices) and the problem of political and ethical implications of research (discrimination)
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What is the research method?
A review artcile that looks at the history of Yerkes' intelligence testing and his attempt to establish psychology as a scientific discipline
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What was the sample?
1.75 million USA army recruits during WW1 including White Americans, Negroes and European immigrants
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What was the Army Alpha Test?
Designed for literate recruits. Recquired a good basic understanding of English language skills and literacy. 8 parts, some items familiar today as part of IQ test but other parts were very biased and were reliant on a knowledge of American culture
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What was the Army Beta Test?
Designed for illiterate recruits and those who failed the Alpha test. 7 parts: picture completion tasks. Some tasks needed knowledge of American culture and instructions were given in English. 3/7 parts the answers had to be given in writing!
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What happened if they failed both tests?
Supposed to be given an individual spoken examination but this rarely happened
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How were they graded?
Graded from A-E with +- This determined their rank in the army
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What was the issue with the way that the tests were administered?
Illiterate and immigrants often were forced to sit the Alpha test as the queues for the Beta tests built up and the levels of illiteracy were higher than predicted
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Were the tests adminstered consistently?
No. Artifical lowering of stanadards by administrators as there was too many men to sit the Beta test. The minimum level of schooling and literacy to do the Alpha test differed between the camps and some had to achieve a minimum grade.
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In practice, what happened to men who failed a test?
Men, especially black men, who failed the Alpha test were often not allowed to re-sit the Beta test. Only 1/5 of the men who failed the Beta test were given the individual examination
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What was the average mental age of a white American adult male?
13 just above the edge of moronity (standard had been previously set at 16). Taken by a eugenicist to show how interbreeding with Negroes had lowered the populations's IQ
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What was found with the European immigrants?
They could be graded by their country of origin. Fairer western and northern Europeans were more intelligent than darker southern and eastern Europeans.
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What was the average mental age of a black man?
10.41 however the lighter the skin, the higher the score
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What impact did the findings have on officer screening?
By the end of the war, 2/3 of the men who had been promoted had taken the tests and achieved good test results.
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How were the findings used inappropraitely?
The differences found between the different racial and national groups gave ideal evidence for propaganda against ethnic minority groups and racism
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What did Yerkes admit about the accuracy of the tests?
Although the tests were supposed to be accurate irrespective of country of origin or first language, he admits that the results showed an issue with people who were't familiar with English
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What was passed by US congress that was shaped by Yerkes' findings?
The Immigration Restriction Act 1924. The minority groups that had scored lowly on the test had a restriction put in place where only a limited number of people from the groups could enter the country
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Who did the Immigration Resrtcition Act have a huge impact on?
Southern and eastern Europeans (especially the Jews) who were trying to escape the persecution from the Nazis. Est. 6 million from eastern, southern and central Europe were denied entry into America during WW2
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What is the key theme of the study?
Measuring differences
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What debates does this study relate to?
Nature (Yerkes), Nurture (Gould), Science and socially sensitive research
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What areas does this study fall into?
Individual differences, cognitive (IQ) and developmental (upbringing influences IQ)
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What issues did Gould aim to identify in psychology?
Back
The problematic nature of psychometric testing (esp. measuring IQ), the problem of theoretical bias influencing psychological research (genetic link to IQ, prejudices) and the problem of political and ethical implications of research (discrimination)
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