Measuring Intelligence: Facts and Fallacies

✍ Scribed by David J. Bartholomew

• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 188
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book penetrates the thicket of controversy, ideology and prejudice surrounding the measurement of intelligence to provide a clear non-mathematical analysis of it. The testing of intelligence has a long and controversial history and whether intelligence exists and can be measured still remains unresolved. The debate about it has centered on the "nurture versus nature" controversy and especially on alleged racial differences and the heritability of intelligence.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Full contents......Page 8
Figures......Page 11
Preface......Page 13
Acknowledgements......Page 16
The noise of battle......Page 17
Why such sensitivity?......Page 19
What is intelligence?......Page 20
Can intelligence be measured?......Page 22
Do measures of intelligence have any use?......Page 24
Ideology re-visited......Page 25
Who are the experts?......Page 26
Scylla and Charybdis......Page 28
Origins of IQ: Binet, Terman and Wechsler......Page 30
Origins: Charles Spearman and factor analysis......Page 34
Spurious correlation......Page 35
Spearman’s basic idea......Page 36
Spearman’s two-factor theory......Page 37
Burt, Thurstone and Thomson......Page 38
Hierarchical factor analysis......Page 39
Modern factor analysis......Page 40
Learning from history......Page 41
Intelligence is not so much a ‘thing’ as a collective property......Page 43
A collective property of what?......Page 45
‘Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure’......Page 46
Definition by dialogue......Page 47
Does IQ have a future?......Page 49
More about collective and individual properties......Page 51
Why stop at one collective property?......Page 52
Why are we interested in things like size and shape?......Page 53
Are size and shape real?......Page 54
The case of athletic ability......Page 55
More examples......Page 56
Manifest and latent variables......Page 58
Models......Page 59
Variation and correlation......Page 62
Dimensions and dimensionality......Page 63
The measuring instrument and the measurement......Page 64
Levels of measurement......Page 65
The g-factor......Page 66
A dual measure?......Page 68
Back to definitions......Page 70
An informal approach......Page 71
Sufficiency: a key idea......Page 74
An embarrassment of solutions!......Page 76
The classical approach......Page 78
Item response theory......Page 81
Some practical issues......Page 83
What is principal components analysis?......Page 84
Gould’s version......Page 85
Principal components analysis is not factor analysis......Page 87
How did this situation arise?......Page 88
Gould’s error......Page 89
The background......Page 90
Thurstone’s multiple factor idea......Page 91
Variation in two dimensions......Page 92
Variation in more dimensions: a dominant dimension......Page 94
Rotation......Page 96
Does rotation dispose of g?......Page 98
Frames of mind......Page 99
Status of the Curve......Page 101
What is the Bell Curve?......Page 102
Why is the Bell Curve so important?......Page 103
Why might IQ or g be treated as normal?......Page 106
Intuitions on the spacing of individuals......Page 109
A broader framework: latent structure models......Page 112
Factor (or g-)scores......Page 115
Factor loadings......Page 117
Validity......Page 118
Reliability......Page 121
The identity of g......Page 122
IQ versus g......Page 123
The big question......Page 126
Group differences......Page 127
Examples of group differences......Page 128
Group differences in IQ......Page 129
The Flynn effect......Page 134
Explaining group differences......Page 135
Confounding......Page 136
Can we ever explain the black/white difference in IQ?......Page 138
What is the argument about?......Page 142
Some rudimentary genetics......Page 144
Heritability......Page 145
How can we measure heritability?......Page 147
The index of heritability depends on the population......Page 150
Confounding, covariation and interaction......Page 151
The Flynn effect re-visited......Page 154
The heritability of g......Page 156
Terminology......Page 158
Principal conclusions about IQ and g......Page 159
(i) Intelligence is a ‘thing’......Page 160
(iii) Intelligence is measurable......Page 161
(vi) Intelligence is normally distributed......Page 162
Howe’s twelve ‘facts’ which are not true6......Page 163
Science and pseudo-science......Page 167
1 THE GREAT INTELLIGENCE DEBATE: SCIENCE OR IDEOLOGY?......Page 169
2 ORIGINS......Page 170
3 THE END OF IQ?......Page 172
5 SECOND STEPS TO g......Page 173
7 FACTOR ANALYSIS OR PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS?......Page 174
8 ONE INTELLIGENCE OR MANY?......Page 175
9 THE BELL CURVE: FACTS, FALLACIES AND SPECULATIONS......Page 176
11 ARE SOME GROUPS MORE INTELLIGENT THAN OTHERS?......Page 177
12 IS INTELLIGENCE INHERITED?......Page 178
ADDITIONAL READING......Page 179
References......Page 180
Index......Page 184