Cognition: Thinking, Intelligence, and Language 287THINKING CRITICALLYWhat kind of questions would you include on an intelligence test to minimize cultural bias?
The response entered here will be saved to your notes and may be
collected by your instructor if he/she requires it.SubmitIf intelligence tests are so flawed, why do people still use them?USEFULNESS OF IQ TESTS IQ tests are generally valid for predicting academic success
and job performance (Sackett et al., 2008). This may be more true for those who score at
the higher and lower ends of the normal curve. (For those who score in the average range
of IQ, the predictive value is less clear.) The kinds of tests students are given in school
are often similar to intelligence tests, and so people who do well on IQ tests typically do
well on other kinds of academically oriented tests as well, such as the SAT, the American
College Test (ACT), the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), and actual college examinations.
These achievement tests are very similar to IQ tests but are administered to groups of
people rather than to individuals. However, research suggests skills in self-regulation or
levels of motivation may impact IQ measures and raises concerns about situations or
circumstances in which IQ scores may not be unbiased predictors of academic or job suc-
cess (Duckworth et al., 2011; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005; Nisbett et al., 2012).
Intelligence testing also plays an important role in neuropsychology, where spe-
cially trained psychologists use intelligence tests and other forms of cognitive and
behavioral testing to assess neurobehavioral disorders in which cognition and behav-
ior are impaired as the result of brain injury or brain malfunction (National Academy of
Neuropsychology, 2001). As part of their profession, neuropsychologists use intelligence
testing in diagnosis (e.g., head injury, learning disabilities, neuropsychological disor-
ders), tracking progress of individuals with such disorders, and in monitoring possible
recovery. to Learning Objective B.5.
?A B C
D E F
Figure 7.6 Raven’s Progressive Matrices Example
Facsimile of an item that may be found in Raven’s Progressive Matrices. Which of the bottom
images completes the pattern?