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The intelligence tests that you may be most familiar with are aptitude tests, which are designed
to measure one’s ability to perform a given task, for instance, to do well in college or in
postgraduate training. Most U.S. colleges and universities require students to take the Scholastic
Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT), and postgraduate schools require
the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), or the
Law School Admission Test (LSAT). These tests are useful for selecting students because they
predict success in the programs that they are designed for, particularly in the first year of the
program (Kuncel, Hezlett, & Ones, 2010).[25] These aptitude tests also measure, in part,
intelligence. Frey and Detterman (2004) [26] found that the SAT correlated highly (between
about r = .7 and r = .8) with standard measures of intelligence.
Intelligence tests are also used by industrial and organizational psychologists in the process
of personnel selection. Personnel selection is the use of structured tests to select people who are
likely to perform well at given jobs(Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). [27] The psychologists begin by
conducting a job analysis in which they determine what knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal
characteristics (KSAPs) are required for a given job. This is normally accomplished by surveying
and/or interviewing current workers and their supervisors. Based on the results of the job
analysis, the psychologists choose selection methods that are most likely to be predictive of job
performance. Measures include tests of cognitive and physical ability and job knowledge tests, as
well as measures of IQ and personality.
The Biology of Intelligence
The brain processes underlying intelligence are not completely understood, but current research
has focused on four potential factors: brain size, sensory ability, speed and efficience of neural
transmission, and working memory capacity.
There is at least some truth to the idea that smarter people have bigger brains. Studies that have
measured brain volume using neuroimaging techniques find that larger brain size is correlated
with intelligence (McDaniel, 2005), [28] and intelligence has also been found to be correlated with
the number of neurons in the brain and with the thickness of the cortex (Haier, 2004; Shaw et al.,
2006).[29] It is important to remember that these correlational findings do not mean that having