| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Intelligence | The overall capacity of an individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment |
| Factor analysis | Statistical procedure designed to discover the independent elements (factors) in any set of data |
| Standardization | Process of developing uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test and for establishing norms |
| Norms | The scores and corresponding percentile ranks of a large and representative sample of individuals from the population for which a test was designed |
| Representative sample | A sample of individuals who match the population with whom they are being compared with regard to key variables such as socioeconomic status and age |
| Normal curve | A bell-shaped graphic representation of data showing what percentage of the population falls under each part of the curve |
| Raw score | A test score that has not been transformed or converted in any way |
| Standard score | A score that expresses an individual's position relative to the mean, based on the standard deviation |
| Percentile score | A score indicating what percentage of the test population would obtain a lower score |
| Deviation IQ | A standard IQ test score whose mean and standard deviation remain constant for all ages |
| Reliability | Ability of a test to yield very similar scores for the same individual over repeated testings |
| Validity | Ability of a test to measure what it is supposed to measure and to predict what it is supposed to predict |
| Halo effect | The tendency for one characteristic of an individual to influence a tester's evaluation of other characteristics |
| Experimental design | A design in which researchers manipulate an independent variable and measure a dependent variable to determine a cause-and-effect relationship |
| Self-fulfilling prophecy | The creation of a situation that unintentionally allows personal expectancies to influence participants |
| Heritability | The genetically determined proportion of a trait's variation among individuals in a population |
| Mainstreaming | Practice of placing children with special needs in regular classroom settings, with the support of professionals who provide special education services |
| Metal retardation | Below-average intellectual functioning, as measured on an IQ test, accompanied by substantial limitations in functioning that originate before age 8 |
| Stanford-Binet intelligence tests | constructed by Lewis Terman, originally used ratio IQ (MA/CA x 100); now based on deviation from mean |
| Wechsler intelligence tests | three age individual IQ tests: WPPSI (children), WISC (children), WAIS (adults) |
| fluid intelligence | cognitive abilities requiring speed or rapid learning that tends to diminish with age |
| crystallized intelligence | learned knowledge and skills such as vocabulary, which tends to increase with age |
| emotional intelligence | the ability to perceive, express, understand, and regulate emotions |
| triarchic theory of intelligence | Robert Sternberg's theory that describes intelligence as having analytic, creative and practical dimensions |
| aptitude test | a test designed to predict a person's future performance |
| achievement test | test designed to determine a person's level of knowledge in a given subject area |
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