Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

Answers to Evaluate Questions 
1. tr
ue; 2. cultur
e-fair; 3. False; IQ tests ar
e used to measure individual 
intelligence; within any group ther
e are wide variations in individual 
intelligence; 4.
hereditary
, envir
onmental
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Looking
Back
 Psychology on the Web 
1. Many sites on the web permit you to assess your IQ. Take at least two such tests and 
(a) compare your results, (b) indicate what mental qualities seemed to be tested on 
the tests, and (c) discuss your impression of the reliability and validity of the tests. 
Write up your conclusions.
2. Find a way to assess at least one other of your multiple intelligences (that is, one not 
tested by the IQ tests you took) on the web. What sort of intelligence was the test 
supposed to be testing? What sorts of items were included? How valid and reliable do 
you think it was, both in and of itself and compared with the IQ tests you took?
We’ve just examined one of the most controversial areas 
of psychology—intelligence. Some of the most heated 
discussions in all of psychology focus on this topic, engaging educators, policymakers, 
politicians, and psychologists. The issues include the very meaning of intelligence, its 
measurement, individual extremes of intelligence, and, fi nally, the heredity–environment 
question. We saw that the quest to partition intelligence into hereditary factors versus 
environmental factors is generally pointless. In the area of intelligence, the focus of our 
eff orts should be on making sure that every individual has the opportunity to achieve 
his or her potential. 
Before we leave the topic of intelligence, return to the stories of the two persons of 
widely diff erent intellectual capabilities discussed in the Prologue, Chris Burke and Sho 
Yano. Consider the following questions on the basis of what you have learned about 
intelligence.
1. Chris Burke’s physicians concluded in his infancy that he would never be able to 
function eff ectively in society and should be immediately institutionalized. How do 
you think the physicians came to their conclusions, and why do you think they were 
proven wrong?