Module 64 REVIEW

• 64-1 How and why do the genders differ in mental ability scores?

• Males and females tend to have the same average intelligence test scores. They differ in some specific abilities.
• Girls are better spellers, more verbally fluent, better at locating objects, better at detecting emotions, and more sensitive to touch, taste, and color.
• Boys outperform girls at spatial ability and related mathematics, though boys and girls hardly differ in math computation. Boys also outnumber girls at the low and high extremes of mental abilities.
• Psychologists debate evolutionary, brain-based, and cultural explanations of such gender differences.

• 64-2 How and why do racial and ethnic groups differ in mental ability scores?

• Racial and ethnic groups differ in their average intelligence test scores.
• The evidence suggests that environmental differences are largely, perhaps entirely, responsible for these group differences.

• 64-3 Are intelligence tests inappropriately biased? How does stereotype threat affect test-takers’ performance?

• Aptitude tests aim to predict how well a test-taker will perform in a given situation. So they are necessarily “biased” in the sense that they are sensitive to performance differences caused by cultural experience.
• By “inappropriately biased,” psychologists mean that a test predicts less accurately for one group than for another. In this sense, most experts consider the major aptitude tests unbiased.
• Stereotype threat, a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype, affects performance on all kinds of tests.

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is true of boys compared with girls?
   1. Boys have a higher average intelligence score.
   2. Boys are better spellers than girls.
   3. Boys are better at detecting emotions.
   4. Boys are more verbally fluent.
   5. Boys are more likely to be represented among those scoring extremely low as well as those scoring extremely high on tests of mental abilities.
2. Which of the following provides the best evidence that race is more of a social construct than a biological category?
   1. People of varying ancestry may categorize themselves as having the same race.
   2. Scores on tests of mental abilities vary by race.
   3. Behavior traits are associated with race.
   4. Skin cancer rates vary by race.
   5. The incidence of high blood pressure varies by race.
3. According to most experts, intelligence tests are not biased because
   1. the average scores for various racial and ethnic groups do not differ by much.
   2. the tests do a pretty good job of predicting what they are supposed to predict.
   3. cultural background has little influence on test scores.
   4. scores on the test are not very stable even when you don’t consider race.
   5. scores are increasing for almost all groups because of the Flynn effect.

Practice FRQs

1. Luis is a Mexican-American high school student with a 3.8 GPA. He recently completed his SAT in a room with a White proctor and an all White group of students. His score was much lower than he predicted based on the practice exam he took during his English class at his largely Hispanic high school. Explain how each of the following may have contributed to his lower score:
   • Bias
   • Stereotype threat

Answer

1 point: Racial group differences do exist on some types of intelligence tests. If the questions on Luis’ test were reflective of a type of vocabulary that Luis had not been exposed to, even if unintentional, then the test that he took was biased against him. Page 657

1 point: The stereotype threat would be something that Luis would impose on himself. If he had heard that Hispanic students generally do more poorly on the SAT than do White students, he may have looked around the room and felt pressure internally and not have done as well as he was capable of doing. Page 657

2. Explain three reasons why racial differences in intelligence might be caused by environmental factors.

(3 points)