The Cultural Bias in Intelligence Tests free essay sample

Although the results showed that PSYGAT is reliable and valid in assessing the verbal ability of culturally-diversified participants, it must be reminded that this is true within a university context only. Intelligence, an issue easily opened to heated debate, which a concrete definition has yet to be decided upon, from the concept that it is about how able an individual is at learning, reasoning and applying, to how an individual acts rationally and effectively with his/her environment (Varon, 1936; Wechsler, 1958, as cited in Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010). However, it is common to assess intelligence – for the purpose of this study; we term it as â€Å"abilities† – with the use of intelligence tests, or a commoner term, IQ (Intelligence Quotient) Tests. A test is defined as a measuring device or procedure, designed to measure a related variable (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010, p. 5). But as tests are â€Å"designed†, by humans, there may be flaws that may or may not, cause it to be biased towards certain group, or groups of test-takers, depending on its construction and its psychometric properties. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cultural Bias in Intelligence Tests or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Culture, is one of these issues that debates on test biases frequently encircles. Sternberg (2004) defines culture as a set of values, beliefs and behaviors shared by a group of people with language as the main means of communication, and that intelligence (or abilities) cannot be fully investigated outside its cultural contexts. Then again, this is parallel to the notion that test bias is present, when the test score has different implications for different groups or test-takers, often differentiated by age, gender and of course, cultural-linguistic background (Cole, 1989), because distinct cultural groups promote different types of abilities (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010). Consequently, in consideration of the complex role culture plays in measuring abilities, and whether or not they contribute as sources of biases, researchers often delve into the psychometric properties of a test to investigate whether that particular test is reliable, and valid for measuring particular abilities across diverse cultures. Here, reliability of a test means how â€Å"consistent† a test is at measuring what is proposes to measure, with the reliability coefficient as an index of reliability (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010, p. 139). There are two notions of reliability which are â€Å"reliability as stability over-time† which investigates into the consistency of the test on individual scores when the tests are taken on several occasions, and â€Å"reliability as internal consistency† in which the extent of homogeneity (or heterogeneity) of a test items measures a unidimensional (or multidimensional) construct (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010). Most psychological tests works within the second framework of reliability, as it takes less time and is less costly to be administered. The more homogeneous the test items, the better it is at measuring a single construct, the more reliable it is. Validity, on the other hand, describes how well a test measures the constructs it purports to measure (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010, p. 172). As aforementioned, because of the different abilities that different cultures value and promote, test-takers bring to the tests differences in ability levels such as motivations and attitudes (Cohen amp; Swerdlik, 2010), even in the diverse ways in which individuals from different cultural-linguistic ackground interpret a certain test item, pulling us back to the discussion again, of the possibly of tests being culturally bias, hence causing it to have poor reliability and, or validity. Therefore this study is attempting test the reliability and validity of a test in relation to cultural-linguistic background diversity. The main goal of this study is to test the reliability and validity of the PSYGAT Verbal IQ Test on different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in relation to the Queendom Verbal IQ Test and Cultural Fair IQ Test.