IT 2: Psychology Essay: Defining and Testing Intelligence, Feb 2020

This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of intelligence, exploring the challenges inherent in its definition and the controversies surrounding its assessment. It examines the difficulties in formulating a universal definition, highlighting various perspectives and the influence of cultural factors. The essay further investigates the debates surrounding intelligence testing, including biases and the misuse of test scores. A significant portion is dedicated to the impact of acculturation on test performance, emphasizing how cultural adaptation and exposure to different environments can influence cognitive abilities and, consequently, test results. The essay supports its arguments with references to relevant research and academic sources, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter. The essay covers the difficulty of defining intelligence, controversies about intelligence testing, and the impacts of acculturation on the performance of intelligence tests.

Running Head: IT 0
Intelligence testing
[Document subtitle]
FEBRUARY 21, 2020

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Contents
The difficulty of defining intelligence...................................................................................................2
Controversies about Intelligence testing............................................................................................2
Impacts of Acculturation on the performance of intelligence tests....................................................3
References.............................................................................................................................................4

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The difficulty in defining intelligence
Intelligence can be described in different ways concentrating on a person’s cognitive
skills and failing to accomplish the societal and practical elements of intelligence. A universal
definition of intelligence has been reported or identified. Many definitions have been
provided by experts on the basis of different aspects (Kline, 2013). The difficulty of defining
intelligence is independent of particular education and culture. The main reason why it is so
difficult to define is what people label intelligence is the gathering of skills instead of a single
thing. There are also different myths about intelligence that makes it hard to define
(Mackintosh & Mackintosh, 2011).
Controversies about Intelligence testing
Testing intelligence is recognized as a highly sophisticated process to measure the
cognitive diversity of a person. There are different types of intelligence methods are available
such as Stanford-Binet intelligence scale, differential ability scale, Peabody individual
achievement test, Wechsler individual achievement, universal non-verbal intelligence.
However, there are multiple controversies associated with intelligence testing (Hampshire et
al., 2012). According to some experts’ cultural specificity of human intelligence makes the
testing biased towards the circumstances in which they are developed, for example, white,
western society. this might be difficult in culturally diverse settings. The use of similar testing
methods among dissimilar societies would fail to identify the dissimilar cultural values that
build what every community standard as intelligence behavior. Some of the researchers
reported that these types of tests cannot objectively and likewise test a parson’s cognitive
abilities at all. Different incapacitated and their care providers believe that testing intelligence
that once recognized individuals by intelligence level, now truly function a method to
separate intelligent individuals from unintelligent individuals, avoiding the notable grey
space between these two (Fletcher & Hattie, 2011). Controversies may also arise when a test

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of intelligence in the number does not correlate with an individual's disability. Another
controversial issue may arise when the scores of the standardized tests are misused as the
measure of intelligence (Hampshire et al., 2012).
Impacts of Acculturation on the performance of intelligence tests
The assessment of intellectual or cognitive abilities remains an important part of
neuropsychological evaluation. It must consider that factor affects the result of the
intelligence testing such as acculturation. Acculturation is recognized as the outcome of
cultural adaptation because of intercultural exposure, which is mostly measured as
immigrants familiarize themselves with the host (foremost or mainstream) culture (Avila,
2013). For example, if the test performed in unfamiliar immigrant students who are Less
acculturated from cultures with importance on strong bonds to the family may face more
trouble learning to read other languages like English than students whose culture experienced
less emphasis on robust family bonds. It has been reported that students with more
acculturated to the institutional environment have increased verbal IQs compared to the less
acculturated kids. Also, the less acculturated the person, the more poorly he or she performs
on the neuropsychological measure (Tan Burgess & Green, 2020).

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References
Avila, J. F. (2013). The effects of acculturation on neuropsychological test performance in
English-speaking and Farsi-speaking Iranian individuals (Doctoral dissertation,
California State University, Northridge).
Fletcher, R. B., & Hattie, J. (2011). Intelligence and intelligence testing. Routledge.
Hampshire, A., Highfield, R. R., Parkin, B. L., & Owen, A. M. (2012). Fractionating human
intelligence. Neuron, 76(6), 1225-1237.
Kline, P. (2013). Intelligence: The psychometric view. Routledge.
Mackintosh, N., & Mackintosh, N. J. (2011). IQ and human intelligence. Oxford University
Press.
Tan, Y. W., Burgess, G. H., & Green, R. J. (2020). The effects of acculturation on
neuropsychological test performance: A systematic literature review. The Clinical
Neuropsychologist, 1-31.