Psychology · Unit 17
Intelligence and Testing
What intelligence is and how it is measured
Intelligence testing is the most controversial area in psychology, partly because the measures are more predictive than critics claim and far less complete than enthusiasts claim.
The unit covers what intelligence might be, IQ and testing, multiple intelligences, creativity, and the nature and nurture question.
This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 23
- Questions
- 120
- Difficulty
- 1-5
What this unit covers
- IQ and Testing
- Multiple Intelligences
- Creativity
- Nature vs Nurture
- What Intelligence Is
Where this fits
Follows Thinking and Cognition. Needs Research Methods.
Where people slip
Heritability is a population statistic, not a statement about an individual. A high heritability figure says nothing about how much any one person's score is fixed.
How the unit is structured
Intelligence and Testing runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.
Creativity
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. Creativity is best described as coming up with ideas that are...
- new and usefulcorrect
- old and boring
- copied from others
- always wrong
A creative idea is both new (original) and useful or valuable.
- True or falseLevel 1
2. Creativity means coming up with original, new ideas.
Answer: True
Originality, or newness, is a key part of being creative.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
3. Which of these are signs of a creative idea? Pick all that apply.
- It is originalcorrect
- It is useful or valuablecorrect
- It is a new way to solve a problemcorrect
- It is copied exactly from someone else
Creative ideas are original, useful, and often new ways to solve a problem; copying is not creative.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
4. Coming up with lots of different ideas from one starting point is called ____ thinking.
- divergentcorrect
- convergent
- silent
- final
Divergent thinking branches out into many possible ideas.
- Odd one outLevel 3
5. Which of these tasks needs convergent thinking rather than divergent?
- Finding the one correct answer to a math problemcorrect
- Brainstorming many story ideas
- Listing uses for a cup
- Imagining new inventions
Finding one correct math answer is convergent; the others invite many ideas.
- Put in orderLevel 5
6. Put Graham Wallas's four stages of the creative process in order.
Answer: Preparation -> Incubation -> Illumination -> Verification
Wallas described preparation, then incubation, then illumination, then verification.
IQ and Testing
- Multiple choiceLevel 1
7. What do the letters IQ stand for?
- Intelligence Quotientcorrect
- Instant Question
- Inner Quality
- Idea Quest
IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient, a score from an intelligence test.
- Put in orderLevel 1
8. Put these IQ scores in order from lowest to highest.
Answer: 70 -> 90 -> 100 -> 130
Ordered from lowest to highest, the scores go 70, 90, 100, then 130.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
9. Which of these are true about IQ tests? Pick all that apply.
- IQ stands for Intelligence Quotientcorrect
- About 100 is an average scorecorrect
- They try to measure thinking skillscorrect
- They measure how kind a person is
IQ means Intelligence Quotient, 100 is average, and the tests measure thinking, not kindness.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
10. The famous American version of Binet's test is called the ____-Binet test.
- Stanfordcorrect
- Harvard
- Oxford
- London
Lewis Terman at Stanford University adapted Binet's test, so it became the Stanford-Binet.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
11. On most modern IQ tests, the average score is set to what number?
Answer: 100 points
IQ tests are scaled so the average score is exactly 100.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
12. Match each intelligence test or term to the person behind it.
Answer: Stanford-Binet test = Lewis Terman; Wechsler scales (WAIS) = David Wechsler; First practical intelligence test = Alfred Binet; The term 'IQ' = William Stern
Each famous test or term is tied to the psychologist who created it.
Multiple Intelligences
- Fill the blankLevel 1
13. Being good at music, rhythm, and sound is called ____ intelligence in Gardner's theory.
- musicalcorrect
- spatial
- linguistic
- logical
Musical intelligence is Gardner's name for a strong sense of rhythm, sound, and melody.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
14. Which of these did Gardner list as kinds of intelligence? Pick all that apply.
- Musicalcorrect
- Spatial (picture smart)correct
- Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)correct
- Financial (money smart)
Musical, spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic are Gardner's intelligences; there is no 'financial' one.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
15. Match each Gardner intelligence to what it means.
Answer: Linguistic = Word smart; Logical-mathematical = Number smart; Spatial = Picture smart; Musical = Sound smart
Each of Gardner's intelligences lines up with a friendly 'smart' nickname.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
16. In Gardner's theory, being 'word smart' and good with language is called ____ intelligence.
- linguisticcorrect
- musical
- spatial
- naturalist
Linguistic intelligence is Gardner's name for being skilled with words and language.
- Odd one outLevel 2
17. Which of these is NOT one of Gardner's intelligences?
- Financialcorrect
- Musical
- Spatial
- Linguistic
Gardner never listed a 'financial' intelligence; the others are all in his theory.
- Sort into groupsLevel 3
18. Sort each ability by which part of Sternberg's theory it fits best.
Answer: Acing a written school exam = Analytical; Inventing a brand-new gadget = Creative; Talking your way out of a tricky spot = Practical; Working through a logic proof = Analytical
School tasks are analytical, inventing is creative, and handling real situations is practical.
Nature vs Nurture
- Fill the blankLevel 1
19. The genes and traits we inherit from our parents are the '____' side of the debate.
- naturecorrect
- nurture
- number
- notebook
Inherited genes belong to the 'nature' side of the nature vs nurture debate.
- True or falseLevel 1
20. Most psychologists agree that both nature and nurture affect intelligence.
Answer: True
Today's view is that genes and environment work together to shape intelligence.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
21. Which of these are environmental (nurture) influences on intelligence? Pick all that apply.
- Quality of schoolingcorrect
- Childhood nutritioncorrect
- Reading at homecorrect
- The genes inherited from parents
Schooling, nutrition, and reading at home are nurture; inherited genes are nature.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
22. Which of these is an example of 'nurture' shaping intelligence?
- Going to a good schoolcorrect
- Inheriting genes from parents
- Being born with a certain eye color
- Having a family history of tall people
Going to a good school is an environmental influence, which is nurture.
- Odd one outLevel 2
23. Three of these are 'nurture'. Which one is a 'nature' influence instead?
- The genes you inheritedcorrect
- Your school
- Your friends
- Your diet
The genes you inherit are nature; school, friends, and diet are all nurture.
- Sort into groupsLevel 2
24. Sort each thing as Nature or Nurture.
Answer: Genes from your parents = Nature; The school you go to = Nurture; Eye color you were born with = Nature; Books your family reads to you = Nurture
Things you are born with are Nature; things from your surroundings are Nurture.
What Intelligence Is
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
25. Which of these are part of what we mean by intelligence? Pick all that apply.
- Learning new thingscorrect
- Solving problemscorrect
- Adapting to new situationscorrect
- The color of your eyes
Learning, problem solving, and adapting are all parts of intelligence; eye color is not.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
26. Someone who learns quickly and solves problems well is often described as ____.
- intelligentcorrect
- invisible
- identical
- imaginary
We call a person who learns and solves problems well 'intelligent'.
- Odd one outLevel 1
27. Which one is NOT a sign of intelligence?
- Having long haircorrect
- Learning from mistakes
- Solving a tricky puzzle
- Adapting to a new school
Hair length has nothing to do with how well someone thinks or learns.
- True or falseLevel 1
28. Intelligence includes being able to learn from experience.
Answer: True
Learning from experience is one of the key parts of what we call intelligence.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
29. Charles Spearman used the letter 'g' as a short name for what?
- General intelligencecorrect
- Good memory
- Genius level
- Group learning
Spearman's 'g' stands for general intelligence, a broad, all-round thinking ability.
- Match the pairsLevel 5
30. Match each theorist to their idea about the structure of intelligence.
Answer: Spearman = General factor (g); Cattell = Fluid and crystallized; Thurstone = Primary mental abilities; Carroll = Three-stratum theory
Each theorist is linked to their signature model of how intelligence is organized.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Choose all that apply
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Put in order
- Sort into groups
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise Intelligence and Testing
120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitRead about Intelligence and Testing
Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.
More units in Psychology
- What is Psychology?What psychology studies and why we behave
- Feelings and EmotionsBasic emotions and how we handle them
- Senses and PerceptionHow we take in and make sense of the world
- MemoryHow we remember and why we forget
- Learning and HabitsHow we learn and form habits
- The Brain and BehaviorThe biology behind how we think and act
- How We GrowDevelopment across childhood and life
- Thinking and CognitionProblem solving, decisions and thinking traps