The confidence of males estimations Essays - Intelligence

The confidence of males estimations The confidence of males estimations 1.Abstract Students of the University of Westminster participated in an experiment to test whether there was a difference in estimation of IQ levels between genders. The results confirmed previous research findings indicating that males tend to estimate higher IQ scores than females. This result could have been influenced by a number of different social and psychological influences, for example stereotypes of men and women impact on different self-perceptions between males and females. In conclusion, it was found out that despite the bias and small sample size, the findings were significant. To explore the relationship between stereotypical responses and IQ estimation, more research is needed. 2.Introduction IQ testing has existed for long periods of time. The purpose for the test is to measure intelligence quotient, (IQ).Theorists such as Francis Galton and Alfred Binet developed the origins of IQ testing. Two basic propositions of the theory are that there is a variation among members of any species, and that this variation is inherited, differences between parents in one generation being transmitted to their offspring to the next, which is Darwins Theory of evolution (1831). Theorists such as Binet and Termans (1916) developed the modern IQ test from these psychometric tests, which included The Wechsler tests and Ravens Matrices. These two tests followed the Stanford Brent tests, and included a wide variety of different items. Those who supported ideas of pragmatic intuition thought different types of items might favour or penalise different people. Binet and Termans (1916) sought to answer their hypothesis whether intelligence was best conceptualised as a single general process of a multitude of different abilities and skills. Following these issues and unbalanced intelligence questionnaires, Spearman also believed that the more diverse the items were in the test battery, the better it would measure the general factor in the IQ test. According to IQ testing, we cannot ignore group differences such as sex and gender. Stereotypical expectations always existed for males and females, that have tended to press them towards the direction of the expected role type. For instance power differences between men and woman have shown differences between the amounts of resources that are available between the two; resources available to woman have shown to be fewer than men. The wide spread nature of stereotyping may lead people to this as a norm. As there are social differences between females and males, it is known that girls and boys are treated differently by their parents and by the wider society. It is challenging to discuss why such differences have occurred. For instance males are known to be better at partial awareness compared to females and men outscored woman in all kinds of special tests (Linn and Peterson, 1985; Voyer et al., 1995). Lynns,(1994) assumptions of human evolution was closely correlated with hunting , and continues the observation that in contemporary hunter-gatherer societies men do the hunting while woman are engaged in lower-status, but more vital tasks of gathering. This assumes that hunting depends on spatial ability and concludes that a sex difference in spatial ability must have a biological origin. Rielly, (1994) argued that if gender differences in attitudes towards and estimations of attributions like intelligence are to be better understood, it would be unwise to make inferences in the absence of objective measurement of the attribute concerned , and having failed consider data at the level of an individual. Neto, Mullet and Furnham (2008) in their article called, personality and individual differences. Discussed the influence of self-fulfilling prophecy and self-theories in which females and males from childhood learn from a young age. Neto, Mullet and Furnham (2008) indicated that females had many more consequences of sex difference in self-related abilities. Other research focuses on the improvement in female expectations of self. This has initiated further research on childrens motivation in education settings and the goals they set themselves and how they respond to the feedback. For instance, Neto, Mullet and Furnham (2008) revealed that those who were praised because of their cognitive abilities benefited as they were more motivated, influences from society affect self-stimulation which in turn influences, self-estimates of intelligence.( Neto, Mullet and Furnham 2008). In order to analyse the difference in accuracy