IQ Test Results May Not Measure Up - Research Proposal Example

IQ Test Results May Not Measure Up IQ tests have been used by many schools to determine how children should be supported in their learning. They have been a constant measure of how children in some schools are placed into regular classes or into special education classes. With the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, schools had to pay more attention to how they would classify children into regular or special education classes. As time has gone on, schools have included special education students into their overall goals for their schools. However, in most situations schools have failed in the area of progress because special education children are not able to keep up with the rigors of the regular school classroom. In many situations, according to George, Abdul, and Ravindran (2010) IQ tests fall short when diagnosing and testing the mentally challenged. The fact that most mentally challenged children are tested every six months may prohibit them form actually showing progress. George et al. (2010) also suggest that IQ tests alone may stagnate the child’s growth potential because it only measures one aspect of what the child can do. Also, the child’s brain is always changing and without the understanding of this fact, the mentally handicapped child’s intelligence can be overlooked. Statement of the Problem IQ tests have been under suspicion in the last few years when assessing the mentally handicapped for many reasons. Some researchers suggest that this is an unfair way to test the mentally handicapped because IQ tests cannot assess the correct information because the mentally handicapped may not be able to discern how to answer the questions (Whitaker, 2008). Leyin (2010) adds that some mentally handicapped children may be misdiagnosed because the idea of mental capacity cannot be measured accurately. They propose that there should be a different measure to provide an understanding of the capacity for the mentally handicapped. In light of this information, there needs to be a better understanding of IQ test scores and what they really mean and whether they are effective in helping children learn. Purpose of the Project The purpose of this project is to address whether or not IQ test scores are stagnant in mentally challenged individuals. The purpose is to discover whether IQ test scores can provide an accurate assessment of the mentally handicapped and whether there can be an increase or a decrease in a person’s score on these tests. Another purpose of this project is to discover whether there can be an increase in IQ test results and if there is an increase, whether the increase is a short-term or long term increase. Research Questions 1. Do IQ test scores remain stagnant in mentally handicapped individuals? 2. Do IQ test scores increase or decrease in mentally handicapped individuals? 3. If IQ test scores increase, are the results temporary, or constant? Definitions According to the Merriam Webster dictionary (2012) intelligence is defined as the ability to learn and understand, or to solve problems. Although many people who have mental challenges can learn, understand and solve problems, many do not have the capacity to do so on every level. As an example, those with mental retardation (MR) do not have the capacity to learn at the same level as those people who do not have mental retardation. Mental retardation (MR) is a disorder that is evident in childhood as significantly below-average intellectual and adaptive functioning (Luckasson et, 1992). People with mental retardation experience difficulties with day-to-day activities, to the extent that the difficulties reflect both the severity of their cognitive deficits and the type and amount of assistance they receive (Barlow & Durand, 1999). American Psychiatric Association (2001) states that the criteria for mental retardation have four categories as listed here: 317 Mild Mental Retardation: IQ level 50–55 to approximately 70 318.0 Moderate Retardation: IQ level 35–40 to 50–55 318.1 Severe Mental Retardation: IQ level 20–25 to 35–40 318.2 Profound Mental Retardation: IQ level below 20 or 25 319 Mental Retardation, Severity Unspecified, can be used when there is a strong presumption of Mental Retardation but the person's intelligence is untestable by standard tests (e.g., with individuals too impaired or uncooperative, or with infants). (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, DSM-IV-TR online, “Mental retardation”) The DSM-IV-TR classifications are the standard classifications that most schools, mental health personal and psychiatrists use to decide a child’s opportunities in special education. According to Barlow and Durand (1999) A person must have significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, a determination made with one of several IQ tests with the cutoff score set by DSM-IV at approximately 70 or below. The subaverage intelligence is not sufficient for a diagnosis of mental retardation; a person must also have significant difficulty in at least two of the following areas: communication, self-care, home living, social and interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health, and safety. The final criterion for mental retardation is the age of onset. The intellectual and adaptive abilities must be evident before the person is 18 (Barlow & Durand, 1999). Methodology The researcher will conduct an experiment using IQ tests to understand how IQ test scores assess the intelligence of individuals. The method that this researcher will use is randomly select 50 high-functioning mentally retarded participants from clients at the local Mental Health/ Mental Retardation agency. The criteria for participation will be: 1. They must have an IQ of 50-70 2. They must be able to communicate well. 3. They must be able to independently perform daily life skills such as bathing, dressing and eating. 4. They must have had an IQ test within the past year. Participants will be involved in training that is structured to improve their mathematical skills and language arts skills. Activities that participants will engage in will include puzzles, identification of objects and animals, and use of appropriate social skills in certain situations. The training will be done five days a week. The researcher will retest the participant’s IQ at for months and six months. At four months, the IQ test scores will be evaluated to see whether ether was a gain in their IQ scores. If there was a gain, the participants will be retested at six months to see whether this gain was permanent. Literature Review According to Flynn (1999) IQ seems to increase over time and re-norming tests have radically altered the percentage of Americans with IQs below 70. Moreover, the criterion for mental retardation was altered from 70, normed against Whites only, to 70, normed against all Americans. What resulted was that the proportion eligible to be classified as mentally retarded has varied from a high of 1 in 23 to a low of 1 in 213 (Balter, 2011?). Researchers have long debated what IQ tests actually measure, and whether average differences in IQ scores-such as those between different ethnic groups-reflect differences in intelligence, social and economic factors, or both (Balter, 2011). According to Flynn (?), psychologists’only rationale for using an IQ score to classify children as MR is that it is supposed to correlate with impaired adaptive behavior. Nijman, Scheirs, Prinsen, Abbink and Blok (2010) suggest that different testing methods for mentally retarded individuals will help them increase their IQ tests scores. Their study identified a verbal test that was given to both mentally retarded children and adults. The results of this study showed that “obsolete test scores” (p. 1410) should not be used in working with mentally retarded children or adults because they do not provide enough information about the individual’s abilities. This study shows that there IQ test scores may be able to increase as an individual has more experience in their lives and as new testing methods are found to test their abilities differently. To add to this discussion, Silverman, Miezejeski, Zigman, Krinsky-McHale and Urv (2010) found that IQ test scores were difficult to use in most studies because they were not always accurate. As an example, they analyzed test scores that were done on the Stanford-Binet and the WAIS IQ test and they found that there were discrepancies between the two tests. This meant that the adults that were studied in this test may not have had proper scores and therefore may have scored higher or lower, depending on other circumstances in their lives. Conclusion This researcher interviewed Robert Trumant, Director of MHMRA’s assessment center regarding the possibility of IQ scores increasing in clients who were diagnosed with mental retardation. His response was that it is possible for an increase to occur in MR clients but his thoughts are that the gain will be short-term due to brain functioning which qualified them to have the initial diagnosis of MR. Mr. Trumant informed me that when mentally retarded individuals are charged with certain crimes, they are sometimes placed in a facility with the purpose and objective to increase their IQ level long enough to try them in a court of law for their charges. The research clearly shows that there are many ways that IQ test scores can be interpreted and that many people can indeed score higher on one test or another. The literature also points out that the standard IQ tests may not be appropriate to test people with mental retardation because they are tested against specific groups (usually Whites) and participants may not understand the questions on the test. In light of this, this researcher expects to understand, through this study, a different way of approaching mentally retarded individuals to see whether the information that is found in them is accurate. References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. [DSM-IV-TR]. Online Version, “Mental Retardation”Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Balter, M. (2011). What does IQ really measure? Science Now. Retrieved from http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/04/what-does-iq-really-measure.html. Barlow, D.H. & Durand, V.M. (1999). Abnormal Psychology: An integrative approach. (4th Ed.). Pacific Grove, CA:Brooks/Cole. Flynn, J. R. (1999). Searching for justice: The discovery of IQ gains over time. American Psychologist, 54(1), 5-20. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.1.5 George, A. K., Abdul, K. J., & Ravindran, G. G. (2010). Challenged children progress monitoring tool in relation to a normal child: A graphical method. European Journal Of Scientific Research, 43(3), 331-339. Intelligence. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/intelligence Leyin, A. (2010). Learning disability classification: time for re-appraisal?. Tizard Learning Disability Review, 15(2), 33-44. Luckasson, R., Coulter, D.I., Polloway, E.A., Reiss, S, Schalock, R.L., Snell, M.E., Spitalnik, D.M., & Stark, J.A. (1992). Mental retardation: Definition, classification, and systems of supports (9th Ed.). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Retardation. Nijman, E. E., Scheirs, J. M., Prinsen, M. H., Abbink, C. D., & Blok, J. B. (2010). Exploring the flynn effect in mentally retarded adults by using a nonverbal intelligence test for children. Research In Developmental Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 31(6-), 1404-1411. Silverman, W., Miezejeski, C., Ryan, R., Zigman, W., Krinsky-McHale, S., & Urv, T. (2010). Stanford-Binet and WAIS IQ differences and their implications for adults with intellectual disability (aka Mental Retardation). Intelligence, 38(2), 242-248. Whitaker, S. (2008). WISC-IV and low IQ: review and comparison with the WAIS-III. Educational Psychology In Practice, 24(2), 129-137. doi:10.1080/02667360802019180 Read More