Interpreting Test Results

Exercise 1. Learn the new words and word-combinations:

1. to accept – принимать, брать; соглашаться;

2. to acquire – получать, приобретать; овладевать ( навыком и т. п. );

3. average – средняя величина; среднее;

4. to be based on – базироваться, основываться (на);

5. device – метод, методика, способ;

6. experience – опыт;

7. to measure – измерять, определять; measurement – измерение;

8. to solve – решать, разрешать; solution – решение;

9. to vary – разниться, отличаться; разнообразить; варьировать;

10. variety – многообразие, разнообразие.

Exercise 2. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:

to vary, varying, various, variety; to measure, measuring, measurement; to acquire, to employ, error, procedure, cautious, cautiously, the IQ, meaning, meaningfully, standardizing, success, successful, theremore, furthermore.

Exercise 3. Read the text and translate it.

Intelligence tests have been based on widely varying theories. Nearly all measuring devices have three factors in common, however. They are (1) to accept a problem to be solved; (2) to try to solve the problem; and (3) to check, making sure the right steps are taken and to understand if the solution is correct. These three steps involve the use of words or symbols. In general, intelligence as measured by tests may be thought of as being the capacity to acquire symbols, to retain these symbols and then to use them meaningfully.

The IQ tested depends not only upon a variety of conditions within the person being tested and upon who gives the examination and when, but also upon the test employed. One group of high-school seniors, for example, together took six different intelligence tests. The average IQ's for these youngsters on the examinations varied from 98 to 118. In another school, children were found to have an average IQ on one group test, given in the first grade, of 124. On another test, given three years later, they scored 112. On the Revised Binet, which was given near the time of the second test, their average IQ was 102.

Intelligence tests differ in the nature of the psychological theories underlying them and in the procedures employed in standardizing them. Therefore the results obtained by these examinations must be well understood and cautiously used.

Some tests are less successful than others in determining a person's basic intelligence. Their results may reflect, instead, the person's background and experience. Furthermore, the older the person, the more probable it is that his experience will affect the test results.

There is possible error in any measurement, including intelligence testing. The size of error, however, is small. A competent tester takes this into consideration by reporting, for example, that a person's IQ is between 100 and 110 rather than that it is 105.

Exercise 4. Form the adjectives according to the examples.

M o d e l: behaviour – behavioural; biology – biological

psychology, physiology, sociology, society, verb, intellect, person, vision, mechanism, perception, emotion.

Exercise 5. Find English equivalents in the text:

решать проблему, воспринимать символы, психологические теории, ошибка в измерениях, принимать во внимание, влиять на результаты теста, тесты интеллекта, диагностические методики, опыт личности, выпускники, разнообразные условия, способность.

Exercise 6. Match the synonyms:

1. to acquire, test, to take, to vary, error, various, to affect, tester, average, to measure;

2. to differ, to influence, different, to obtain, middle, to test, examination, mistake, examiner, to accept.

Exercise 7. Answer the questions on the text.

1. What is intelligence?

2. What does a person’s IQ depend on?

3. What is an average IQ for youngsters?

4. Does the personal experience affect the intelligence test results?

5. What errors are possible in testing a person’s IQ?

6. Does a person’s IQ change during his/her life or stay permanent?

Exercise 8. Complete the following sentences.

1. Intelligence tests are based on …

2. Intelligence tests differ …

3. Psychologists disagree about …

4. Psychologists can measure the IQ…

5. The test results …

6. A competent tester …

Exercise 9. Retell the text above.

UNIT 2

Text 1