Summing all test scores into one general-intelligence rating manufactures the appearance of a general factor¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r? · q1
Currency · newest study 1920 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? If specific abilities are always summed into a single general rating, with marks averaged or teachers asked to estimate general ability, a general factor will appear as an artifact of the procedure. → Pressey 1920

Evidence¶

Pressey 1920¶

Pressey, S. L. (1920). Intelligence and Its Measurement. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Intelligence+and+Its+Measurement+Pressey

q1 · i? · theoretical · r?

Theoretical argument, offered as a research-direction rationale rather than a tested result. Pressey argues that generalization procedures guarantee the appearance of generality: "there will appear to be a general factor, because everything has been generalized!" Yet such results are reused as evidence of innate general ability.

"this would never be discovered if scores on tests were always summed into a single rating in "general intelligence", marks always averaged, or teachers asked to estimate general ability."

Discussion¶

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