Intelligenge Testing & Grouping Essays - Intelligence, Psychometrics

Intelligenge Testing & Grouping Essays - Intelligence, Psychometrics Intelligenge Testing & Grouping Definition: Intelligence Testing In reviewing the text, I found the definition of intelligence testing to be very simple; testing used to measure intelligence. Two definitions found on an Internet site at dictionary.com are: (a) A standardized test used to establish an intelligence level rating by measuring a subject's ability to form concepts, solve problems, acquire information, reason, and perform other intellectual operations. (b) A psychometric test of intelligence; they used to think that intelligence is what an intelligence test tests. In defining intelligence, there has always been the question of whether intelligence is measured as one phenomenon or if it has many variables that are combined. For example, is it how smart a person is? Or is it a mixture of survival, mathematical, social and other abilities. There are many debates regarding weather measuring intelligence is determined from test scores and results or if it is measured by the person ability to process and problem solve. Uses of Intelligence Testing In an educational setting, intelligence and achievement tests are administered routinely to assess individual accomplishment. They are used to improve instruction and curriculum planning. High schools use these test to assist in the students future educational planning. Elementary schools utilize screening and testing procedures to help determine readiness for reading and writing placement. Intelligence can be measured, though imperfectly, by intelligence tests, among them the Standford-Binat Intelligence and the Wechsler scales. These tests are intended to determine an individual's intelligence quotient (IQ). Intelligence tests usually provide an estimate of global cognitive functioning as well as information about functioning within more specific domains. Compared to measures of virtually all other human traits, intelligence test scores are quite stable. However, the degree of stability increases with age such that early childhood and preschool measures of intellectual function are far less predictive of later functioning than assessments taken during middle childhood. Furthermore, despite their relative stability, intelligence test scores may change as a function of important environmental factors. Therefore, intelligence test scores are descriptive of a child's functioning at that point in time. This could change with alterations in the child's psychiatric status, environmental conditions, or educational program. Components of a good intelligence test are (a) Validity; does the test really measure intelligence and not something else? (b) Reliability; does the test produce consistent measurements? (c) Norms; are the participants being fairly compared? Components that make an intelligence test flawed are (a) Poor validity; many intelligence tests are sensitive to social factors in addition to intelligence. (b) Poor norms; being compared to people who are different. (c) Inappropriate application; test measures something that has nothing to do with the participants school or job. Theories of Process Psychometric Model Psychometric approach is defined as psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and personality traits. The psychometric model is a theoretical perspective that quantifies individual differences in test scores to establish a rank order of abilities. There are various psychometric approaches to intelligence. The following paragraphs describe three different theorists and their psychometric model. Charles Spearmans believed that intelligence is a combination of two parts. According to his two-factor theory of intelligence, the performance of any intellectual act requires some combination of g, (general intelligence factor) which is available to the same individual to the same degree for all intellectual acts. (Specific factors) or s is specific to that act and varies in strength from one act to another. S is specific knowledge such as verbal reasoning or spatial problem solving. Spearman equated g with mental energy. If one knows how a person performs on one task that is highly saturated with g, one can safely predict a similar level of performance for another highly g saturated task. Prediction of performance on tasks with high s factors is less accurate. Thus, the most important information to have about a person's intellectual ability is an estimate of their g or mental energy (Plucker 1989). Thurstone's theory is based on seven primary mental abilities. In the area of intelligence, his theory maintains that intelligence is made up of several primary mental abilities rather than just the g and s factors. He was among

U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximumâ€ADX Supermax

U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum- ADX Supermax US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum, also known as ADX Florence, the Alcatraz of the Rockies, and Supermax, is a modern super-maximum security federal prison located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Florence, Colorado. Opened in 1994, the ADX Supermax facility was designed to incarcerate and isolate criminals deemed as being  too dangerous for the average prison system. The all-male prison population at ADX Supermax includes inmates who experienced chronic disciplinary problems while at other prisons, those who have killed other prisoners and prison guards, gang leaders, high-profile criminals, and organized crime mobsters. It also houses criminals who could pose a threat to national security including Al-Qaeda and U.S. terrorist and spies. The harsh conditions at ADX Supermax have earned it a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as being one of the most secure prisons in the world. From the prison design to the daily operations, ADX Supermax strives for complete control over all prisoners at all times. Modern, sophisticated security and monitoring systems are located inside and along the outside perimeter of the prison grounds. The monolithic design of the facility makes it difficult for those unfamiliar with the facility to navigate inside the structure. Massive guard towers, security cameras, attack dogs, laser technology, remote-controlled door systems, and pressure pads exist inside a 12-foot high razor fence that surrounds the prison grounds. Outside visitors to ADX Supermax are, for the most part, unwelcome. Prison Units When inmates arrive at ADX, they are placed in one of six units depending on their criminal history. Operations, privileges, and procedures vary depending on the unit. The inmate population is housed at ADX in nine different maximum-security housing units, which are divided into six security levels listed from the most secure and restrictive to the least restrictive. The Control UnitThe Special Housing Unit (SHU)Range 13, an ultra-secure and isolated four-cell wing of the SHU.Special Security Unit (H Unit) for terroristGeneral Population Units (Delta, Echo, Fox, and Golf Units)Intermediate Unit/Transitional Units (Joker Unit and Kilo Unit) which houses prisoners entered into the Step-Down Program which they can earn their way out of ADX. To be moved into the less restrictive units, inmates must maintain clear conduct for a specific time, participate in recommended programs and demonstrate a positive institutional adjustment. Inmate Cells Depending on which unit they are in, prisoners spend at least 20, and as many as 24-hours per day locked alone in their cells. The cells measure seven by 12 feet and have solid walls that prevent prisoners from viewing the interiors of adjacent cells or having direct contact with prisoners in adjacent cells. All ADX cells have solid steel doors with a small slot. Cells in all units (other than H, Joker, and Kilo units) also have an interior barred wall with a sliding door, which together with the exterior door forms a sally port in each cell. Each cell is furnished with a modular concrete bed, desk, and stool, and a stainless steel combination sink and toilet. Cells in all units include a shower with an automatic shut-off valve. The beds have a thin mattress and blankets over the concrete. Each cell contains a single window, approximately 42 inches tall and four inches wide, which allows in some natural light, but which is designed to ensure that prisoners cannot see anything outside of their cells other than the building and sky. Many cells, except those in the SHU, are equipped with a radio and television that offers religious and educational programming, along with some general interest and recreational programming. Inmates wishing to take advantage of the educational program at ADX Supermax do so by tuning into specific learning channels on the television in their cell. There are no group classes. Televisions often are withheld from prisoners as punishment. Meals are delivered three times a day by guards. With few exceptions, prisoners in most ADX Supermax units are allowed out of their cells only for limited social or legal visits, some forms of medical treatment, visits to the law library and a few hours a week of indoor or outdoor recreation. With the possible exception of Range 13, the Control Unit is the most secure and isolated unit currently in use at ADX. Prisoners in the Control Unit are isolated from the other prisoners at all times, even during recreation, for extended terms often lasting six years or more. Their only meaningful contact with other humans is with ADX staff members. The compliance of Control Unit prisoners with institutional rules is assessed monthly. A prisoner is given credit for serving a month of his Control Unit time only if he maintains clear conduct for the entire month. Inmate Life For at least the first three years, ADX inmates remain isolated inside their cells on an average of 23 hours a day, including during meals. Inmates in the more secure cells have remote-controlled doors that lead to walkways, called dog runs, which open into a private recreation pen. The pen referred to as the empty swimming pool, is a concrete area with skylights, which inmates go to alone. There they can take about 10 steps in either direction or walk around thirty feet in a circle. Because of the inability for prisoners to see prison grounds from inside their cells or the recreation pen, it is nearly impossible for them to know where their cell is located inside the facility. The prison was designed this way to deter prison breakouts. Special Administrative Measures Many of the inmates are under Special Administrative Measures (SAM) to prevent the dissemination either of classified information that could endanger the national security or of other information that could lead to acts of violence and terrorism. Prison officials monitor and censor all inmate activity including all mail that is received, books, magazines and newspapers, phone calls and face-to-face visits. Phone calls are limited to one monitored 15-minute phone call per month. If prisoners adapt to the rules of ADX, they are permitted to have more exercise time, additional phone privileges and more television programming. The opposite is true if prisoners fail to adapt. Inmate Disputes In 2006, Olympic Park Bomber, Eric Rudolph contacted the Gazette of Colorado Springs through a series of letters describing the conditions at ADX Supermax as one meant to, inflict misery and pain. It is a closed-off world designed to isolate inmates from social and environmental stimuli, with the ultimate purpose of causing mental illness and chronic physical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis, he wrote in one letter. Hunger Strikes Throughout the prisons history, inmates have gone on hunger strikes to protest the harsh treatment that they receive. This is particularly true of foreign terrorists; by 2007, over 900 incidents of force-feeding of the striking prisoners had been documented. Suicide In May 2012, the family of Jose Martin Vega filed a lawsuit against the United States District Court for the District of Colorado alleging that Vega committed suicide while incarcerated at ADX Supermax because he was deprived of treatment for his mental illness. On June 18, 2012, a class-action lawsuit, Bacote v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, was filed alleging that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was mistreating mentally ill prisoners at ADX Supermax. Eleven prisoners filed the case on behalf of all mentally ill prisoners at the facility. In December 2012, Michael Bacote asked to withdraw from the case. As a result, the first-named plaintiff is now Harold Cunningham, and the case name is now Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons. The complaint alleges that despite the BOPs own written policies, excluding the mentally ill from ADX Supermax because of its severe conditions, the BOP frequently assigns prisoners with mental illness there because of a deficient evaluation and screening process. Then, according to the complaint, mentally ill prisoners housed at ADX Supermax are denied constitutionally adequate treatment and services. According to the complaint Some prisoners mutilate their bodies with razors, shards of glass, sharpened chicken bones, writing utensils and whatever other objects they can obtain. Others swallow razor blades, nail clippers, broken glass, and other dangerous objects. Many engage in fits of screaming and ranting for hours on end. Others carry on delusional conversations with the voices they hear in their heads, oblivious to reality and the danger that such behavior might pose to them and to anyone who interacts with them. Still, others spread feces and other waste throughout their cells, throw it at the correctional staff and otherwise create health hazards at ADX. Suicide attempts are common; many have been successful. Escape artist Richard Lee McNair wrote to a journalist from his cell in 2009 to say: Thank God for prisons [...] There are some very sick people in here... Animals you would never want living near your family or the public in general. I dont know how corrections staff deal with it. They get spit on, s*** on, abused and I have seen them risk their lives and save a prisoner many times. The BOP to Access of Its Solitary Confinement Practices In February 2013 the Federal Bureau of Prisons  (BOP) agreed to a comprehensive and independent assessment of its use of solitary confinement in the nation’s federal prisons. The first-ever review of federal segregation policies comes after a hearing in 2012 on the human rights, fiscal and public safety consequences of solitary confinement. The assessment will be conducted by the National Institute of Corrections.