Free essay on applied behavioral analysis

INTELLIGENCE TEST

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an intelligent person. Due to the nature of the works that she has done over the years such as award winning poem collections like “ I know why the caged birds sing” she portrays that she has the intelligence. The psychometric approach to someone’s intelligence is the rank that someone gets on an aptitude test. An aptitude test shows someone’s ability to acquire knowledge or skills in the near future. This is not to be confused with achievement test that test skills and knowledge that someone already possesses. On consideration of Maya Angelou achievements, she passes the aptitude test with flying colors.
This is evidenced by the fact that she has overcome several challenges in her life by adapting to the situation she is in. As stated earlier aptitude test determines a person’s ability to acquire skills and knowledge that he, or, she did not have before. Maya Angelou passes the aptitude test by becoming the first African-American cable car conductor amid the challenges of racism at the time. She portrays the intelligence by winning a dancing scholarship. These feats of achievement symbolize her intelligence.
Another link that shows Maya Angelou to be intelligent is her personality. Personality traits have been linked to intelligence (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). One personality trait that showed Maya Angelou to be intelligent is her openness. Openness is characteristic of general intelligence. Maya Angelou’s openness is evident from the number of personal biographies she has written. Openness has been linked to creativity, liberal and curious among other qualities which are linked with intelligence (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). Her openness is probably why she has been able to break through and win awards with her works. For instance one of her works, “ I know why caged birds sing” was the first non-fictional work by an African-American woman to become a best-seller.
One of the main characteristic of Maya Angelou’s works is the emotion that invokes from the reader. Ability to write such a work is symbolic Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability of a person to gauge his or her personal emotions and at the same time be able to monitor other’s emotions. Her emotional intelligence is the ability model. This is characterized by the ability of a person to gather and process emotional information and then use it to change the surrounding (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). Maya Angelou took her previously unfortunate circumstance like the death of her parents, her molestation and the traumatizing events that followed to write works such as “ Give me a drink of water ‘ fore I die” and “ All God’s children needs shoes” that emotionally impacted those around her.

Referral Question: Please evaluate this individual based on his ability to participate and benefit from the drug testing program.
The client is a 25-year-old male living in Boston, Massachusetts and is currently unemployed.
The instrument of choice for this client is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS-IV). This is because of the fact that this instrument is the most adequate for measuring intelligence among adults and adolescents.

Subscales

The Verbal Comprehension Index: This index has a variety of tests which are used to gauge several aspects of intelligence (Wechsler, 2008). The first one is the similarities where the subject is quizzed on his ability to find similarities between simple objects like fruit. The second is information that tests the amount of information that the subject has absorbed from his surroundings. The third is comprehension which determines the ability of the test subject to understand and follow rules and regulations given (Wechsler, 2008).
The Perception Reasoning Index: This test involves 5 tests that are; block reasoning, matrix reasoning, visual puzzles, picture completion and figure weights. All these tests will speak to the extent and reasoning degree of the test subject
The Working Memory Index: it includes three tests which are digit sequencing, arithmetic and letter-number sequencing. These three test will enable us to determine the subjects ability to concentrate, be attentive and mental control (Wechsler, 2008). The higher the subject tests on this test, the more intelligent he is.
Processing Speed Index: This index involves three tests that are symbol search, coding and cancellation (Wechsler, 2008). This three tests help determine the mental speed and perception of the subject.
The visual comprehension index will determine if the subject has enough intelligence to follow simple rules and absorb the necessary information around him with ease.
The perception reasoning index tests will determine the ability of the subject to reason on different levels. Since the subject is to be involved in a drug testing facility which has certain risks, the perception reasoning index will enable us to determine whether the subject is fit to reason the repercussions of his decisions.
The third is the working memory index. This test will enable us determine whether the subject has enough mental stability to concentrate and be attentive throughout the test or at least determine his attention span.
The last test will determine whether the subject will be able to determine if the subject can determine what is around him and whether at what speed he can process information.

References

Cohen, R. J., & Swerdlik, M. E. (2010). Psychological testing and assessment: an introduction to tests and measurement (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler adult intelligence scale: WAIS-IV; technical and interpretive manual (4. ed.). San Antonio, Tex. [u. a: Pearson.