Population Distribution
The form of the population distribution of g is unknown, because g cannot be measured on a ratio scale. (The distributions of scores on typical IQ tests are roughly normal, but this is achieved by construction, i.e., by appropriate item selection by test developers.) It has been argued that there are nevertheless good reasons for supposing that g is normally distributed in the general population, at least within a range of ±2 standard deviations from the mean. In particular, g can be thought of as a composite variable that reflects the additive effects of a large number of independent genetic and environmental influences, and such a variable should, according to the central limit theorem, follow a normal distribution.
Read more about this topic: g Factor (psychometrics)
Famous quotes containing the words population and/or distribution:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)