History of Intelligence Testing

12 Key excerpts on "History of Intelligence Testing"

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  Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence

  • Oliver Wilhelm, Randall W. Engle, Oliver Wilhelm, Randall W. Engle(Authors)
  • 2004(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  For the most part, at least some of this controversy is inevitable, given that intelligence tests, like various practical innova-tions from the physical, genetic, and biological sciences, may be used for the greater good or else misused for selfish reasons and/or political gain. 2 Equally, part of the problem appears self-inflicted; too often, the field has rushed to champion claims about group differences based on intelligence test scores, where clearly caveats and attendant qualifiers should have been put firmly into place (see the excellent chapter by Wittmann [Chapter 13], this volume, which often reinforces this point). 3 The rationale for this historical foray may variously be found in Gould (1997) and others, who note a “‘cardinal principle’ . . . recognized by almost all historians of science: that science is a socially embedded activity” (Sokal, 1987, p. 15). Nevertheless, it is beyond the scope and requirements of the present chapter to touch on the history of intelligence and intelligence test-ing in any greater depth than we do. However, for the curious reader, several histories on intel-ligence and its assessment are available. Among several, which we believe do justice to these topics, are Carroll (1982, 1993), DuBois (1970), Fancher (1985), Gregory (1996), Mackintosh (1998), and, especially for its early history, Sokal (1987). Inside even these scholarly treat-ments, one will find noteworthy disagreements, though for the most part, they attempt to be less one-sided than many others (cf. Nairn & Associates, 1980; Owen, 1985; Streino, 1981). 334 – • – HANDBOOK OF UNDERSTANDING AND MEASURING INTELLIGENCE Leading Figures In covering the History of Intelligence Testing, for the purposes of the present chapter, it is nec-essary to discuss the contributions of five figures that have influenced theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic developments in the discipline.

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  Introduction to Clinical Psychology

  • John Hunsley, Catherine M. Lee(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Theories of Intelligence 149 We begin this chapter by outlining theories of intelligence and some of the research relevant to understanding the influences on intelligence and intelligence tests. Psychologists working in many different settings are often asked to assess an individual’s intellectual and cognitive abilities. After describing some of the more common situations in which such evalua- tions are required, we move to describe the most commonly used intelligence tests and other tests of cognitive functioning. Defining Intelligence We all have an intuitive idea of what intelligence is. We can point to individuals we consider highly intelligent; likewise, we can probably identify examples of intelligent behaviour (and probably some examples of not-so-intelligent behaviour). How can we define intelligence in a manner that is appropriate across skill sets, areas of performance, and cultural contexts? One option is to simply avoid the use of the term intelligence and to use other concepts such as abil- ity or, more accurately, general mental ability. Although a number of theorists and test develop- ers have taken this approach, it doesn’t really get us any further in trying to tease out the meaning of intelligence, as it just substitutes one word or phrase for another. Throughout the years, psychologists have made many attempts to define intelligence. These include both broad definitions, such as the ability to learn or to adapt to the environ- ment, and narrow definitions, such as the ability to engage in abstract thinking (cf. Aiken, 2003). Because Binet was working on the development of a tool to predict school performance, his definition focused on ability related to scholastic/academic tasks. You will probably agree that this yields a limited definition. Subsequent definitions of intelligence have focused on the context of life more generally.

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  Introduction to Clinical Psychology

  An Evidence-Based Approach

  • John Hunsley, Catherine M. Lee(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  At that time, special education services were being designed, and it was necessary to develop scientific instruments to identify those in need of such services. The vital importance of accurately identifying individuals who were unlikely to benefit from regular education led to the promotion of concepts such as standardization, reliability, validity, and norm-referenced interpretations. Another byproduct of these initial assessment efforts is that both our concepts of intelligence and our intelligence assessment instruments have heavily emphasized aspects of intelligence that are directly relevant to educational and instructional initiatives. As you will see later, some of the more recent models of intelligence have tried to balance this focus with greater attention to nonacademic skills that reflect intelligent behavior. In the testing of intelligence and cognitive capacities there is a great deal at stake. Because of the important implications of the results of intellectual and cognitive assessment, in the latter half of the 20th century test developers made great efforts to reduce test bias and measurement error. As a result, tests of intelligence and related cognitive abilities are among the psychometrically strongest tests that psychologists have developed. We begin this chapter by outlining theories of intelligence and some of the research relevant to understanding the influences on intelligence and intelligence tests. Psychologists working in many different settings are often asked to assess an individual’s intellectual and cognitive abilities. After describing some of the more common situations in which such evaluations are required, we move to describe the most commonly used intelligence tests and other tests of cognitive functioning. DEFINING INTELLIGENCE We all have an intuitive idea of what intelligence is.

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  Intelligence Testing and Minority Students

  Foundations, Performance Factors, and Assessment Issues

  • Richard R. Valencia, Lisa A. Suzuki(Authors)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  1 Historical Issues T he present issues surrounding intelligence testing and minority students can be best understood by providing a historical perspective. Although the knot between the past and the present cannot be snugly tied, there are some common themes and issues that connect these temporal periods. Current issues regarding cultural bias in tests, dif-ferential reliability and validity, racial/ethnic representation in norm samples, under-representation of minority students in gifted and talented programs, test uses in deci-sion making, and the role of genetics in intellectual performance all have historical roots (Ayres, 1911; Bagley, 1922; Wallin, 1912; see also Chapman, 1988; Valencia, 1997b). For our discussion of historical issues, we examine the following: (a) the emergence of the intelligence testing movement in Europe, (b) the importation and cultural appro-priation of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale by U.S. psychologists, (c) the ideology of the intelligence testing movement, (d) race psychology studies of intellectual perfor-mance, (e) actual use of IQ tests in curriculum differentiation during the 1920s, (f) het-erodoxy, (g) group intelligence testing taking on a life of its own, and (h) the emergence of contemporary testing issues. AUTHORS' NOTE: Portions of this chapter are excerpted, with minor modifications, from Valencia (1997b, pp. 42-44, 51-53, 55-56, 58-59, 61-71, 73-78, 80, 86-87, 89-90, 92-94). For a comprehensive discussion of the early era, see Valencia (1997b). 3 4 FOUNDATIONS The Emergence of the Intelligence Testing Movement in Europe English biologist Sir Francis Galton, half cousin of Charles Darwin, frequently is given credit for launching the psychological testing movement (Anastasi, 1988; Cohen, Swerdlik, & Smith, 1992).

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  Intelligence and Intelligence Testing

  • Richard B Fletcher, John Hattie, Richard Fletcher(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  2

  The brief and sometimes dirty history of intelligence and IQ tests

  For many a scientific discipline it would be uncommon to claim that its history has been plain sailing and that its evolution has been uncontroversial. It is because science advances in a cannibalistic manner, devouring old theories for new theories, that anything that challenges the status quo is often met with disdain or disbelief and then the debate becomes embroiled in controversy. A combination of time and evidence, however, often results in new theories taking hold and, like the old ways before them, they become the accepted doctrine – until, that is, another challenger arrives on the scene.

  Intelligence testing and its history are no exception and, like most branches of science, it has been built on the strengths and weaknesses of previous theory and research. Thus, the present-day notions of intelligence and its measurement stand on diverse theoretical foundations. We should be pleased that there is a diversity in views, as this makes for spirited debate and serves to advance our understanding of this often-misunderstood and controversial concept. Indeed, if the history of IQ and its measurement were not without controversy, this would make for a boring chapter. For the most part, we say the debate is healthy, and long may it continue.

  As with most historical events, the social norms and ideologies of the day played a significant role in the development of intelligence and IQ testing. These concepts did not develop in a social vacuum and the developers, as well as their practices and outcomes, were very much bound up in the context of the times. We would be the first to admit that there is a tarnished history that sits behind IQ testing, but such a history is what it is – a history – and thus it should not be used to prejudge the current debates on definitions and measurement. Most people today operate in a world of political, social and cultural diversity, as well as equity, which was not the case in the not-too-distant history when IQ testing was emerging. Suffice to say times have changed, and we should be thankful for that; scientists today are more aware of the socio-political climate and are more constrained by the ethical, moral and consequential outcomes of their research. There certainly has been a tendency to ‘politicize the debate on intelligence, or even regard certain issues (pertaining to it) as taboo’ (Howe, 1997: 13). We were also well aware of these reactions throughout the development of the Test the Nation: The New Zealand IQ Test

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  Personality and Individual Differences

  • Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • BPS Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  150 PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 5.3 History of Intelligence Testing A history of intelligence is largely a History of Intelligence Testing; that is, an account of psychology’s attempt to quantify and measure individual differ- ences underlying performance in an objective, scientific manner. In the words of René Descartes (1596–1650), a French philosopher and one of the most influential figures of modernity, “If something exists, it exists in some amount. If it exists in some amount, then it is capable of being measured.” Accordingly, differential psychologists have dedicated themselves, in particular during the first half of the 20th century, to designing psychometric instruments to compare individuals on what they believed was the most important aspect of human intellect: intelligence. 5.3.1 Galton’s Hereditary Genius The first scientific attempt to conceptualize individual differences in cognitive ability is attributed to Francis Galton (1822–1911), who argued that genius was hereditary and normally distributed in the population. Both these ideas are still shared by most experts in the field. Galton’s beliefs about talent and performance were heavily influenced by the work of his cousin Charles Darwin (1809–82), though autobiographical events played an equally important role (see Focus Point 5.1). Through the application of some of the statistical techniques developed by Quételet (1796–1874), Galton deduced that genetic forces determined different levels of intelligence, which in turn played a major role in selection and competition for sur- vival. In some cases these assumptions led Galton to uphold some absurd conclusions, intelligence testing the attempt to quantify and measure individual differences in cogni- tive ability by means of standardized tests that use words, numbers, or figures and are usually administered in written (paper or computer) or oral form.

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  A History of Modern Psychology in Context

  • Wade Pickren, Alexandra Rutherford(Authors)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 4 , the popularity of scientific management in this period contributed to the ease with which psychologists could introduce testing into American society. As we have already discussed, in the 1890s, Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915) began to promote a school of thought about how to run industry more efficiently. He argued that the production process should be functionally analyzed and standardized and the best way to perform a job was to break it into the smallest units of time and motion and recombine them to produce the most efficient system. In the workplace, psychologists were demonstrating that vocational testing allowed employers to have employees “functionally analyzed” and sorted into the jobs for which they were best suited, which in turn would increase productivity. The sorting of students by IQ was seen as improving the efficiency of the educational system by breaking the masses into smaller, more uniform, units that could all be taught in the same way within their stream. Terman had alluded to psychologists as educational engineers, and indeed, it appeared that by the 1920s these engineers had begun their own system of scientific management in the schools. As historian Paula Fass has noted of the significance of the intelligence test in the American context, “It crystallized the needs of a whole culture. It provided Americans with a powerful organizing principle, a way of ordering perceptions, and a means for solving pressing institutional and social problems” (1980, p. 434).

  INTELLIGENCE TESTING AROUND THE WORLD: CENTER OR PERIPHERY?

  So far, we have shown how central intelligence testing was to the science and practice of American psychology in its first several decades, as well as how central it was to a society looking for ways to deal with several emerging social problems. But was intelligence testing as central, to both psychology and society, in other parts of the world? If not, why not? What contextual factors may have relegated testing to the periphery of psychological research and practice, and the concerns of society, in other parts of the world? Were other forms of testing, such as personnel, vocational, or ability testing, more central than intelligence? If so, what practical needs were they responding to? In this section, we examine these questions by looking at the reception and evolution of testing in four other countries: France, Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany.

  The French Twist

  We have discussed the seminal role that Binet played in the development of intelligence testing. We have also outlined his concerns and caveats about the nature and use of the tests and noted that these were largely overlooked by American psychologists in their zeal to quantify, classify, and sort. This begets important questions: What happened to intelligence testing in France? What happened to Binet’s test in its homeland? More generally, did testing and its applications gain as strong a foothold in France and elsewhere as they did in the United States?

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  Child Psychology

  A Canadian Perspective

  • Alastair Younger, Scott A. Adler, Ross Vasta(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Much of Neisser and colleagues’ article, like much of the current chapter, is devoted to documenting these gains in knowledge. As we noted at the outset of the chapter, intelligence testing has had both applied as well as theoretical effects on school curricula, for example, or on the design and evaluation of intervention programs. Whether intelligence tests can really be considered, as one of their proponents has claimed, as “psychology’s most telling ac- complishment to date” (Herrnstein, 1971, p. 45) is debatable. But they certainly are among the most influential. A second conclusion is that these undeniable achievements are accompanied by large areas of uncertainty and debate. The greatest uncertainty, not surprisingly, is associated with the hardest-to-study topics. Thus, we know, for example, that both genes and environment contribute to differences in IQ, and we know something about their typical relative contribu- tion. But we still have much to learn about how genes or environments produce their effects. Nor do we know why there are on-average group differences on some measures of intellectual performance. A final conclusion concerns limitations of another sort. IQ tests provide a sampling of intellec- tual abilities, but they do not exhaust the domain of human intelligence. As Neisser and colleagues (1996) note, “We know much less about the forms of intelligence that tests do not easily assess: wisdom, creativity, practical knowledge, social skill, and the like” (p. 95). Furthermore, the psycho- metric focus on individual differences may cause us to lose track of the important ways in which all children are similar in their intellectual development. Similarly, the frequent focus on problems in development may cause us to miss the strengths that particular children possess. It is in this respect that the approaches to cognitive development that we considered in the preceding two chapters provide a valuable complement to the intelligence-test perspective.

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  Psychological Foundations of Education

  Learning and Teaching

  • B. Claude Mathis, John W. Cotton, Lee Sechrest(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  14 INTELLIGENCE MEASUREMENTS AND THEIR USES Scope of Intelligence Testing Since teachers use intelligence scores as one indication of the academic progress their pupils are capable of making, the present chapter is intended to survey what is known about intelligence, thereby providing background for the wise use of intelligence scores. In addition to con-sidering the definition of intelligence and means of measuring it, we will discuss multiple-factor approaches to intelligence; creativity; genetic factors in intelligence; depression of intelligence by poor environments; changes in intelligence during the lifespan; intelligence scores in dif-ferent ethnic, national, and socioeconomic groups; and practical uses of intelligence testing, among other topics. Perhaps the most important single product of psychological research in education is the intelligence test. It takes many forms, serves many purposes, and has many interpretations; nonetheless, it seems to have satisfied its users reasonably well. The magnitude of the effort expended on intelligence testing is illustrated by the facts that 131 different intel-ligence tests (plus several other tests which could also have been so classified) were listed as of current interest in Sixth Mental Measurements Yearbook (24) and that approximately 35,000 copies of SRA Tests of Educational Ability (137) were printed in 1967 despite there being other tests even more widely used in the United States. 532 Intelligence Measurements and Their Uses 533 Types of Intelligence Tests By and large test makers agree as to what are intelligent answers to most questions, but they often disagree on the questions to be asked. Accordingly, though most intelligence tests give very similar results, there is reason to admit that there is no single official definition or test of intelligence.

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  Handbook of Intelligence

  • Robert J. Sternberg(Author)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  Through research knowledge, theoretical sophistication, and clinical ability, examiners must generate hypotheses about an individual's assets and deficits and then confirm or deny these hypotheses by exploring multiple sources of evidence. Well-validated hypotheses must then be translated into meaningful, practical rec- ommendations. Practitioner-scientists must come well equipped with in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art instrumentation and select tests that meet exceptional psychometric standards, but good judgment, knowledge of psychology, and clinical 454 ALAN S. KAUFMAN training are more important than the particular in- strument selected for an evaluation if one is to move beyond the obtained IQs and profile of subtest scores (Kaufman, 1990a, 1994). Each adult and child who comes for an assessment has unique character- istics, a particular way of approaching test items, and may be affected differently by the testing situation than the next individual. Through the use of an inte- grated interpretation approach, the various dimen- sions that influence a child can become apparent. Apart from this general philosophy of test inter- pretation, the intelligent testing approach is rooted in five basic principles. These have most recently been articulated for the WISC-III (Kaufman, 1994, chapter 1), but they pertain to all of the individual tests of intelligence discussed in this chapter. 1. The tasks constituting the intelligence tests, whether verbal or nonverbal, measure what the individual has learned. As such, these tests are like achievement tests in that they measure past accomplishments and are predictive of success in traditional school subjects. Research indicates that intelligence tests consistently prove to be good predictors of con- ventional school achievement (e.g., Wechsler, 1991, pp. 206-209).

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  Child Psychology

  Development in a Changing Society

  • Robin Harwood, Scott A. Miller, Ross Vasta(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  How does cultural bias in testing work to influence IQ scores? 4. What is stereotype threat and how might it influence IQ scores? Alternative Conceptions of Intelligence The traditional, psychometric definition of intelligence and its uses in predicting school performance has been challenged, leading to the development of alternative conceptual- izations of intelligence. Three influential alternatives are the evolutionary model, Stern- berg’s triarchic theory and dynamic testing, and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. These alternatives do not focus primarily on abilities associated with success in school. School and the disciplines taught in school are recent developments in human history. Reading and writing trace back fewer than 10,000 years. To this day, in some societies the majority of citizens cannot read, and formal education is unknown. Consequently, many theorists have sought other ways to define intelligence. Evolutionary Approaches According to the evolutionary model, intelligence is the ability to adapt to the environment, and is a product of natural selection occurring over tens of thousands of years. Many of the TABLE 9.3 Risk Factors in a Study of Family Environment and IQ R ISK FACTOR D ESCRIPTION Occupation Head of household was unemployed or held unskilled occupation. Mother’s education Mother did not complete high school. Family size Family has four or more children. Father absence Father was not present in the home. Stressful life events Family experienced 20 or more stressful events during the child’s first 4 years. Parenting perspectives Parents held rigid or absolutist conceptions of children and childrearing. Maternal anxiety Mother was unusually high in anxiety. Maternal mental health Mother had relatively poor mental health. Mother-child interaction Mother showed little positive affect toward the child. SOURCE: Adapted from A.J. Sameroff, R. Seifer, A. Baldwin, and C.

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  Introduction to Clinical Psychology

  Bridging Science and Practice

  • Douglas A. Bernstein, Bethany A. Teachman, Bunmi O. Olatunji, Scott O. Lilienfeld(Authors)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  Understanding g and how it arises is a major goal of psychological research (Colom, Jung, & Haier, 2006; Garlick, 2002; van der Maas et al., 2006). The details of hierarchical models of intelligence continue to evolve in response to the results of additional factor-analytic studies (Dombrowski, 2013; Urbina, 2011). In the next sections, where we describe the most widely used tests of intelli- gence, it should be easy for you to spot the influence of hierarchical models in the general and specific cognitive abilities the tests are designed to measure. Tests of Intellectual Functioning | 153 The Binet Scales The French scientist Alfred Binet was not the first person to develop a measure of intelligence, but as we mention in Chapter 2, his original test and the revisions based on it have been among the most influential means of assessing the mental ability of children. The earliest (1905) form of Binet’s test—called the Binet–Simon scale in rec- ognition of the contributions of his colleague Théodore Simon—consisted of 30 questions and tasks, including things like unwrapping a piece of candy, following a moving object with the eyes, comparing objects of differing weights, repeating numbers or sentences from memory, and recog- nizing familiar objects. A child’s score on this test was simply the number of items passed. Beginning with a 1908 revision, the tasks in Binet’s test were age graded, meaning that they were arranged so that more difficult items would nor- mally be passed by older children. For example, a “six-year-old item” was one that a large majority of six-year-olds could answer correctly but that most five-year-olds could not. The test was designed to measure a child’s “mental level,” later called mental age, by determining the age level of the most advanced items that the child could consistently answer correctly.

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