intelligence test

n.
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.

A standardized procedure for measuring intelligence. It is usually expressed as an intelligence quotient. No intelligence test has gained universal acceptance.

Although the tests created specifically to gauge intelligence were introduced to the United States in the early twentieth century, their roots go back much farther, even to exams in ancient China. The American tests, however, emerged directly from the work of nineteenth-century English scientists who were laying the foundation for the field of psycho-metrics: the scientific approach to measurement of psychological characteristics.

Early European Testing and the Stanford-Binet Test

Sir Francis Galton produced the first systematic investigations of the concept of intelligence. Galton seemed uniquely qualified for this task, as he was known for collecting and quantifying massive amounts of data. Galton's statistical analyses included seemingly random and subjective assessments. Nonetheless, his groundbreaking pronouncement endures: that intelligence is a trait normally distributed among populations. A normal distribution means that most people were of average intelligence, while a minority fell above or below this middle range. Plotting this distribution resulted in the formation of the now familiar bell curve.

Reflecting popular nineteenth-century theories of evolution, including those of his cousin, Charles Darwin, Galton viewed intelligence as a single, inherited trait. His landmark 1869 publication, Hereditary Genius, established the parameters of the scientific investigation of mental processes for years to come; his understanding of intelligence as a fixed and predetermined entity would remain largely unchallenged for nearly a century.

Eager to further explore Galton's ideas, psychologist James McKeen Cattell returned from his studies in Europe to the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1880s and began his own work. Cattell's "mental tests," a term he introduced, reflected his skills at statistical analysis. Similar to Galton's, however, his tests ultimately failed to show any real correlation between scores and demonstrated achievement. Still, Cattell's work earned growing recognition and respect for the emerging field of psychology.

The earliest intelligence tests to move beyond the theoretical and into the practical realm were the work of the French researcher Alfred Binet. The passage of a 1904 law requiring that all children attend school prompted the French government to decide what to do with children who could not keep up with classroom work. Binet and his colleague, Théodore Simon, set out to devise a test as a means of identifying these students, who would then receive tutoring or be placed in alternative classes.

Binet's first test was published in 1905.Like its sub-sequent revisions, this early version asked students to demonstrate proficiency at a variety of skills. Starting with the most basic and increasing in difficulty, they were designed to measure childrens' vocabulary and their ability to understand simple concepts and identify relationships between words. An age level or "norm" was assigned to each task, based on the age at which approximately 70 percent of children could successfully complete that task. Totaling the individual scores would yield a child's "mental age." This would be subtracted from his or her chronological age; a difference of two or more indicated that a child was mentally retarded.

Binet's research differed from that of previous investigators in several important ways: test scores were meant to measure classroom performance, not innate intelligence, and they were intended to target students who could benefit by receiving extra help. Binet was one of the few who challenged popular perceptions of intelligence as an inherent and unchangeable entity.

American professor of psychology Lewis Terman set out to refine what became widely known as the Binet-Simon Scale. Named after his long and distinguished career at Stanford University, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test emerged as the one to which all future tests would be compared. First published in 1916, the Stanford-Binet asked students to demonstrate competency in a variety of areas, including language comprehension, eye-hand coordination, mathematical reasoning, and memory. Terman advanced the idea proposed in 1912 by German psychologist Wilhelm Stern that intelligence could more accurately be expressed as a ratio, dividing mental age by chronological age. This would be multiplied by one hundred (to avoid the use of decimals) to arrive at what Stern labeled the "mental quotient." This quickly became known as an intelligence quotient, or IQ.

This formula ultimately yielded to new methods of calculation. Still predicated on Galton's assumption that intelligence is normally distributed, tables of raw data are statistically adjusted so that the mean scores are set at 100, with the middle two-thirds of the distribution set between 85 and 115 to form the "normal" range. This scale defines those who score below 70 as mentally retarded; those with 130 or above are often labeled gifted.

Testing the Masses

The United States entry into World War I in 1917 prompted an immediate and unprecedented demand for standardized tests. The federal government sought a way to quickly and efficiently determine the abilities of large numbers of military recruits to determine appropriate assignment of duties. Robert Yerkes of Harvard and other prominent psychiatrists created a committee in response to this need. Adopting the work of Arthur Otis, whose research in this field already was underway, they quickly produced two versions of a workable test. The Army Alpha was a written exam and the Army Beta was a verbal assessment for the considerable number of men who were unable to read. The tests resulted in grades ranging from A to E. Within weeks a group of four thousand recruits completed the first trial run.

By the end of the war over 1.7 million men had taken either the Army Alpha or Beta. Based on their scores, tens of thousands of men were promoted or assigned a lower-level duty. An additional 8,000 men received discharges as a result of their poor performance. The impact of the Army testing program reached far beyond the military service. Its success convinced the nation of the usefulness of wide-scale standardized testing. The popularity of the Alpha, in particular, launched a rapidly expanding intelligence test industry. In the years immediately following the war, schoolchildren across the country began taking its numerous revisions; by 1930 over seven million American students had taken the test.

As the popularity of mass testing continued to grow, the need for individual tests as diagnostic tools remained. The Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale supplemented the Stanford-Binet in 1939.Devised by David Wechsler of Bellevue Hospital in New York City, results included both verbal and nonverbal scores. The test was named the Wechsler Scale in 1955 (WAIS), later revised to WAIS R. The expanded group of tests, including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised (WISC-R), and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), form a battery of tests that continue to be widely used. While schools no longer routinely offer individual tests specifically designed to measure intelligence, their use continues, usually as a follow-up to demonstrated academic difficulty or to determine eligibility for special programs, such as those for gifted children. Educators continue to rely on the relative ease and efficiency of administering group tests.

Although they date back to the 1917 prototype designed for military use, standardized tests at the start of the twenty-first century offer the promise of a more reliable and sophisticated means to predict future success. There are additional advantages as well: no special training is required to administer them, they can be given to large groups at once, and computers quickly and accurately generate results. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) and the School and College Ability Test (SCAT) are among the more popular. Developers of these tests compare them favorably to both the Stanford-Binet and Wechsler series. Many high school students take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) as part of the college application process. Its earliest version going back to 1926, the SAT is calculated to measure both verbal and mathematical ability. Proponents point to its usefulness as one indicator of future success, and claim that it counters inevitable disparities in grading practices nationwide.

Defining Intelligence: the Debate Continues

Alfred Binet rejected the idea of tests as providing a fixed label; he believed that children could indeed grow smarter. Binet's optimism notwithstanding, the history of intelligence testing in the United States reveals that early tests reflected the prejudices of the society in which they were produced. Not surprisingly, few questioned the idea that intelligence is innate and inherited. Tests made no accommodations for the disparate social and cultural backgrounds of test takers, and indeed, helped to fuel popularly held assumptions of the need to rank entire groups based on their racial or ethnic origins. They were hailed by some as a "measuring stick to organize society." Early-twentieth-century concerns about "feeblemindedness" validated the need for testing. Amidst growing concerns over an influx of immigration, tests were proposed to reduce the flow of "mental defectives" into the country. Congress, aided by the findings of prominent psychologists, passed the 1924 Immigration Act, which restricted admission for those believed to be of inferior intellect; especially targeted were Russians, Italians, Jews, and others primarily from southern and eastern Europe. Entry examinations given at Ellis Island seemingly ignored the numerous language and cultural barriers that would be readily apparent today.

While standardized tests continue to play a dominant role in American society, many critics argue that subtle inequities remain, producing results that more accurately represent the social and economic background of the test taker rather than providing a true measure of one's capabilities. The SAT and other tests, meanwhile, retain their foothold in the academic arena. The ability to "coach" students to produce greater scores has launched a multi-million-dollar mass tutoring industry. This has prompted many to further renounce their use as an "objective" means of assessment, arguing that they are more accurate indicators of students' social and economic backgrounds.

Meanwhile, biological interpretations of intelligence endure. Interrogating the degree to which race or ethnicity are determining factors, the 1994 publication of The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, pushed the debate to new heights. While authors Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray suggested the merits of acknowledging genetic differences, some critics immediately decried a racist agenda and uncovered studies they believed to be scientifically unsound.

Experts continue to voice disagreement over methods of measuring intelligence. At the core of the debate lie questions regarding the very concept of intelligence itself. Some embrace interpretations that echo the theories of turn-of-the-twentieth-century psychologist Charles Spearman of England, who pointed to a single, overarching general intelligence, or "g" factor. At the other extreme is the more recent twentieth-century model created by J. P. Guilford of the University of Southern California, who has identified no less than 150 components of intelligence. Arguably the most detailed model, it has had limited impact on the field of testing; many have adopted his claim, however, that intelligence is comprised of multiple parts.

The psychologist Robert Sternberg believes that the logical or analytical reasoning that most intelligence tests measure is only one of several factors. He had added to this two other areas of assessment—practical intelligence, or the ability to cope amidst one's environment, and experiential intelligence, or propensity for insight and creativity —to form his triarchic theory of intelligence. Sternberg's theory has advanced the notion that psychological assessments move beyond the written test toward those that seek measures of practical knowledge that guide our day-to-day experiences. Also believing that traditional IQ tests ignore critical components of intelligence, Howard Garner has introduced what he calls "multiple intelligences," which range from musical ability to self-awareness. Not surprisingly, Gardner is among those who advocate more expansive interpretations of intelligence, suggesting decreased reliance on the standardized tests of the past and more emphasis on real-life performance.

Experts continue to explore the concept of intelligence. New lines of inquiry widen the scope of investigation and questions abound. Should traits of character and morality be examined? Should the ability to form emotional bonds and display musical talent be considered? Will more comprehensive approaches replace short-answer tests? And does the ability to determine one's IQ necessarily define how this score should be used? Studies are moving beyond the realm of psychological inquiry. Increasingly sophisticated ways of measuring brain activity suggest new modes of interpretation while technological advances have produced an "artificial intelligence" that previous generations of researchers could barely imagine. While we may be no closer to finding a universally accepted definition of intelligence, clearly the quest to do so remains.

Bibliography

Chapman, Paul Davis. Schools as Sorters: Lewis Terman, Applied Psychology, and the Intelligence Testing Movement, 1890–1930. New York: New York University Press, 1988.

Eysench, H. J., and Leon Kamin. The Intelligence Controversy. New York: Wiley, 1981.

Fancher, Raymond E., ed. The Intelligence Men: Makers of the IQ Controversy. New York: Norton, 1985.

Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books, 1983.

——."Who Owns Intelligence?" Atlantic Monthly (February 1999).

Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton, 1983.

Herrnstein, Richard J., and Charles Murray. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press, 1994.

Sokal, Michael M., ed. Psychological Testing and American Society, 1890–1930. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987.

Sternberg, Robert J. Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Yam, Philip, ed. "Exploring Intelligence." Spec. issue of Scientific American (Winter 1998).

Zenderland, Leila. Measuring Minds: Henry Herbert Goddard and the Origins of American Intelligence Testing. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a psychometric test of intelligence
  Synonym: IQ test

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