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Intelligence Testing

(2-3-15)

  • The first successful attempt to measure human intelligence grew out of efforts to construct a “present state” measure of child’s skills that would predict school success or failure:
    • the Binet-Simon scales
  • The child’s performance in a wide variety of tasks similar to those observed in school were compared against children of a similar age.
    • The obtained “mental age” (MA)
    • was contrasted with the child’s chronological age (CA)
  • The Simon and Binet scales were successful in predicting which children would have difficulty with the standard curriculum
  • Later, Dr. Terman at Stanford University would suggest considering the ratio of the MA and CA: MA/CA
    • yielding the Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
  • The most valid measures of IQ have two similarities:
    • 1) many items (sampling in depth)
    • 2) a wide range of skills assessed (sampling in breath)
  • Views of intelligence
    • a global characteristic, a general ability, a unitary characteristic
      • “g”, “little g”, global intelligence
    • Raymond Cattell
      • crystalized and fluid intelligence
        • Crystalized Intelligence: what the person (organism) has learned, cultural knowledge and skills
        • Fluid Intelligence: what allows the person to learn, “biological intelligence”
      • Catell-Horn model
    • neuropsychological and factor models: many strengths
      • Luria: sequential and simultaneous processing
      • the structure of cognitive functioning

The Wechsler scales

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