The Intelligence of an Individua

今天的主题是IQ

EARLY STUDY

1859 English naturalist Charles Darwin proposes that intelligence is inherited in On the Origin of Species. His cousin Francis Galton carried out tests of 9000 people in London in the early 1880s, and concluded that basic intelligence was fixed at birth.

From 1879. Wilhem Wundt applies scientific methods (intelligence quotient =IQ) to psychology, seeking objective ways of measuring mental abilities such as intelligence.

1890, US psychologist James Cattell devises tests to measure differences in individual mental abilities.

THE INTELLIGENCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IS NOT A FIXED QUANTITY - ALFRED BINET

Binet worked with Jean-Martin Charcot at Paris's Salpêtrière hospital for more than 7 years, giving him a grasp of experimental procedures.

He desires to study human intelligence because of his two daughters. He noticed that the speed that his children absorbed new information varied according to: attenton, context and the child's frame of mind.

He noted that children became capable of certain skills at specific ages.

In 1899 aro, Binet was asked to consider how to develop a test that would identify children who might have learning disabilities.

In 1904, Binet was asked to join a government commission to devise a method of assessing learning potential in infants. Binet made it his mission to establish the differences between normal and intellectually challenged children, and to find a way of measuring these difference.

The Binet-Simon Scale （intelligence quotient =IQ）

Théodore Simon joined Binet in his task.

By 1905, Binet and Simon had created their first test, labelled "New Methods for Diagnosing Idiocy, Imbecility and Moron Status“.

Soon they introduced a revised version, for children aged 3-13 - which was simply called the Binet-Simon Scale.

Binet-Simon tests generate an IQ(intelligence quotient ) number, representing an overall level of performance. This can be plotted on a graph to reveal IQ variations across groups or populations.

In 1908, Binet-Simon Scale was revised and then again in 1911.

Binet pointed out that the scale simply ordered children from their performance of intellectual tasks in relation to other children of a similar age. He preferred to think of his tests as a way of assessing mental level at a particular point in time, as the level would change when circumstances changed.

Binet maintained that a child's intelligence is not a fixed quantity, but grows just as the child does.

Uses and abuses

In 1908, the American psychologist Henry H. Goddard discovered te Binet-Simon tests in Europe and he translated and distributed aro. 22,000 copies across the USA to be used for testing in schools. Goddard thought intelligence was genetically determined and he saw the Binet-Simon Scale as a way of rooing out "feebleminded people" for compulsor sterilization.

In 1916, another American psychologist Lewis Termanmodified the Scale and renamed to "the Stanford-Binet Scale". Terman believed that intelligence was inherited and unchangeable.

Binet strongly condemned the uses when he became aware of the foreign ideas and the uses.

Binet's concept of the "IQ test" remains the basis of intelligence today.

FURTHER STUDY

1920s English educational psychologist Cyril Burt claims intelligence is mainly genetic.

1940s Raymond Cattell defines two types of intelligence: fluid (inborn) and crystallized (shaped by experience).

**AFRED BINET**

In 1878, Binet gained a law degree and then studies sciences at the Sorbonne.

In 1883, he was offered a post at Paris's Salpêtrière hospital by Jean-Martin Charcot.

In 1891, Binet was appointed associate director of the Sorbonne's Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, becoming director in 1894.

Many honours have been heaped upon Binet since his untimely death in 1911.

Key works:

1903 Experimental Study of Intelligence 《智力的实验研究》

1905 The Mind and Brain 《心灵与大脑》    

1911 A Method of Measuring the Development of Intelligence《测量智力发展的方法》