French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911), is credited as the pioneer of intelligence testing. There was no method of measuring intelligence until the beginning of the twentieth century. It mainly came from the insight of this Frenchman. In modern times, intelligence testing is used by psychologists as a tool for pre-employment, psychometric exam, personality and other educational testing needs.
Before Binet’s ideas came to light, there had been great efforts by specialists to define intelligence. Factors such as speed of reaction, short-term memory and sensory discrimination were used to ascribe the differences in various thoughts as related to psychological superiority of an individual.
Nutshell Profile of Alfred Binet and his Work
Initially, Binet trained as a lawyer but later became interested in psychology. In the 1890s, joined by his student, Theodore Simon, he worked towards a better theoretical definition of intelligence.
During the early 1900s, he developed practical methods for use in the French education system which at that time deemed necessary as the French government required all French children be given an education. Binet published The Binet-Simon Test of Intelligence.
Intelligence Testing by Binet
Binet noted that as children get older, they can tackle more difficult tasks, but not all of them progress at the same rate. He also found straightforward tasks like repeating a short sentence and counting up a given number, discriminating between children at different ages. Binet placed them in an ordered series.
By taking children through these tasks and finding the level at which they started to fail, he was able to identify their “mortal age.” Mortal age according to him is the typical age at which 50 to 75 per cent of children similarly perform. Furthermore, children with a mental age greater than their chronological age were considered more intelligent; those with a mental age lower than their chronological age were considered less intelligent.
Effect of Binet’s Intelligence Testing
Resulting from Binet’s test, intelligence began to be defined in terms of observable difference in behavior. The practicalities of test development and administration were worked out also. Binet’s method reinforced the idea that less intelligent children were “retarded”, a term seen in common use until recent years.
Final Thought: On Alfred Binet and Intelligence Testing
Despite Binet’s opposition to Intelligent Quotients (IQ), he pioneered on early intelligence tests that became forerunner of the IQ test. He did not invent the intelligent quotient or IQ. This was proposed (the year after he died) by the German psychologist Wilhelm Stern. Intelligent Quotient (IQ) is the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100.
Although Alfred Binet’s intelligence tests were designed for French schoolchildren, they were adapted for use in the United States followed by the United Kingdom. His simple but significant ideas gave rise to the psychometric testing industry.
Interested readers may want to check an article of psychoanalyst Melanie Klein, pioneer of child psychoanalysis with emphasis on child development.
Sources:
Briggs, Asa, Cons. Ed. Who's Who in the 20th Century. Oxford: OUP, 1999.
Clark, John, Ed. Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. London: Chancellor Press, 1978.
Moore, Pete. E=MC². London: Quintet Publishing Ltd., 2002.
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