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  • Essay / History and Controversies of Intelligence Tests

    Intelligence tests were first introduced in the early 20th century after the French government passed a law requiring all children to attend school . The French government was concerned about how children's ability to learn would be affected by their teachers' prejudices. In 1904, Alfred Binet was authorized by the French government to study this situation and propose a potential solution. Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon began to theorize questions to assess a child's learning success. These questions were based on cognitive skills such as attention, memory and problem solving. Through these questions, Binet and Simon theorized that all children follow the same path of intellectual development, but some develop more quickly than others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayA few years later, Stanford professor Lewis Terman discovered that the questionnaire used by the French to determine the success of Their students' learning was almost incompatible with their students' learning. in California. In response, Terman created his own intelligence test known as the Stanford-Binet. The Stanford Binet assessed all ages of intelligence, overriding the Binet test which only tested younger children. Intelligence testing was first introduced by Terman, in the United States during World War I. The tests were introduced in an effort to gauge the massive numbers of immigrants arriving. in the United States and evaluating World War I army recruits. Tests used during World War I helped determine specific positions for men in the army. Intelligence testing has many limitations. Better test takers perform better on IQ tests than poor test takers. For this reason, it can be difficult to accurately know a person's IQ. IQ tests do not test all types of intelligence. They only focus on logic and memory. So, even though a person may logically have a low IQ, that doesn't mean they don't excel in the arts or other forms of intelligence. One of the major disadvantages of intelligence tests is that they only give a single numerical score to define intelligence. A person's intelligence cannot be defined simply by a number, as there are a myriad of things that make up a person's intelligence. This number can inhibit a person's motivation, as they may feel like they will never do better than the score they are given. People who score better on IQ tests will not necessarily have a better future than those who score worse on the test. Although people with high scores may have the motivation and skills to succeed, people with lower scores can do so as well. Finally, due to the fact that IQ tests have a very Western view and focus on intelligence, people from countries like Africa and Asia, where intelligence is perceived differently, tend to have perform worse than their white American counterparts. Intelligence is valued differently in different countries, making it difficult to create an unbiased test. However, scientists continue to learn about more crops, raising hopes for an unbiased test. Even if the testsintelligence have many disadvantages, they also have advantages. Intelligence tests can be helpful in predicting what type of class a child would do best in. A child who scores poorly on an intelligence test might be placed in a class more suited to his or her learning style, while a child who scores high might be placed in an accelerated learning program. Although smart tests are not entirely accurate, they provide a general overview of a child's academic success and mental toughness. Intelligence tests are a non-complex way of determining cultural and biological similarities and differences between people. Finally, intelligence tests are a simple way to assess intelligence, as opposed to rigorous tests. David Weschler was a Roman psychologist whose work was first used in the 20th century. Weschler became interested in intelligence after his military experience led him to the conclusion that academically defined "intelligence" was in no way applicable to "real life" situations. In 1938, Weschler developed the Weschler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale, originally intended to measure an adult's intelligence. Rejecting the idea that there was a specific era in which intelligence should be measured, Weschler argued for the definition that "intelligence is a personal aggregate or overall capacity of the individual to act purposefully , to think rationally and to manage one's environment effectively. (Weschler, 1940). Shortly after the Weschler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale became the most popular intelligence test in the United States, Weschler published the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children in 1949. This test was aimed at children aged six to sixteen and was divided into 4 categories: verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and processing speed. His last adult intelligence test was published in 1955, the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale. The Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale had the same structure as the Weschler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale, but included 10 non-white population groups in an attempt to include all races. Weschler's final intelligence test, published in 1967, was the Weschler Primary and Preschool Intelligence Scale. This test was an intelligence test intended for very young children. David Weschler left an everlasting impression on the world after his initial creation of the Weschler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. His innovations opened doors for everyone and made it easier for many people to receive an education that best suits them. Content validity is “when the test items represent the set of possible items that the test should cover” (Cherry). A tester may use content validity when concerned about how behavior may affect test results. Predictive validity is how well a test predicts the behavior for which it is designed. It is evaluated by establishing the correlation between the test results and the behavior of the criterion. Validity is important when testing intelligence because without it, the results are not very accurate. Christopher Langan was born in 1952 in San Francisco, California to a widowed mother. After Langan was born, he and his mother spent time moving around Montana, often being one of the poorest families in town. At school, Langan's intelligence went unnoticed, as he spent much of his time sleeping in class, saying he was "becoming more and more resilient and