BINET AND DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
In contrast to Galton and Spearman, Alfred Binet focused on the universalities of human intellect. He proposed that we all pass through certain developmental stages, and that to understand these stages we should consider the ‘higher faculties’ of the mind rather than ‘low-level’ neural processing: ‘It seems to us that in intelligence there is a fundamental faculty. . . . This faculty is judgement, otherwise called good sense, practical sense, initiative,the faculty of adapting oneself to one’s circumstance’ (Binet& Simon, 1916, pp. 42–3). An emphasis on reason and judgement is perhaps not surprising given Binet’s formal training as a lawyer.The first intelligence tests In 1904, Binet was charged by the Parisian authorities to develop tests that would identify children in need of special education, without relying on the subjective reports of parents or teachers.So he set about finding a way to construct tests with objectively verifiable scales of difficulty that could measure rates of development in ‘higher mental processes’.
Binet’s technique for constructing the first test was based on an important insight: whatever intelligence is, we can be sure that it changes (develops) with age. So the first intelligence test was based on the central idea that the age at which the ‘average child’ can succeed at a particular problem is an indication of the difficulty of that problem. Using this yardstick, children can be characterized as ‘average’, advanced or delayed in their rate of development compared to their peers. Binet and his associate Théodore Simon used a range of tasks in their first intelligence tests. These included around 30 items of increasing difficulty, beginning with simple items that even children with intellectual disabilities were able to complete (such as following a lighted match with your eyes and shaking hands with the examiner). More complex tasks included pointing to body parts and defining words such as ‘house’ or ‘wheel’, and tasks that were harder still, such as repeating back strings of digits and constructing sentences involving several specified words. Interestingly, vocabulary and digit recall tasks are still used in our most advanced intelligence tests today. Binet was also the first psychologist to specify that such tests must be: 1. administered and scored in a careful and standardized manner if comparisons between children’s performance are to be valid and reliable; 2. presented in the same order to all children and in order of increasing difficulty so that each child can pass as many tests as possible; and 3. administered in a one-to-one setting and only where the examiner has first established a friendly rapport with the child.Psychologists still adhere to these very important principles of testing today.
Alfred Binet (1857–1911), a French lawyer and self-trained psychologist, came to the field of intelligence via a study of psychopathology, free will and hypnosis. His interest in intelligence was prompted by observation of his two daughters, Madeleine and Alicia. While he was interested in how their different personalities affected their understandings of the world, he also noted that with age came the ability to reason about events in increasingly abstract ways. Binet observed their performance on various puzzles and asked them to explain how they had solved them. He was fascinated with their different approaches. This informal case study methodology led to the development of intelligence tests as we know them today.
In contrast to Galton and Spearman, Alfred Binet focused on the universalities of human intellect. He proposed that we all pass through certain developmental stages, and that to understand these stages we should consider the ‘higher faculties’ of the mind rather than ‘low-level’ neural processing: ‘It seems to us that in intelligence there is a fundamental faculty. . . . This faculty is judgement, otherwise called good sense, practical sense, initiative,the faculty of adapting oneself to one’s circumstance’ (Binet& Simon, 1916, pp. 42–3). An emphasis on reason and judgement is perhaps not surprising given Binet’s formal training as a lawyer.The first intelligence tests In 1904, Binet was charged by the Parisian authorities to develop tests that would identify children in need of special education, without relying on the subjective reports of parents or teachers.So he set about finding a way to construct tests with objectively verifiable scales of difficulty that could measure rates of development in ‘higher mental processes’.
Binet’s technique for constructing the first test was based on an important insight: whatever intelligence is, we can be sure that it changes (develops) with age. So the first intelligence test was based on the central idea that the age at which the ‘average child’ can succeed at a particular problem is an indication of the difficulty of that problem. Using this yardstick, children can be characterized as ‘average’, advanced or delayed in their rate of development compared to their peers. Binet and his associate Théodore Simon used a range of tasks in their first intelligence tests. These included around 30 items of increasing difficulty, beginning with simple items that even children with intellectual disabilities were able to complete (such as following a lighted match with your eyes and shaking hands with the examiner). More complex tasks included pointing to body parts and defining words such as ‘house’ or ‘wheel’, and tasks that were harder still, such as repeating back strings of digits and constructing sentences involving several specified words. Interestingly, vocabulary and digit recall tasks are still used in our most advanced intelligence tests today. Binet was also the first psychologist to specify that such tests must be: 1. administered and scored in a careful and standardized manner if comparisons between children’s performance are to be valid and reliable; 2. presented in the same order to all children and in order of increasing difficulty so that each child can pass as many tests as possible; and 3. administered in a one-to-one setting and only where the examiner has first established a friendly rapport with the child.Psychologists still adhere to these very important principles of testing today.
Alfred Binet (1857–1911), a French lawyer and self-trained psychologist, came to the field of intelligence via a study of psychopathology, free will and hypnosis. His interest in intelligence was prompted by observation of his two daughters, Madeleine and Alicia. While he was interested in how their different personalities affected their understandings of the world, he also noted that with age came the ability to reason about events in increasingly abstract ways. Binet observed their performance on various puzzles and asked them to explain how they had solved them. He was fascinated with their different approaches. This informal case study methodology led to the development of intelligence tests as we know them today.
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