Question

Write short notes on the following:

Alfred Binet’s contribution to measurement of intelligence

Answer 1

Psychologists who believe in the unitary notion of intelligence explain that only the functions of intelligence take different forms but basically it is the same ability. Alfred Binet, Lewis Terman, David Wechsler believed that intelligence is a single entity.

1. In the beginning of the 20th Century, the school authorities in Paris were keenly interested in knowing the reasons for repeated failure of certain students in the examination as no medical reason or any environment factor was found to be associated with their failure.
2. The result was the Binet- Simon Intelligence Scale. In collaboration with Theodore Simon, French Psychologist, Alfred Binet published the first scale of intelligence in 1905. So Alfred Binet is considered as the ‘Father of Intelligence Test’.
3. Binet- Simon Intelligence Scale consists of several components such as logical reasoning, finding rhyming words and naming objects. This scale was revised in 1908 and again in 1911.
4. Lewis Terman from Stanford University revised the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale in 1916. He adapted a few items, added other items, established new age norms and extended the upper age limit of the scale.
5. This revised test was known as Stanford Binet Test. This test was revised in 1937, 1960, 1972, 1986 and 2004.