Stanford-Binet test
The Stanford-Binet test is a prominent intelligence test that originated in the early 20th century and was developed from the earlier Binet-Simon test. Initially created in 1905 by Alfred Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon, the test aimed to measure mental age to identify children with learning disabilities. This was part of a broader effort to prevent the mislabeling of children based on behavioral issues rather than true mental capacity. In 1912, psychologist William Stern introduced the concept of the intelligence quotient (IQ), which provided a numerical representation of intelligence by comparing mental age to chronological age.
The test was refined by Lewis Terman in 1916 at Stanford University, leading to the Stanford-Binet test, which expanded its scope and age range. It assesses various cognitive abilities through both verbal and nonverbal tasks, including reasoning and memory. The Stanford-Binet test has seen multiple revisions, with the fifth edition, known as SB-5, published in 2003, further enhancing its reliability and validity. While the test has become a standard measure of intelligence, it is acknowledged that intelligence is a complex construct influenced by a range of factors, and the test's outcomes can vary.
Stanford-Binet test
- DATE: 1910 forward
- TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Intelligence and intelligence testing; learning
The Stanford-Binet test represented the first widespread method for the evaluation of intelligence. Later, the score on the test was adapted into the concept of an intelligence quotient (IQ).
Introduction
The origin of the idea that intelligence could be tested can be found as early as the 1860s, following the publication of British naturalist Charles Darwin’s work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). Among the concepts addressed in this book, and in his later The Descent of Man (1871), was the idea that the intelligence of animals, including man, could be understood and measured through scientific investigation.
Sir Francis Galton, a British scientist and explorer, who was also Darwin’s cousin, was among the first to adopt Darwin’s ideas for testing. Galton maintained a laboratory in London, England, where visitors could undergo assorted physical or sensory tests. A subject could be observed on the basis of, for instance, the ability to interpret musical pitch. Galton believed such physical or sensory abilities reflected intelligence.
The Binet-Simon Test
In 1904, the Commission for the Education of Retarded Children was established in Paris, France, for the purpose of developing a test that could accurately measure levels of intelligence. The concern was that children were being labeled as what was then termed "retarded" not on the basis of mental capacity but because of behavioral problems. An intelligence test could be used to avoid such incorrect labeling.
Alfred Binet believed that what was recognized as intelligence actually represented a combination of factors, including both knowledge gained from school and knowledge obtained from general observations and interactions with others. The Stanford-Binet test represented the first attempt at determining the mental age of a subject as a means of separating children with learning disabilities from those who did not suffer from learning problems. The basis of such testing consisted of a series of mental tasks of increasing difficulty. Children of various ages were assumed to have a certain level of knowledge in dealing with such tasks. The number of correct responses to these questions resulted in the assignment of a certain “mental age” to the child.
As originally developed in 1905 by Binet and his colleague Théodore Simon, the test, known as the Binet-Simon test, consisted of thirty tasks that ranged from manual dexterity to the ability to remember general facts or concepts. Binet initially screened fifty children considered of average intelligence and developed a series of norms, now called the 1905 scale. Children were tested in this manner and received a score reflecting what Binet and Simon considered their mental age.
Terman’s Refinements
In 1912, psychologist William Stern adapted Binet’s work by calculating what became known as the intelligence quotient, or IQ. The IQ score was calculated by dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. For example, a mental age of ten and a chronological age of ten resulted in an IQ of 100, considered average. A mental age of twelve in a child of ten would result in an IQ of 120, considered somewhat above average.
Experience with administration of the test to thousands of children over many decades has demonstrated that the distribution of scores resembles a symmetrical pattern, a or bell-shaped curve. Most children (approximately two-thirds) fall within the middle of the curve, with the remaining children distributed more or less equally in higher or lower ranges.
The test, as originally devised by Binet, consisted primarily of verbal reasoning, reflecting the purpose of the test as a means to separate children with learning disabilities from those without. In 1916, Lewis Terman of Stanford University increased the length of the test and extended the range of age among the children who served as subjects. The result was the normal distribution of scores that is now characteristic of the results. What became known as the Stanford-Binet test replaced its predecessor, the Binet-Simon. Terman’s adaptation has undergone several revisions in the ensuing decades.
Harvard graduate Gale Roid published the fifth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB-5) in 2003. The scale is administered individually and offers a full-scale, brief, verbal, and nonverbal IQ evaluation by evaluating fluid, quantitative, and visual-spatial reasoning, along with working memory and knowledge. It consists of both verbal and nonverbal items. The verbal portion involves asking the child to explain or define the use of specific objects. The nonverbal portion contains questions that examine concepts such as quantitative and abstract reasoning, and memory. While efforts have improved the reliability and validity of this test over time, it remains notoriously unpredictable.
Bibliography
Binet, Alfred, and Théodore Simon. The Development of Intelligence in Children. 1916. Ayer, 1983.
Cherry, Kendra. "Alfred Binet and the History of IQ Testing." Verywell Mind, 13 Mar. 2023, www.verywellmind.com/history-of-intelligence-testing-2795581. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
Flannagan, Dawn P., and Patti L. Harrison, editors. Contemporary Intellectual Assessment: Theories, Tests, and Issues. 4th ed., Guilford, 2022.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. Rev. ed., Norton, 2008.
Hernnstein, Richard, and Charles Murray. The Bell Curve. Simon, 1996.
Kaplan, Robert M., and Dennis P. Saccuzzo. Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues. 9th ed., Wadsworth, 2018.
Minton, Henry L. Lewis M. Terman: Pioneer in Educational Testing. New York: New York UP, 1990.
Musso, Mandi W., et al. "Development and Validation of the Stanford Binet-5: Rarely Missed Items and Nonverbal Index for the Detection of Malingered Mental Retardation." Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, vol. 26, no. 8, 2011, pp. 756–67.
Naglieri, Jack A., and Sam Goldstein, editors. Practitioner’s Guide to Assessing Intelligence and Achievement. Wiley, 2009.