Intelligence testing is a process that aims to quantify "intelligence", or basic thinking ability. Intelligence testing aims to measure one's underlying mental ability, rather than academic achievement, and to report these results in a useful manner. The term "intelligence quotient" (or IQ) used in such testing is meant to reflect one's overall mental ability. While the Full Scale IQ is summarized by one number, it is important to recognize that this number is a composite of the scores from four key skill domains: verbal skills, nonverbal skills, attention, and speed of information processing.
Modern scores are reported in terms of where they fall in the distribution of scores, for the sample representing the subject's peer group. IQ scores are "scaled", or reported in reference to the mean and standard deviation of peers in the general population. The IQ scores follow a "normal" distribution, and are scaled so that a score one full standard deviation from the median corresponds to 15 IQ points higher or lower than 100. By definition this means that about 2/3rds of the population have IQ scores between 85 and 115, and 95% of all people have scores between 70 and 130.
Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, designed the first real intelligence test in the nineteenth century. Since Binet, many others have modified his scale. Modern intelligence testing began with David Wechsler, the chief of Psychology at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, in 1932. Wechsler published the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale in 1939, altering the course of intelligence testing in the United States. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was published in 1955, followed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), each of which have been revised several times since.
Intelligence testing can be a useful tool for identifying both an individual's mental strengths and limitations. Once limitations have been identified, recommendations can be made to increase the client's ability to function in particular domains. Some limitations might be improved by interventions that build skill capacity; other limitations might be overcome by learning how to compensate for deficits.
Despite vast improvements since the first intelligence tests were devised, it remains a challenge to develop tests that properly measure intellectual skills for people of various backgrounds and special talents/needs, etc. Due to individual differences among examinees, it is important that all test results be interpreted by an expert who is aware of the strengths and limitations of the tests themselves. The expert can then use this knowledge to write reports that fairly reflect an individual's true intellectual strengths, as well as any limitations.
Modern scores are reported in terms of where they fall in the distribution of scores, for the sample representing the subject's peer group. IQ scores are "scaled", or reported in reference to the mean and standard deviation of peers in the general population. The IQ scores follow a "normal" distribution, and are scaled so that a score one full standard deviation from the median corresponds to 15 IQ points higher or lower than 100. By definition this means that about 2/3rds of the population have IQ scores between 85 and 115, and 95% of all people have scores between 70 and 130.
Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, designed the first real intelligence test in the nineteenth century. Since Binet, many others have modified his scale. Modern intelligence testing began with David Wechsler, the chief of Psychology at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, in 1932. Wechsler published the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale in 1939, altering the course of intelligence testing in the United States. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was published in 1955, followed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), each of which have been revised several times since.
Intelligence testing can be a useful tool for identifying both an individual's mental strengths and limitations. Once limitations have been identified, recommendations can be made to increase the client's ability to function in particular domains. Some limitations might be improved by interventions that build skill capacity; other limitations might be overcome by learning how to compensate for deficits.
Despite vast improvements since the first intelligence tests were devised, it remains a challenge to develop tests that properly measure intellectual skills for people of various backgrounds and special talents/needs, etc. Due to individual differences among examinees, it is important that all test results be interpreted by an expert who is aware of the strengths and limitations of the tests themselves. The expert can then use this knowledge to write reports that fairly reflect an individual's true intellectual strengths, as well as any limitations.
Leslie Sachs, Metrowest Neuropsychology, Summer Intern 2011 and Jeffrey J. Gaines, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
For more information on intelligence testing and psychoeducational evaluations, visit: http://metrowestneuropsych.com/psychological_testing/intelligence-testing-past-and-present/
For more information on intelligence testing and psychoeducational evaluations, visit: http://metrowestneuropsych.com/psychological_testing/intelligence-testing-past-and-present/
