History of Intelligence

• Paul Broca and Sir Francis Galton were among the first scientists to think about measuring intelligence.

• In mid 1880s, Sir Francis Galton administered a battery of tests measuring variables such as head size, reaction time, visual accuracy, auditory threshold, breathing capacity, etc.

• He thought he could determine intelligence by measuring the size of the human skull,He assumed that the larger the skull, the smarter the person.

• In the early 1890s, Raymond Cattell, He used the term ‘mental test’ for the first time in the psychological literature. He expanded his mentor’s ideas by emphasizing that test administration.

• Alfred Binet published the first scale of intelligence in 1905. So Alfred Binet is considered as the ‘Father of Intelligence Test’

• . 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.

• Lewis Terman revised the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale in 1916. He adapted few items, added other items, established new age norms and extended the upper age limit of the scale.

• This revised test was known as Stanford Binet Test.

• In 1917, Robert Yerks with the help of his colleagues prepared Army Alpha and Army Beta intelligence tests. These intelligence tests were used while recruiting soldiers in the army.

• David Wechsler, in 1939, published the Wechsler- Bellevue Intelligence Scale. This scale was revised in 1955 and was renamed as Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).

• WAIS is a test designed to measure intelligence of adults and older adolescents. The fourth edition of this test (WAIS-IV) was released in 2008 by Karl Pearson.

• He also developed an intelligence test to measure the intelligence of children. This test is known as Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

Types Of Intelligence Test

Individual Tests of Intelligence

• Intelligence tests that can be administered to a single individual at a time are called individual tests of intelligence.

• Binet’s Scale of Intelligence, Wechsler Scale of Intelligence, Dr. Bhatia’s Performance Test of Intelligence, Arthur Point Scale, Koh’s Block Design, etc. are some of the examples of individual tests of intelligence.

Advantages:

• The test administrator can establish a rapport with a client .

• The test administrator can get additional information about the client’s feelings, moods and expressions during testing.

• Individual tests are more capable of measuring creative thinking, compared to group test.

Disadvantages

• Individual tests are time consuming and costly to administer.

• Individual tests require a trained and skillful examiner to administer, score and interpret them

Group Tests of Intelligence

• Intelligence tests that can be administered to more than one person at a time are called group tests of intelligence.

• Group tests are useful mainly for mass testing. Army Alpha Test , Army General Classification Test, Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices, etc. are some of the examples of group tests of intelligence

Advantages

• Group tests are less time consuming and economical.

• In administrating group tests, the role of the examiner is minimal. So he need not go through any specialized training.

Disadvantages

• The test administrator has much less opportunity to establish rapport, obtain cooperation and maintain interest of the clients.

• Compared to individual tests, group tests are less capable of measuring creative aspect of intelligence

Verbal tests of Intelligence

• Intelligence tests that use language (words or numbers) for measuring intelligence are called verbal tests of intelligence

• Army Alpha Test, Wechsler’s Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), etc. are some of the examples of verbal tests of intelligence.

Advantages

• Verbal tests of intelligence are useful to measure higher mental abilities.

• Verbal tests of intelligence are useful to differentiate between people having average intelligence and people having above average intelligence.

Disadvantages

• These tests cannot be given to people having different linguistic background, illiterate people and small children.

• These tests are culture bound and therefore cannot be used in other cultures.

Non Verbal test of Intelligence

• Intelligence tests that use pictures, designs, material objects, etc. to measure intelligence are called non-verbal tests of intelligence

• Non-verbal tests are of two types viz. (1) Performance tests and (2) Paper-pencil tests

• Koh’s Block Design Test, Alexander’s Pass-along test, Merril Palmer Block Building test, Dr. Bhatia’s Non-Verbal Test of Intelligence, etc. are some of the examples of performance tests of non-verbal tests of intelligence

• Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices, Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices, etc. are some of the examples of paper pencil tests of non-verbal tests of intelligence.

Advantages

• Non-verbal tests can be given to people having different linguistic background, illiterate people and small children. Performance tests are especially useful to measure intelligence of differently abled people.

• These tests are culture free and therefore can be used in other cultures.

Disadvantages

• Non-verbal tests of intelligence are less suitable to measure higher and subtle mental abilities.

• Non-verbal tests of intelligence are less suitable to differentiate between people having average intelligence and people having above average intelligence

Characteristics of people with high social intelligence

• People having high social intelligence are good at understanding and interacting with others.

• They have the ability to monitor their verbal and nonverbal expressions while communicating

• They are good speakers and active listeners

• They are skilled at assessing the emotions, motivations, desires and intentions of others

• They are goal oriented, persistent and self confident

• They can effectively solve conflicts in social context

• They are successful negotiators

• They enhance personal and professional relationships with others