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IQ testing

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Robertea J. Sternberg
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Robertea J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Tufts University
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

In this chapter, we first consider what intelligence is. Then we discuss the nature of IQ and its relation to intelligence. The two main test batteries that are used to assess IQ are described. Next we discuss the history of intelligence testing that led up to these tests and some of the main psychometric theories which underlie IQ testing. Mean differences among various groups in scores on tests of IQ are defined and illustrated. Finally we draw some conclusions.

What is intelligence?

In 1921, 14 famous psychologists presented their views on the nature of intelligence in a symposium organized in the Journal of Educational Psychology (see ‘Intelligence and its measurement: a symposium’, 1921). Although their responses varied, two themes became clear: intelligence comprises (1) the ability to learn from experience and (2) the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment. These themes are important. Ability to learn from experience implies, for example, that more intelligent people learn from their mistakes. They do not keep making the same ones again and again. Adaptation to the environment means that being intelligent goes beyond getting high scores on tests. It includes how you perform in school, handle a job, get along with other people and manage your life in general.

Sixty-five years after the initial symposium, 24 different experts of a later generation were asked to give their views on the nature of intelligence (R.J. Sternberg & Detterman, 1986).

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 273 - 278
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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