In , French psychologists developed the Binet-Simon test to identify children who needed individualized help outside of school. But are IQ tests valid, unbiased measures of general intelligence? Dombrowski, a psychologist at Rider University in New Jersey. IQ tests have a dark history of being used to discriminate against racial and ethnic groups, he explains, and ultimately led to the forced sterilization of thousands of people during the eugenics movement.
So, have IQ tests progressed beyond their harrowed past to become a sound measure of intelligence today? Dombrowski studies the validity of IQ tests using rigorous statistical techniques. He says IQ tests do have meaning and are valid measures of intelligence — when they are interpreted correctly. Our field needs to evolve. One of the ways the tests are frequently misinterpreted, according to Dombrowski, is when any score from the test besides the overall IQ is used.
IQ tests measure a variety of skills like working memory, fluid reasoning, verbal comprehension and more. One cognitive scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, says we need to question what IQ tests are actually telling us.
But in their darkest moments , IQ tests became a powerful way to exclude and control marginalized communities using empirical and scientific language. Supporters of eugenic ideologies in the s used IQ tests to identify "idiots," "imbeciles," and the " feebleminded. As a result of such eugenic arguments, many American citizens were later sterilized. In , an infamous ruling by the U.
Supreme Court legalised forced sterilization of citizens with developmental disabilities and the "feebleminded," who were frequently identified by their low IQ scores. The ruling, known as Buck v. Bell , resulted in over 65, coerced sterilizations of individuals thought to have low IQs. Those in the U. Bell were disproportionately poor or of color. Compulsory sterilization in the U. In , the US Senate voted to compensate living victims of government-sponsored sterilization programs.
Debate over what it means to be "intelligent" and whether or not the IQ test is a robust tool of measurement continues to elicit strong and often opposing reactions today. Some researchers say that intelligence is a concept specific to a particular culture.
They maintain that it appears differently depending on the context—in the same way that many cultural behaviors would. For example, burping may be seen as an indicator of enjoyment of a meal or a sign of praise for the host in some cultures and impolite in others. What may be considered intelligent in one environment, therefore, might not in others. For example, knowledge about medicinal herbs is seen as a form of intelligence in certain communities within Africa, but does not correlate with high performance on traditional Western academic intelligence tests.
According to some researchers, the "cultural specificity" of intelligence makes IQ tests biased toward the environments in which they were developed—namely white, Western society.
This makes them potentially problematic in culturally diverse settings. The application of the same test among different communities would fail to recognize the different cultural values that shape what each community values as intelligent behavior.
Going even further, given the IQ test's history of being used to further questionable and sometimes racially motivated beliefs about what different groups of people are capable of, some researchers say such tests cannot objectively and equally measure an individual's intelligence at all. At the same time, there are ongoing efforts to demonstrate how the IQ test can be used to help those very communities who have been most harmed by them in the past.
In , the execution across the U. This has meant IQ tests have actually prevented individuals from facing "cruel and unusual punishment" in the U. In education, IQ tests may be a more objective way to identify children who could benefit from special education services. This includes programs known as " gifted education " for students who have been identified as exceptionally or highly cognitively able.
Ethnic minority children and those whose parents have a low income, are under-represented in gifted education. The way children are chosen for these programs means that black and Hispanic students are often overlooked. Some U. But research suggests that teacher perceptions and expectations of a student, which can be preconceived, have an impact upon a child's IQ scores , academic achievement , and attitudes and behavior.
This means that teacher's perceptions can also have an impact on the likelihood of a child being referred for gifted or special education. The universal screening of students for gifted education using IQ tests could help to identify children who otherwise would have gone unnoticed by parents and teachers.
Research has found that those school districts which have implemented screening measures for all children using IQ tests have been able to identify more children from historically underrepresented groups to go into gifted education.
IQ tests could also help identify structural inequalities that have affected a child's development. This initial sample represents the total population as accurately as possible and reflects many of the things that are present in the general population.
This allows IQ test developers to establish norms , or standards, by which individual scores can be compared. IQ testing has been controversial throughout history for a number of reasons, including:. Many factors can influence IQ and scores can change over time. Some of the factors that can impact a person's IQ score include:.
While higher IQ scores are linked to increased health, academic performance, and overall well-being, these scores do not necessarily predict an individual's success in life.
It is important to remember that IQ tests are only one measure of intelligence. Many experts suggest that other important elements contribute to intelligence, including social and emotional factors. Some experts even suggest that these social and emotional skills actually matter more than IQ when it comes to determining success in life. French psychologist Alfred Binet was the first to develop a formal test of intelligence and a form of his original test is still in use today as the Stanford-Binet intelligence test.
Later, psychologist Charles Spearman developed a concept of general intelligence , or a general mental ability to perform a wide variety of cognitive tasks. Army during World War I to test army recruits. During the s, David Wechsler developed IQ tests for use with children and adults. These tests remain popular today. While IQ scores can reveal information about an individual's abilities in certain domains, it is also important to remember that other factors, including such things as adaptive skills, emotional intelligence, and task performance, are also important indicators of an individual's capabilities.
Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Stangor C. Introduction to Psychology. Version 2. Published July Intelligence and educational achievement.
Schooling in adolescence raises IQ scores. Breedlove, S. Principles of Psychology. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind.
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