Robert Fettgather, PhD, joined Mission College in 1979 and continues to teach psychology courses as an associate faculty member. Robert Fettgsther holds advanced degrees in both psychology and education. In his spare time, Robert Fettgather enjoys the study of human growth and development.
Intelligence is somewhat difficult to define, much less quantify in a test score. We might define intelligence as a kind of general mental ability to learn and apply knowledge. Or as the ability to employ logic and engage in abstract reasoning. Some believe the essence of intelligence is adaptability (including emotional intelligence) or to understand complex ideas/concepts. Here we look at the challenge of measuring intelligence, but begin with a brief look at aspects of the history of intelligence tests.
The purpose of early tests of intelligence was to identify children who might have difficulty in school, and it included measures of vocabulary, comprehension of facts and relationships, and mathematical and verbal reasoning
Early intelligence tests were also influential in shaping U.S. immigration policy. These tests for military age adults were used often to justify racial and ethnic discrimination. Indeed, some Eugenicists seized on the army IQ tests to prove to Congress that the races of Southern and Eastern Europe were a threat in strategies that unfairly and inaccurately mis-portrayed minorities- not unlike similar discriminatory practices today.
Today, scores’ calculations for intelligence tests are now based on a direct comparison of a child’s performance with the average performance of a large group of other children his own age. For preschoolers, the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence is administered. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) are used for adults and older children, respectively. Wechsler's test is comprised two parts, verbal and performance
About two-thirds of all children achieve scores between 85 and 115; roughly 96% of scores fall between 70 and 130. Children who score above 130 are often called gifted; those who score below 70 are normally referred to as "intellectually disabled”. The correlation between children's intelligence test scores and their future grades in school is a positive correlation; about .50 to .60.
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