Allison Smith-Intelligence Investigation

Alfred Binet: 1857-1911

Theory of childs Mental Age- theory and intelligence scale developed from 1901-1911

I. Background
a. Self-taught French psychologist; no formal University education
b. Studied/ experimented with hypnotism under neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot; work was debunked
c. Career shifted and began studying psychology after birth of two daughters; development of intelligence
d. served as member in The Society for the Study of Children in France
e. Collaborated with Theodore Simon to create Binet-Simon Scale to measure childs mental age, or level
II. Theory of Mental Age Specifics
a. Mental Age-childs mental abilities relative to those of his normal peers. (Siegler, 1992)/ (source 1)
b. The French government charged The Society for the Study of Children to create a way to identify students,
particularly ones with learning disabilities, that would require an alternative education in public schools. Binet,
believing that a childs mental intelligence could be measured compared to peer, worked diligently with Theodore
Simon to develop a tests with a mental scale to do so. Together, they created the Binet-Simon Scale (1905), which
uses a series of increasingly difficult tasks to determine a childs intelligence compared his/her average peer. By
developing a standardized scale to measure mental age, Binet aided students in receiving appropriate educational
placement in France and schools today.
c. Testing and measurement
1. Focus on kids 3-13 years old; given to students with similar age/background
2. Standard series of 30 tasks given to child; beginning tasks are easy and get increasingly harder; little writing
3. Tasks created based on research, observation, and investigation of children
d. Scenario:
If an 8-year-old child passed accomplished tasks similar to another child, but did not pass anything less or more, he
would have a mental score of 8.0. As you age, your intelligence and mental age should progress.
III. Benefits and holes of theory
a. Tasks created based on observation and study of children in natural settings; age appropriate
b. Sets forth standard tasks and scale for childrens mental age to be measured; comparable to average peers
c. questions/tasks revised several times; increases validity
d. recognizes variability of intelligence in kids
e. Focused on students 3-13 years of age
f. Intelligence can be diverse; can progress at variable rates;
g. intelligence can be impacted by background, lack of schooling, environment, genetics- all recognized by Binet
-Binet did not suggest that culture solely affects intelligence
h. Test can be subjective to examiner
IV. Quotes by Binet
1. Mere numbers cannot bring outthe intimate essence of the experiment. This conviction come naturally
when one watches the subject at workWhat things can happen!...The experimenter judges what may be
going on in [the subjects] mind, and certainly feels difficulty in expressing all the oscillations of a thought in a
simple, brutal number, which can have on a deceptive precision. How, in fact, could it sum up what would
need several pages of description! Binet (1900)
2. Comprehension, inventiveness, direction, and criticism: intelligence is contained in these four word. Binet
(1909)
V. Current application in the classroom
a. Could be used for RTI process
b. Compare-Above, Below, or At appropriate level or benchmark

Sources:
1. Human Intelligence: Alfred Binet (2013); http://www.inteltheory.com/binet.shtml
2. Alfred Binet-Background, Research, Measurement of Childrens Abilities, Contributions (2016)
(http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1790/Binet-Alfred-1857-1911.html).
3. Imhoff, Trisha (2000) Alfred Binet; (http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/hitsory/binet.htm
4. Science Quotes by Alfred Binet. Today in Science History (1999). http://www.todayinsci.com/B/Binet_Alfred/BinetAlfred-Quotations.htm
 Allison Smith-Intelligence Investigation
Jean Piaget: 1896-1980

Theory of childrens Cognitive Development- theory developed 1920s-1930s

I. Background
a. Swiss Biologist and Child Psychologist; influenced by Binet
b. Interest in learning from early age; well educated; worked at Binet Institute in 1920s
c. Worked under Theodore Simon (Binet-Simon Scale) to help standardized reasoning test for children
II. Theory of Cognitive Development specifics
a. Described work genetic epistemology-studying origins of thinking
b. Focus on how kids develop and created knowledge; WHY kids think the way they do
c. Through his work with and study of children, Piaget developed the theory that kids werent less competent
thinkers, rather they think and learn differently than adults. His research and investigations of kids focused on how
they construct and develop their knowledge based on their experiences in their environment. Piagets theory of
Cognitive Development asserts that childrens intelligence builds in 4 distinct stages; sensorimotor (birth -2years),
preoperational (2-7 years), concrete operational (7-12 years), and formal operational (12-adult). Additionally, he
believed that kids intelligence is a form of adaptation. As kids are experiencing their environment, they actively go
through the process organizing new information into their schema through assimilation or accommodation. We
use schema to help us understand and react to the world around us.
d. Demonstrated in:
1. Four stages of Cognitive Development (source 1)
Sensorimotor-explores world through senses and motor interactions; object permanence
Preoperational- creates words or mental images for objects unobserved; egocentric; logic reasoning not
developed; true thought begins (source 1)
Concrete operational- deductive reasoning; conservation of numbers (+/-), logic about concrete objects
Formal operational- abstract thinking and reasoning; theorizing/hypothesizing
2. Knowledge: Assimilation or accommodation; on going and alternating
Assimilation-information is organized into an existing schema
Accommodation- existing schema is changed to organize information
e. Scenario: Bobby knows what a dolphin looks like (large, gray, swims, fins, tail). While at the aquarium with his
parents, he sees a shark and calls it a dolphin. Based on his schema about dolphins, he is trying to make sense of
what he is seeing and assimilate the information into his pre-existing knowledge. Bobbys parents correct him and
explain the reasons why the animal they are seeing is a shark. Bobby accommodates, or reorganizes, his schema
for large, gray animals with fins and a tail that swim in the ocean.
III. Benefits and holes
a. Recognizes childrens thinking is different, not less competent, than adults (source 2)
b. Focuses on biology of human development of intelligence rather than environmental, cultural, social, etc.
-Piaget did not study effects of culture on his theory of Cognitive Development
c. based on case studies; used as basis of many pre-school/early schooling for kids
d. Focuses only on childrens development of intelligence
e. Characteristics of four stages are very precise
IV. Quotes by Piaget
a. If logic itself is created rather than being inborn, it follows that the first task of education is reasoning. Piaget
b. To express the same idea in still another way, I think that human knowledge is essentially active. Piaget
V. Current application in the classroom
a. Learning through discovery/exploration and meaningful experiences; constructivist learning
b. Understanding HOW and WHY behind students thinking; remediation and extension of skills

Sources:
1. Human Intelligence: Jean Piaget (2013); http://www.inteltheory.com/piaget.shtml
2. McLeod, S.A. (2015). Jean Piaget; http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html.
3. Pioneers In Our Field: Jean Piaget-Champion of Childrens Ideas: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-in-our-field-jean-piaget-champion-
childrens-ideas
4. Huitt,W. & Hummel, J. (2003). Piagets Theorgy of Cognitive Development. http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/piaget.html
5. "Jean Piaget." BrainyQuote.com. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jean_piaget.html