Chapter 10: Tests of Intelligence

The Binet Scales

• Directed by the French government to develop a test for identifying mentally retarded
school children for special instruction
• Considered the first intelligence test (1905)

Binet-Simon Scale Contrasted Previous Tests

• Primarily verbal with some sensorimotor tests
– Sampled on 50 normal children (3-11 years)
• 1908 revision - 300 normal children (3-13 years)
• 1911 revision - minor changes

1916 - Lewis M. Terman at Stanford revised the Binet

• Introduced the Stanford-Binet and Intelligence Quotient (ratio IQ)
• Ratio between mental age and chronological age MA/CA x 100

2003 - Stanford-Binet 5th Ed.

• Age 2 - Adult
• Based on a hierarchical model with general mental ability
• Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory of intelligence.
• Focus 5 major cognitive areas
1. Fluid reasoning
2. Knowledge
3. Quantitative Reasoning
4. Visual-Spatial Processing
5. Working Memory
• Standardization
• 500 Examiners
• Stratified random sample of 4,800
• No accommodations for special needs
• Certain exclusions
• Scoring
• Raw scores summed across item scores
• 0 = wrong; 1 = correct
• Converted into normative standard scores
– mean of 100, SD of 15

Psychometric Properties
• Reliabilities range
• Factor index reliability
• Range of the 10 subtests
• Concurrent and criterion validity
• Test Administration
• Adaptive Testing
• Routing Test
• Teaching Items
• Basal Level

Summary
• Favored test
• Focus on “g”
• High correlation to achievement tests
• Considered cumbersome to administer

David Wechsler
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - R (WAIS-R)
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - R (WISC-R)

• WAIS-IV (2008)
• David Wechsler
• 11 subtests: 6 verbal & 5 nonverbal
• Assess problem solving
• IQ is relative

Summary of Wechlser Scales

• Widely used
• Strong standardization
• Long history of research
• Focus on “g”
• High correlation to achievement tests
• Low intercorrelation of several subtests

Goals of WAIS-IV
• Eliminate Dual IQ/Index Score Structure
• Enhance Measure of Fluid Intelligence
• Enhance Measure of Working Memory
• Enhance Measure of Processing Speed
• Enhance clinical utility
• Additional Special Group Studies (e.g., Mild
• Cognitive Impairment, Borderline Intellectual Functioning)

Improve Psychometric Properties

• Update Norms
• Expand FSIQ Range
• Maintain or improve reliability
• Provide initial evidence of validity
• Enhance User-Friendliness
• Reduce Testing Time
• Revise Instructions
• Redesign Record Form
• Increase Portability
• Separate WAIS-IV and WMS-IV Technical Manuals (Wechsler Memory Scale)

Subtest Modifications
• 4 Subtests Dropped
• 12 Subtests Retained
• 3 New Subtests
– Visual Puzzles, Figure Weights, Cancellation
• Visual Puzzles
• Which 3 of these pieces go together?
• Figure Weights
• Which one balances the scale?
• Cancellation
• When I say go, draw a line through each red square and yellow triangle.

Normative Sample
• Ages 16-90
• Normative sample: N = 2200
• National sample stratified by:
– Sex
– Education Level
– Ethnicity
– Region

Psychometric Properties
• The reliability coefficients for WISC–IV composite scales good
– Range?
• Interscorer agreement range
• Mean of 100; SD 15
– Subtest Scaled Scores: Mean = 10, SD = 3

Summary
• Widely used
• Strong standardization
• Long history of research

Tests for Group Administration

• Army Alpha & Beta
• Screening procedures
• Tests in schools

Pros
• Administration
• Scoring
• Cost
• Influence

• Cons
• Administration
• No clarification
• Literacy
• No innovative formats