Intelligence Testing

and Young Children

by Julia Hart

Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

What is intelligence?
What is an IQ?
A (very) brief history of intelligence testing
Why measure intelligence?
Theories of intelligence
Common IQ tests for young children
What are we really measuring?
Summary
Questions?

What is intelligence?
Thoughts from the audience?
Merriam-Webster defines it as the ability to
learn or understand things or to deal with new
or difficult situations
Wechsler defined it: Intelligence is the aggregate
or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully,
to think rationally and to deal effectively with his
environment. It is global because it characterizes the
individuals behavior as a whole; it is an aggregate
because it is composed of elements or abilities which
are quantifiably differentiable

What is an IQ?
IQ stands for intelligence quotient, but modern IQ tests are
not actually quotients.
The original Binet tests had standard performance levels for
each age- mental age. A persons IQ was calculated by
dividing mental age by chronological age and then multiplying
the quotient by 100. For example, for a 5 year old child who
performed at the mental age of 7, 7 5= 1.4 100= an IQ of
140
A 7 year old child who had a mental age of 7 would have an IQ
of 100.
The use of quotients began to be eliminated when Wechsler
developed his intelligence scale in 1939.
All modern IQ tests have standard scores with a mean of 100
and SD=15.

The Binet Scales

-Alfred Binet is the father of the modern
intelligence test. He and Theodore Simon
crafted the Benet-Simon scale in the early
1900s.
-The test was brought to the US and
revised by Lewis Terman of Stanford
University, hence the well-known
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales.

Early IQ Testing
WWI gave test developers a purpose for their work.
The government needed a quick means of assessing
army recruits and officer candidates as well as a
nonverbal means of assessing the thousands of new
immigrants to the country.
David Wechsler began his career in psychology at
Bellevue Hospital in NY. It was there he developed his
first IQ test, the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale.
His scale utilized items directly from the Binet and
Army alpha tests to form his Verbal Scale. He also
used nonverbal items from the Armys beta test when
creating his Performance Scale.

Why do we measure IQ?

In the past, IQ discrepancies were used to identify learning
disabilities. This is no longer recommended practice.
Some employers use IQ testing as part of the interview
process
To identify intellectual disability
To determine competency in court
Private School Admissions
To gain more information about how a child learns or
processes information
As we all know, no test alone should be used to make a
placement or qualification decision. IQ tests are one tool
to evaluate childrens cognition and abilities.

Theories of Intelligence
General Factor (g)- coined by Charles Spearman in
1904. g describes an individuals underlying
intellectual ability, which is used to explain the
correlation between scores on subtests.
Cattell and Horn theorized that there were actually
2 general factors: fluid intelligence (Gf) and
crystalized intelligence (Gc).
Gardners Multiple Intelligences Theory: linguistic,
logical-mathematic, musical, spatial, bodilykinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal, and
intrapersonal

Theories, cont.
Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory expanded
on the idea of Gf and Gc to include
additional cognitive factors including:
Gv: visual processing
Gsm: Short-term memory
Glr: long-term storage and retrieval
Gq: quantitative knowledge
*These measures guided development of the KABC*

Theories, cont.
Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive (PASS)
theory: routed in the work of Luria who theorized that
human cognitive functions can be conceptualized within
a framework of three separate but related functional
units that provide four basic psychological processes.
The 1st functional unit is attention (selective cognitive
activity), the 2nd is simultaneous and successive
processing (forms of operating on information- encoding,
analyzing), and the 3rd is planning (intentionality and self
regulation- executive functioning). Each area is related
to an area of the brain.

Theories in practice
The many theories regarding
intelligence have led to newer
intelligence tests and revisions of
older tests.
Subscales and subtests reflect the
multiple modes of intelligence that
can be measured

The Wechsler Tests

The WISC and WPPSI are the most used
intelligence tests for children in the US
WPPSI is for children age 2:11-7:3 years
old
WISC is for ages 6:0-16:11 years old

What does the

WPPSI
measure?
FSIQ is based on the results of
the subtests in red.
Score reports include scores
for each index, with a mean
of 100 and SD of 15.

The Kaufman Assessment Battery

for Children (KABC)
For children 3-18 years old.
Two global constructs: Mental Processing Index (MPI), which
measures general mental processing from the Luria perspective,
and the Fluid-Crystalized Index (FCI) which measures general
processing from the CHC perspective, including crystalized ability.
There is also an additional non-verbal scale comprised of elements
from both indices.
Number of Scales depends on childs age and testers choice of
Luria or CHC model
The Kaufmans stated that the CHC model is preferred except for
bilingual children, children suspected of having language disorder,
children with ASD, and children who are deaf or hand or hearing.

Additional IQ Measures for

Children
Stanford-Binet: for children 2 years
old-adult
Woodcock-Johnson: 2 years old-adult
Cognitive Assessment System (CAS):
5-18 years old
Differential Ability Scales (DAS): 2:617 years old

Wrapping Up
See handout for resources and
recommended reading on the subject.
When reading IQ testing reports, look
at subtest scores, not just full-scale IQ.
Individual scores can give important
information about how a child learns or
expresses information.
Questions?

References
Benson, E. (2003). Intelligent intelligence testing: Psychologists are
broadening the concept of intelligence and how to test it. Retrieved from:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligent.aspx
Flanagan, D. P. & Harrison, P. L. (Eds.). (2005). Contemporary intellectual
assessment: Theories, tests, and issues. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Kaufman, A. S. & Lichtenberger, E. O. (2000). Essentials of the WISC-III and
WPPSI-R assessment. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Kaufman, A. S. (2009). IQ testing 101. New York, NY: Spring Publishing
Company.
Lichtenberger, E. O., Broadbrooks, D. Y., & Kaufman, A. S. (2000). Essentials
of cognitive assessment with KAIT and other Kaufman measures. New York,
NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Naglieri, J. A. (1999). Essentials of the CAS assessment. New York, NY: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Pearson Clinical (n.d.). The boldly reimagined WPPSI-IV. Retrieved from:
http://images.pearsonclinical.com/images/Products/WPPSI- IV/brochure.pdf