Hannah Villanueva
14 December 2015
Psychology
Period 3
Can Intelligence really be Measured?
For the past 100 years, intelligence has been considered a thing that can be measured. However, many recent studies have challenged this, in that the tests are not completely reliable. Single tests that measure intelligence quotient, or IQ, may become a thing of the past. Intelligence tests measure basic cognitive problem solving skills and several psychologists have recognized the flaw in the way it is measured. A recent Canadian study concluded the IQ test is “fundamentally flawed” as its questions “oversimplify the abilities of the human brain”. The study found three components of human intelligence: short term memory, reasoning skills, and verbal ability. It was found the IQ test does not accurately measure any of this, as the test is not a universal intelligence test, but rather a specific culture intelligence test. In this case, it is with the Western culture. Correspondingly, this shows the IQ test is not a fully functional way to measure intelligence, as it varies in components and in cultures.
For the most part, intelligence has been in existence for quite a long time, however it wasn’t until 1905 a method of measuring it was created. Psychologist Alfred Binet created the very first “effective” IQ for the French to establish specialized schools for students with learning difficulties. The government immediately adopted his method of testing which helped identify learning disabilities and academic weaknesses in grade school students. The test included 30 tasks which increased in difficulty such as memory and constructing sentences. Based upon his research, he believed that intellectual development was a process that occurred over time. In other words, intelligence was not fixed at birth and simply a matter of genetics but was flexible and could be influenced by the environment to which a child was exposed. Eventually IQ tests evolved over time and...