Alfred Binet of France first used a standardized test on Parisian children in the early 1900s, according to Monitor writer Etienne Benson. The purpose of Binet's test was to identify children with mental retardation and learning disabilities in order to remove them from the general school population and better serve their needs in specialized facilities.
The U.S. military used standardized testing to place new recruits in positions suiting their skills and abilities. An intelligence test used by the U.S. Army during World War I was adapted in 1926 to form the original Scholastic Aptitude Test. A variety of aptitude and achievement tests stemming from these early indicators continue to be used in American high schools today.
The meaning of intelligence is elusive. The term continues to evolve with scientific and educational study. Most current definitions attest that intelligence includes the skills of logical reasoning, problem solving, critical thinking and adaptation.
Jean Piaget, the father of cognitive development, would agree in part with this definition. For Piaget, intelligence was dynamic and always related to adaptation to the environment of the individual, according to Audiblox. Piaget would be opposed to measuring intelligence based upon the number of items answered correctly in an IQ test because circumstances and environment could radically change results from one test to the next.
One popular IQ test in use, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, does not adequately test for the skills related to intelligence, Benson says. The test is composed of verbal and performance sections. In the verbal scale, success is geared to specific knowledge, vocabulary, language and memory skill. The performance portion tests visual-spatial abilities, fine motor coordination, perception and speed of completion. All of these are measurements of what a person has learned to date but not of future learning potential.
IQ tests may vary as much as 15 points from one test to another and be severely compromised by tension, anxiety and unfamiliarity with the testing procedure, according to Audiblox. The test also may be biased because of tester instructions, attitudes and qualifications.
Dr. Howard Gardiner, professor of education at Harvard University, developed the theory that eight different intelligences account for human potential. Current IQ tests do not test for all eight components and, therefore, cannot accurately predict potential. To do so, the IQ test would have to test for intelligence in linguistics (words), logic-mathematics (number-reasoning), spatial relationships (pictures), bodily kinesthetics (body smart), music, interpersonals (people smart), intrapersonals (self smart) and nature. A student labeled "gifted" through an IQ test would probably score highly in one or two categories but certainly not in all eight.
The IQ test as a diagnostic tool is only one way of measuring student intelligence. It does help psychologists identify learning disorders and make recommendations to educators regarding teaching and learning styles. Psychologists are trained to look at the entire child using clinical observation, test results, the socioeconomic environment and the child's facility with the language in the assessment process.
IQ tests are one segment of the process that evaluates a child at one point in time and at a current stage of development to determine the best way to allow the child to reach his/her greatest potential. The rest is unpredictable as an individual grows, changes and adapts to the circumstances met in life each day.