Tabulación de la Encuesta

Two important historical developments in the latter half of the nineteenth century greatly influenced the ultimate introduction of measures of intelligence (Thorndike, 1997). First, compulsory education in the United States and other countries resulted in a very diverse student body. Many students came from "uneducated" families or families that did not speak the native tongue. As a result, the failure rate in

schools shot up dramatically. In order to preserve resources, there was pressure to identify those most likely to succeed in school. Second, psychological scientists believed, and ultimately demonstrated, that mental abilities could be measured. Although early attempts focused primarily on measures of sensory acuity and reaction time (for example, Francis Galton, James McKeen Cattell), the groundwork was laid in place.

Alfred Binet and his collaborator, Theodore Simon, became leaders in the intelligence testing movement when they devised the Binet-Simon test to identify individual differences in mental functioning. Binet's original purpose was to develop an objective method of identifying those truly lacking in academic ability (as opposed to those with behavior problems). Like others of the day, Binet and Simon regarded intelligence as a "faculty" that was inherited, although they also spoke of it as affected by training and opportunity. With the interest in quantifying intellectual performance and with the continuing growth of compulsory education in Europe and North America, intelligence testing became firmly entrenched (Thorndike, 1997).

Institutions such as schools, industries, military forces, and governments were, by their nature, interested in individual differences (such as levels of intelligence) that might affect performance in those settings; therefore, intelligence testing prospered (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994).For many years, the critical importance and widespread use of intelligence tests went largely unchallenged. However, by the end of the 1960s, everyone seemed to be attacking the validity of these tests. Basically, the argument was that such tests discriminate through the inclusion of unfair items.

As a result of a lengthy civil rights suit (Larvy P v. Wilson Riles) begun in 1971, the California State Board of Education in 1975 imposed a moratorium on the use of intelligence tests to assess disabilities in African Americans. The court held that IQ testing is prejudicial to African American children and tends to place them, without real justification, in allegedly stigmatizing programs for cognitively impaired individuals.

Others (for example, N. Lambert, 1981) have disputed the court's judgment, however. Some African Americans contemplated a court challenge of the ruling, claiming it assumed that African Americans would do poorly on the tests. Still others argued that IQ testing is not a social evil but the principal means by which we can right the wrongs imposed upon minorities by a devastating environment.

The most widely used intelligence tests in the United States are those originally developed by psychologist David Wechsler during the 1940’s and 1950’s.building on existing tests of the day— including the Standford-Binet the Army Alpha and Beta tests, and the Bellevue intelligence scale— Wechsler first developed an individual test in intelligence for adults. Followed by a similarly structured test for school-age children to age 16, and finally, a test for pre-school-age children.

These tests were influenced by Wechsler’s belief that there is a total or global level of intellectual capacity that can be measured-thus; these tests yield a score that represents the person’s overall intelligence. the tests developed by Wechsler also reflect the geographic metaphor of intelligence described by Sternberg(1990).Wechsler’s tests more than any others have shaped psychologist’s perception of intellectual functioning as comprised of separate but related verbal and performance(non- verbal abilities).

Wechsler (1939) emphasized that an IQ test measures functional intelligence, not intelligence it self. Functional intelligence is influenced by nonintellectual factors including motivation, configuration of specific abilities, and emotional adjustment. According to Wechsler score on an IQ test is a reflection of what one has learned, and which is a function of the opportunities to which one has been exposed and one’s ability to take advantage of those opportunities. The subsets on Wechsler’s test represent samples of behavior but they are not exhaustive.

The need for continued adaptation of intelligence testing is represented in the history of the Wechsler scales, because all three versions have undergone substantial revisions since their inception and even after Wechsler’s death. These changes have taken two forms: changes in the items of the tests to make them more current and appropriate for new generations, and the testing of new normative samples to provide up-to-date sources for normative comparison in generating scores.

CONCLUSION

There is little question that intelligence tests have been misused at times in ways that have penalized minorities. There is also little doubt that some tests have contained certain items that have adversely affected the performance of some minorities. We should, therefore, do everything we can to develop better tests and to administer and interpret them in a sensitive fashion. However, banning tests seems an inappropriate cure that may ultimately harm the very people who need help.

LESSON 18