Intelligence

 Intelligence refers to the term that includes all the abilities through which
knowledge is acquired, retained and applied to the solution of a problem.
Intelligence has been defined by David Wechsler as “the aggregate or global
capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal
effectively with his environments”.

Current American text books usually offer the following simple definition of
intelligence. Intelligence is that which an intelligence test is measures. It is by all
means a practical definition. Intelligence test measures intelligence and express it in
numerical terms of IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

 Factors of intelligence:
 Intelligence is the product of several factors. These factors are discussed here one by
one.
I. Brain mechanism and intelligence: Brain is the single structure of
greatest importance in intelligence, because brain with which one is born has
much to do with how intelligent one can become. Human brain is highly
complex which enables to acquire, use and retain symbol. Higher complexity is
related with higher intelligence. Thus human beings have the most complex
brain.

II. Developmental factors: when a child is born his brain stays relatively small.
Its size increases manifold before the attain maturity. But no new cells added
after birth, only the old ones continue to grow and their interconnections
become increasingly complex. The growth of intelligence from childhood to
adulthood or maturity is undoubtedly related to these developments.

III. Environmental factors: Another important factor of intelligence is the

environment in which the individual is grown up and in which he lives. This
includes physical as well as psychological environment. Both are important for
intelligence. The physical environments are condition health, facilities,
 nutrition etc. the psychological environment includes social relations, training
and different types of information that the individual receives in his childhood
superior environment at environment conditions favor the growth of higher
intelligence whereas inferior environmental conditions seriously handicap the
growth of intelligence. That’s why environment plays a great impact on the
growth of intelligence.

Measurement of intelligence
Measurement of intelligence involves the measurements of abilities that distinguish
the bright from the dull. To measure intelligence there are some measurement test.

The first systematic test of intelligence was developed by Alfred Binet of France.
Alfred Binet of France in 1905 first developed a systematic test of intelligence. The
original Binet scale had many defects. For example, there were many types which
would require social schooling for their performance so a revision of Binet scale was
made by Binet and Simon in 1908 in which, all items which needed special training
for performance were dropped. Another characteristic of the Binet Simon scale is
that, items were arranged according to age groupings. The third characteristic is the
mental age. In 1916 a further revision of Binet scale was made by Terman, at
Standford university.

The Standfort-Binet scale consisted of 129 items arranged in order of difficulty.

Terman introduced a new important aspect of this scale which is IQ (intelligence
quotient). It’s the ratio of mental health and chronological age. The IQ computed by
having MA divided by CA.

IQ=MA/CA 100
Here, MA= Mental age

CA= Chronological age

The Stanford Binet test is predominately a verbal test. This test is not for a deaf child
or a child who don’t know English, the test doesn’t give a fair indication of their
intelligence.

Standfort-Binet edition of IQ scale:

IQ Individuals
145-160 Very gifted/ highly advanced
130-144 Genius
120-129 Superior
110-119 High average
 90-109 Average
80-89 Below average
70-79 Borderline defective
55-69 Morone
40-54 Moderately impairer or delayed

The Wechsler Intelligence scale

David Wechsler, a psychologist of the Bellevue Hospital in New York City developed
an intelligence scale for adults in 1939. The revision of this scale is known as
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), unlike the Standfort-Binet Test, this scale
is organized by series of 11 sub-tests, each one consisting of items arranged in order
to intelligence. The 11 sub-stages are classified into two groups-

I. Verbal test
II. Performance test

1. Verbal Test:-
 Information test: this subject is asked to respond to 25 questions covering a wide
variety of information which adults are supposed to know.

 General comprehension: this subject is designed to measure practical judgment and

commonsense of the subject. It has 10 items.

 Arithmetical reasoning: this subject consists of 10 simple arithmetic problems

presented orally and the subject is required to solve them orally without using paper
and pencil. Speed and accuracy determine the score.

 Memory span: this subject is designed to measure the digital memory span of the
subject. Digits, ranging from 3 to 9 are presented orally and subject is required to
reduce them.

 Similarities: this sub-test consists of 12 items. The subject is required to state in what
way the two things named are similar.

 Vocabulary: this sub-test consist of 42 words, arranged in order to difficulty and

presented orally. The subject is asked to give them meaning of each word.
2. Performance test:-

 Picture completion: In this sub-test the subject is shown 15 pictures, one at a time, a
part of which is missing. The subject is asked to state what part is missing.

 Picture arrangement: Each item consists of a set of pictures. This subject is asked to
arrange them in proper order so to tell a meaningful story. The sub-test consists of 6
sets of picture.

 Object assembly: Provided with parts the subject is required to assemble them to
construct an object. The test consists of mainly the assembly of puzzles. Both time
and accuracy determine the score.

 Block design: It is similar to Koh’s Block Design Test. Some wooden blocks are
presented and the subject is asked to construct a given design. Both time and
accuracy are scored.

 Digit symbol: this sub-test contains 9 symbols paired with 9 digits. The subject is
asked to write the correct symbols within 11 minutes.

From the above discussion, it appears that the Wechsler Test consists of two
separate scales. The test therefore yields two scores in addition to the total IQ. These
are verbal and performance IQ’s. However, the high correlation (4.77) suggests that,
they measure some of the same ability. The intelligence quotient or this test is
calculated on the basis of norms established from the standardization group.