Alfred Binet, along with his student Théophile Simon, was tasked by the French Ministry of Education in 1904 to create a method for identifying students who struggled to learn through conventional classroom instruction. This initiative aimed to address overcrowding by placing such students in specialized schools. Binet and Simon developed an intelligence test comprising 30 tasks, ranging from simple commands, like touching one's nose or ear, to more complex tasks, such as drawing designs from memory and defining abstract concepts. This test, which eventually became known as the Stanford-Binet test, remains a widely used tool for measuring intelligence.
Binet introduced the concept of mental age (MA) as a way to assess intelligence. Mental age represents an individual's level of cognitive development compared to what is typical for a particular age group. For instance, a child with low mental ability would perform similarly to a typical younger child. Intelligence can be understood by comparing a person's mental age with their chronological age (CA) or actual age. A child with a mental age significantly higher than their chronological age is considered very bright, while a child with a mental age much lower than their chronological age may be less bright.
From Chapter 6:
Now Playing
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
1.2K Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
223 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
52 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
76 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
31 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
170 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
190 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
275 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
276 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
73 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
50 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
45 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
35 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
68 Views
Thinking, Language And Intelligence
52 Views
See More
Copyright © 2025 MyJoVE Corporation. All rights reserved