Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales

The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales (or more commonly the Stanford–Binet) is an individually administered intelligence test that was revised from the original Binet–Simon Scale by Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale is now in its fifth edition (SB5) and was released in 2003. It is a cognitive ability and intelligence test that is used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children. The test measures five weighted factors and consists of both verbal and nonverbal subtests. The five factors being tested are knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, and fluid reasoning.(non-verbal) The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales (or more commonly the Stanford–Binet) is an individually administered intelligence test that was revised from the original Binet–Simon Scale by Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale is now in its fifth edition (SB5) and was released in 2003. It is a cognitive ability and intelligence test that is used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children. The test measures five weighted factors and consists of both verbal and nonverbal subtests. The five factors being tested are knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, and fluid reasoning. The development of the Stanford–Binet initiated the modern field of intelligence testing and was one of the first examples of an adaptive test. The test originated in France, then was revised in the United States. It was initially created by the French psychologist Alfred Binet, who, following the introduction of a law mandating universal education by the French government, began developing a method of identifying 'slow' children, so that they could be placed in special education programs, instead of labelled sick and sent to the asylum. As Binet indicated, case studies might be more detailed and helpful, but the time required to test many people would be excessive. In 1916, at Stanford University, the psychologist Lewis Terman released a revised examination that became known as the Stanford–Binet test. As discussed by Fancher & Rutherford in 2012, the Stanford–Binet is a modified version of the Binet-Simon Intelligence scale. The Binet-Simon scale was created by the French psychologist Alfred Binet and his student Theodore Simon. Due to changing education laws of the time, Binet had been requested by a government commission to come up with a way to detect children who were en retard. En retard means behind time in French, meaning that Binet and Simon wanted to identify kids who were falling behind and in need of help. Binet believed that intelligence is malleable and that intelligence tests would help target kids in need of extra attention to advance their intelligence. To create their test, Binet and Simon first created a baseline of intelligence. A wide range of children were tested on a broad spectrum of measures in an effort to discover a clear indicator of intelligence. Failing to find a single identifier of intelligence, Binet and Simon instead compared children in each category by age. The children’s highest levels of achievement were sorted by age and common levels of achievement considered the normal level for that age. Because this testing method merely compares a person's ability to the common ability level of others their age, the general practices of the test can easily be transferred to test different populations, even if the measures used are changed. One of the first intelligence tests, the Binet-Simon test quickly gained support in the psychological community, many of whom further spread it to the public. Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University, was one of the first to create a version of the test for people in the United States, naming the localized version the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale. Terman used the test not only to help identify children with learning difficulties but also to find children and adults who had above average levels of intelligence. In creating his version, Terman also tested additional methods for his Stanford revision, publishing his first official version as The Measurement of Intelligence: An Explanation of and a Complete Guide for the Use of the Stanford Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale (Fancher & Rutherford, 2012) (Becker, 2003).