STANDFORD – BINET TEST

Alfred Binet early life

Alfred Binet was born as Alfredo Binetti on July 8, 1857,in Nice, France. His father, a
physician, and his mother, an artist, divorced when he was young and Binet then moved to
Paris with his mother. After graduating from law school in 1878, Binet initially planned to
follow in his father's footsteps and enroll in medical school. He began to study science at
Sorbonne but soon began educating himself in psychology by reading works by individuals
such as Charles Darwin and John Stuart Mill.

History and Origin

A very important steps in the development of the individual intelligence was taken by Alfred
Binet (1857-1911) who established in France the first psychological laboratory in 1889. He
was asked by the government of France to advice a means for diagnosing slow learners and
mentally retarded children in Paris schools. The government had passed laws requiring that
all French children attend school, so it was important to find a way to identify children who
would need specialized assistance. He quickly realized that some children were able to
answer more advanced questions that older children were generally able to answer, and vice
versa. Based on this observation, Binet suggested the concept of a mental age or a measure of
intelligence based on the average abilities of children of a certain age group. He took a
different tack than most psychologists of his day: he got interested in the workings of the
normal mind rather than the pathology of mental illness. He wanted to find a way to measure
the ability to think and reason, apart from education in any particular field. He is routinely
considered one of the most influential psychologists in history, largely as a result of his
pioneering work in measuring intelligence. Working with Simon, a physician at the asylum at
Saint-Yon, Binet developed an intelligence test for this purpose. The test is known as the
Binet-Simon scale, first published in 1905. Binet and colleague Theodore Simon developed a
series of tests designed to assess mental abilities rather than focusing on learned information
such as math and reading. Binet instead concentrated on other mental abilities such as
attention and memory. The scale they developed became known as the Binet-Simon
Intelligence Scale. The Binet-Simon scale consisted of 30 items, which were arranged in
ascending order of difficulty. The scale was a crude measure of intelligence of school-going
children. In 1908 Binet and Simon revised the scale in order to remove some of its defects.

The 1908 Binet-Simon scale was the first age scale and it created considerable interest among
psychologist working in different countries like Germany, England, Belgium, Switzerland,
Italy, and the United States. As a result, many suggestions and criticisms were made and in
the light of these suggestions and criticisms, Binet-Simon further revised the scale in 1911 in
which age range was extended from 3 years to the adult level. This was the last revision by
Binet in his lifetime. Tests based on Binet's test were then used by the U.S. Army in sorting
out the vast numbers of recruits in World War I. One of the reasons the Binet-Simon scale
became accepted and highly regarded so rapidly is the fact that it was designed to be
adaptable to different languages and cultures.

Binet and first IQ test

This first intelligence test, referred to today as the Binet-Simon scale, became the basis for
the intelligence tests still in use today. However, Binet himself did not believe that his
psychometric instruments could be used to measure a single, permanent, and inborn level of
intelligence.

Binet stressed the limitations of the test, suggesting that intelligence is far too broad a concept
to quantify with a single number. Instead, he insisted that intelligence is influenced by a
number of factors, which it changes over time, and that it can only be compared to children
with similar backgrounds.

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

When the Binet-Simon scale was brought to the United States, it generated considerable
interest. Stanford University psychologist Lewis Terman took Binet's original test and
standardized it using a sample of American participants. This adapted test, first published in
1916, was called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and soon became the standard
intelligence test used in the U.S.
The Stanford-Binet intelligence test used a single number, known as the intelligence quotient
(or IQ), to represent an individual's score on the test. This score was calculated by dividing
the test taker's mental age by his or her chronological age and then multiplying this number
by 100. For example, a child with a mental age of 12 and a chronological age of 10 would
have an IQ of 120 (12/10 x 100). The Stanford-Binet remains a popular assessment tool
today, despite going through a number of revisions over the years since its inception.

The Stanford-Binet remains a popular assessment tool today, despite going through a number
of revisions over the years since its inception.

Year Test/Authors Basic feature

1905 Binet & Simon Simple 30-item test arranged
in ascending order of
difficulty
1908 Binet & Simon Mental age concept
introduced
1911 Binet & Simon Extended to cover adults
1916 Stanford-Binet Terman & Merrill The concept of IQ
introduced
1937 Stanford-Binet-2 Terman & Merrill First use of parallel forms (L
and M)
1960 Stanford-Binet-3 Terman & Merrill Modern item analysis
methods used
1972 Stanford-Binet-3 Thorndike SB-3 re-standardized on
2,100 persons
1986 Stanford-Binet-4 Thorndike, I Hagen & Sattler Complete restructuring into
15 subtests
2003 Stanford-Binet-5 Roid Five factors of intelligence
introduced
BINET-SIMON SCALE (1905)

The scale consists of 30 items which were arranged in ascending order of difficulty. The scale
was a crude measure of intelligence of school-going children.

BINET-SIMON SCALE (1908)

Revised the previous scale in order to remove some of its defects. This was the first age scale
and it created considerable interest among psychologists working in different countries like
Germany, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and the United States.

BINET-SIMON SCALE (1911)

Further the scale was revised in which the age range was extended from three years to the
adult level. This was the last revision by Binet in his lifetime.

BINET-SIMON SCALE (1916)

In this revision the scale was given almost a new look. More than one-third of the items were
new and the entire scale was restandardized on an American sample of 1400 in which 1000
were children and 400 were adults. The most important aspect of this revision was the
concept of IQ, which was for the first time introduced in a psychological test. In 1926, Lewis
Terman began a collaboration with a Stanford colleague, Maude Merrill, in a project to revise
the test. The project would take 11 years to complete.

STANDFORD-BINET SCALE (1937)

Innovations in the 1937 scale included the development of two equivalent forms, labelled L
(for Lewis) and M (for Maude) as well as new types of tasks for use with preschool-level and
adult-level testtakers.

STANDFORD BINET SCALE (1960)

Another revision of the Stanford-Binet was well under way at the time of Terman’s death at
age 79 in 1956. This edition of Stanford-Binet, the 1960 revision, consisted of only a single
form (labelled L-M) and included the items considered to be the best from the two forms of
the 1937 test, with no new items added to the test. A major innovation, however, was the use
of the deviation IQ tables in place of the ratio IQ tables. Earlier versions of the Stanford-
Binet had employed the ratio IQ, which was based on the concept of mental age. The ratio IQ
is the ratio of the testtakers mental age divided by his or her chronological age, multiplied by
100 to eliminate decimals.

STANDFORD BINET SCALE (1972)

In 1972 was the next stage of re-standardization of form L-M. 1960s revision had failed to
include a new normative sample or re-standardization. By 1972, a new standardization
consisted of a group for representative sample of 2100 children (100 for each age level) to
obtain for use with 1960 revision. 1972 norms consisted nonwhites unlike all the previous
norms.

STANDFORD BINET SCALE (1986)

The fourth new edition of Standford-Binet (SB4) appeared in the 1986. It represents the
extensive revision, which retained a chief advantages of the earlier editions as individually
administered tests and on the other hand, it reflected to intervening developments in both
theoretical conceptualizations of intellectual functions and methodology of test construction.

BINET MODERN SCALE

This Binet scale incorporates the gf-gc theory of intelligence. The two basic types of
intelligence are fluid (gf) and crystalized (gc). Fluid Intelligence are those abilities that allow
the person to think, reason and acquire knowledge. It is reflected by abstract/ visual
reasoning, assessed by four tests. Crystallized Intelligence is displaying of the knowledge and
understanding that individual has acquired. It is further classified into verbal reasoning
(assessed by four tests) and quantitative reasoning (assessed by three tests). The third level
includes the Short Term Memory which reflects the person’s capabilities to retain
information briefly after a short period of single presentation, assessing four tests. Therefore
the scale consists of 15 subtests.

Standardization: The Standford Binet test fifth edition standardization was developed
after five years in development and extensive item analysis to address possible objections on
the grounds of gender, racial/ethnic, cultural or religious bias. Around 500 examiners from all
over 50 countries were trained and administer the test. The examiners in the norming sample
were 4,800 subjects having the age group of 2 to over 85. No accommodation was given for
people with special needs in the standardized sample, for which there were accommodation
for separate studies. Individuals lacking in English proficiency severe medical conditions or
severe emotional/behaviour disturbed individual were excluded.

Test Administration: After establishing a rapport with the client, the instructions of
administering is given. The test items for SB5 are contained in three item book. Item Book 1
contains the first two routine subtests. After second subtest has been administered, the
examiner has recorded estimated ability scores designed to identify an appropriate start point
in Item Book 2 and 3. From the Item Book 2, the examiner administers the next four subtests,
namely, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual- Spatial Processing and working
memory. Lastly on the final four subtests from item book 3, by the examiner is given. The
four subtests included Fluid Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing,
and Working Memory.

Scoring and Interpretations: It contains explicit direction for administering, scoring

and interpreting. To yield raw scores on each of the various subtests, scores of the individual
items of the various subtests are tallied. The scorer then employs tables found in the manual
to convert each of the raw subtest scores into a standard score. Hence from these scores
composite scores are derived. Finally, the custom with regard to scores is to convert into
nominal categories designated by certain cut-off boundaries for quick reference. Through the
years the categories have kept changing, but for SB5 the nominal categories are as follow:

Measured IQ range Category

145- 160 Very gifted or highly advanced
130-144 Gifted or very advanced
120- 129 Superior
110-119 High average
90- 109 Average
80-89 Low average
70-79 Borderline impaired or delayed
55-69 Mildly impaired or delayed
40- 54 Moderately impaired or delayed
LIMITATIONS

Administration of the test is somewhat more difficult than other tests since the examiner has
to score each item as the test is administered. Often a difficult task to establish a basal level
with younger intellectually impaired children.

There exists disagreement about the factor structure of the instrument and this ultimately
raises a question about the appropriate interpretation. It appears that the factor structure shifts
from a two-factor to a four-factor organization as the sample advances in age.

REFERENCES