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 / by Lewis M. Terman.

  • Terman, Lewis M. (Lewis Madison), 1877-1956.
Date:
[1916], ©1916
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: 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 / by Lewis M. Terman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    However, an examination of the scale will show that the choice of tests was not guided entirely by any single for- mula as to the nature of intelligence. Binet’s approach was a many-sided one. The scale includes tests of time orienta- tion, of three or four kinds of memory, of apperception, of language comprehension, of knowledge about common ob- jects, of free association, of number mastery, of construc- tive imagination, and of ability to compare concepts, to see contradictions, to combine fragments into a unitary whole, to comprehend abstract terms, and to meet novel situations. Other conceptions of intelligence. It is interesting to compare Binet’s conception of intelligence with the defini- tions which have been offered by other psychologists. Ac- cording to Ebbinghaus, for example, the essence of intelli- gence lies in comprehending together in a unitary, meaning- ful whole, impressions and associations which are more or less independent, heterogeneous, or even partly contra- dictory. “‘ Intellectual ability consists in the elaboration of a whole into its worth and meaning by means of many- sided combination, correction, and completion of numerous kindred associations. . . . It is a combination activity.” Meumann offers a twofold definition. From the psy- chological point of view, intelligence is the power of in- dependent and creative elaboration of new products out of the material given by memory and the senses. From the practical point of view, it involves the ability to avoid errors, to surmount difficulties, and to adjust to environ- ment. Stern defines intelligence as “ the general capacity of an individual consciously to adjust his thinking to new re- quirements: it is general adaptability to new problems and conditions of life.” Spearman, Hart, and others of the English school define