Alfred Binet and His Intelligence Tests

French Psychologist Who Influenced Measurement of Abilities

Aug 21, 2009

Brief biography and works of psychologist Alfred Binet, pioneer in the practical intelligence tests and co-author of The Binet-Simon Test of Intelligence.

Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who established the first French psychology laboratory, 1889, and the first French psychology journal with Theodore Simon. He co-authored with Theodore Simon the Binet-Simon Test of Intelligence.

Brief Profile of Alfred Binet

Alfred Binet was born in Nice, France on July 8, 1857. In 1883, he studied hypnosis with the pioneering neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpetrière Hospital in Paris. A year later, he married Laure Balbiani and the couple had two daughters.

Six years later, he broke off connections with the Salpetrière Hospital to concentrate on studying his two daughters.

Building on Francis Galton Studies in Intelligence

In the late 19th century, English scientist Sir Francis Galton made pioneering studies of individual differences in intelligence. He believed that people with good senses would be highly intelligent and that these individual differences in intelligence were also inherited. In his book Hereditary Genius, Galton argued that eminent fathers would raise eminent sons.

In 1888, Galton established his "anthropometric laboratory" in order to measure physical features of people and to assess their intelligence. American psychologist James McKeen Cattell referred to these as "mental tests." By 1901, this Galtonian approach was abandoned since no association had been found between physical features and intellectual performance.

Alfred Binet's Begins Work on Intelligence Scales

In France, psychologist Alfred Binet began work on intelligence scales. His first attempts to measure intelligence were based on measuring the size of children's heads, between the talented and poorly performing students. He did not find any substantial patterns and argued that individual differences in intelligence could only be detected by more complex processes such as memory, attention, comprehension, imagination and suggestibility.

Binet Appointed by French Government to Devise a Test Measuring Children's Intelligence

In 1904, Binet was appointed by the French minister of public instruction to develop tests that could measure intelligence in children. A new law has been passed requiring that all French children should be given an education. The problem was that not all children were not capable of learning as were others. Concerned with the low-achieving children, the government asked him to devise a test that could pick out slow learners.

The Binet-Simon Scale Test of Intelligence

The goal was to find a spectrum of tests that could clearly separate children into a normal and a slow group. In 1898, he was joined by Theodore Simon, a young physician who had experience studying retarded children, he constructed a series of specific tests. He developed a scale that differentiated slow learners from those who were able to keep pace with normal levels of instruction.

In 1905, Binet and Simon published their rationale and tests, in The Binet-Simon Test of Intelligence. It figured that any discussion of the cause of a mental retardation was irrelevant. The tests were designed to avoid anything resembling schoolwork, and instead, the tests included activities like remembering shopping lists. It is the intelligence alone they sought to measure, disregarding the degree of instruction the children had received.

This psychological method measured comprehension, judgment, reasoning, and invention. It gave an indication of the child's general intelligence at that moment. Binet believed that the test reflected the nature of intelligence, as the child's practical ability to adapt to circumstances are revealed.

Age Introduced as a Feature in the Test

In 1908, Binet and Simon introduced age into the scale. One useful feature of the tests was that an individual child's score could be compared with the average score for that age. They said that if, for example, 75 percent or more of six-year-old children could pass a particular test, the test was placed at the six-year level. In addition, if a six-year-old child performed as good as the average eight-year-old, he would have a "mental level" of eight.

When his writings were translated into English, the term "mental age" was used, which implied an ordered developmental progression which he did not intend. He was not able to pursue the argument. On October 18, 1911, shortly after revising his tests, he died in Paris.

Alfred Binet's Legacy

His greatest contribution was the fact that he was able to devise the first successful and practical intelligence test which became the basis for IQ tests, a significant measurement of abilities, both in psychology and education worldwide.

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