The Measurement of Intelligence | Page 2

can give these tests, the
author in no way contends. However, the observations of Dr. Kohs,
cited in Chapter VII, as well as the experience of the author and others
who have given courses in intelligence testing to teachers, alike
indicate that sufficient skill to enable teachers and school principals to
give such tests intelligently is not especially difficult to acquire. This
being the case it may be hoped that the requisite training to enable them
to handle these tests may be included, very soon, as a part of the
necessary pedagogical equipment of those who aspire to administrative
positions in our public and private schools.

Besides being of special importance to school officers and to students
of education in colleges and normal schools, this volume can
confidently be recommended to physicians and social workers, and to
teachers and parents interested in intelligence measurements, as at once
the simplest and the best explanation of the newly-evolved intelligence
tests, which has so far appeared in print.
ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY.

PREFACE
The constant and growing use of the Binet-Simon intelligence scale in
public schools, institutions for defectives, reform schools, juvenile
courts, and police courts is sufficient evidence of the intrinsic worth of
the method. It is generally recognized, however, that the
serviceableness of the scale has hitherto been seriously limited, both by
the lack of a sufficiently detailed guide and by a number of recognized
imperfections in the scale itself. The Stanford revision and extension
has been worked out for the purpose of correcting as many as possible
of these imperfections, and it is here presented with a rather minute
description of the method as a whole and of the individual tests.
The aim has been to present the explanations and instructions so clearly
and in such an untechnical form as to make the book of use, not only to
the psychologist, but also to the rank and file of teachers, physicians,
and social workers. More particularly, it is designed as a text for use in
normal schools, colleges, and teachers' reading-circles.
While the use of the intelligence scale for research purposes and for
accurate diagnosis will of necessity always be restricted to those who
have had extensive training in experimental psychology, the author
believes that the time has come when its wider use for more general
purposes should be encouraged.
However, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that no one, whatever
his previous training may have been, can make proper use of the scale

unless he is willing to learn the method of procedure and scoring down
to the minutest detail. A general acquaintance with the nature of the
individual tests is by no means sufficient.
Perhaps the best way to learn the method will be to begin by studying
the book through, in order to gain a general acquaintance with the tests;
then, if possible, to observe a few examinations; and finally to take up
the procedure for detailed study in connection with practice testing.
Twenty or thirty tests, made with constant reference to the procedure as
described in Part II, should be sufficient to prepare the teacher or
physician to make profitable use of the scale.
The Stanford revision of the scale is the result of a number of
investigations, made possible by the coöperation of the author's
graduate students. Grateful acknowledgment is especially due to
Professor H. G. Childs, Miss Grace Lyman, Dr. George Ordahl,
Dr. Louise Ellison Ordahl, Miss Neva Galbreath, Mr. Wilford Talbert,
Mr. J. Harold Williams, and Mr. Herbert E. Knollin. Without their
assistance this book could not have been written.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, April, 1916.

CONTENTS
PART I. PROBLEMS AND RESULTS
CHAPTER I
THE USES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS 3
Intelligence tests of retarded school children. Intelligence tests of the
feeble-minded. Intelligence tests of delinquents. Intelligence tests of
superior children. Intelligence tests as a basis for grading. Intelligence
tests for vocational fitness. Other uses of intelligence tests.
CHAPTER II

SOURCES OF ERROR IN JUDGING INTELLIGENCE 22
Are intelligence tests superfluous? The necessity of standards. The
intelligence of retarded children usually overestimated. The intelligence
of superior children usually underestimated. Other fallacies in the
estimation of intelligence. Binet's questionnaire on teachers' methods of
judging intelligence. Binet's experiment on how teachers test
intelligence.
CHAPTER III
DESCRIPTION OF THE BINET-SIMON METHOD 36
Essential nature of the scale. How the scale was derived. List of tests.
How the scale is used. Special characteristics of the Binet-Simon
method. The use of age standards. The kind of mental functions
brought into play. Binet would test "general intelligence." Binet's
conception of general intelligence. Other conceptions of intelligence.
Guiding principles in choice and arrangement of tests. Some avowed
limitations of the Binet tests.
CHAPTER IV
NATURE OF THE STANFORD REVISION AND EXTENSION 51
Sources of data. Method of arriving at a revision. List of tests in