Trying to reform the IQ test

Press, 22 December 1987, Page 12

Trying to reform the IQ test

lan Ball, of the “Daily Telegraph,” reports on fairer tests of mental abilit;

ACENTtIRY after Sir Fran- > cis Galton assembled his ■ subjects in a? London hall and used high-pitched sounds,pinpricks, and other props in the; first crude attempt; to measure; intelligence with some kind of; test, the. Great IQ Debate is, rollingagain. i A new generation of psychologists and educators— readily : acknowledging that they, are trying to measure something that still has no satisfying definition — are nevertheless trying to devise a fairer and more comprehensive method than the present IQ test ■ In America, where IQ testing still triggers political, legal and. social rows, the search is under way at several major universities, from New England to California, for a replacement of the system that has evolved from the one Dr Alfred Binet devised in 1904 to weed out dull students in the schools around Paris.

The standard IQ tests concentrate on three areas of metal ability: verbal, logical and mathematical. The tests have been falling out of favour with educators in Britain and some European countries in recent years, but they are still widely used in 49 of the 50 American states as the only tool available for assessing children, whether in the direction of schools for the gifted or "special-education” classes — a euphemism for those deemed mildly retarded. The exception among the states is California. A Federal judge there last year issued an order prohibiting the use of IQ tests with black children for any “special education” purpose. Civil-rights groups had fought for a decade to have the traditional tests dropped on the ground that they are designed basically to measure the skills and attitudes of middle-class white children.

Blacks, on average, were scoring 15 points below whites on the tests — a result, according to the plaintiffs, reflecting cultural biases built into the tests rather than any innate intelligence lag among black children. Some, it was said, were being penalised for giving answers that were “right” within the black society but “wrong” to someone

from a middle-class white background. Additionally, many blacks taking the test were interpreting some questions quite dif- ' ferently from what was intended 1 by the test’s author. ■ .'■■■■ Those who are trying to devise a hew. way of; measuring intelligenceagree with-, much of this criticfem but carry it further; all children, not. Only blacks, are being short-changed,- they say, becatfee the -IQ tests measure only- some of the ways an individual can be intelligent. They have a dossier of evidence showing below-average .-i childhood scores of men and women who went on to be successful in the professions or business. A musical genius, for example, might score below average (100) because the test does not deal with his or her special talent. • ' • / . Dr Howard Gardner, a Harvard University psychologist and one of the leaders in the new field of research, believes that the tests must also take into account three other forms of intelligence which he labels Bod-ily-kinaesthetic, Inter-personal and Intra-personal. In their skills at controlling their bodies and handling bat, ball, skis or racket, athletes possess “bodily-kinaesthetic” intelligence. Another individual

— a successful politician, for example — scores high in “interpersonal” intelligence through unique ’ skills in reading the moods-and intentions of others. “Intra-personal” intelligence is demonstrated by those who can shrewdly read their own feelings and appiy that insight in charting their lives. His colleague , at Yale, Dr Robert Sternberg, acknowledges that “ho test is magic,” but he is convinced that they can be improved by broadening their scope beyond academic, abilities. One of his objections to today’s IQ tests is their reliance on vocabulary.;As a result, they are measuring -.past’ educational achievement rather than innate intelligence. Early versions of a broadbased Sternberg IQ test are being tested .quietly in a number of American school systems. There are eight levels of tests, kindergarten to adult, that seek to evaluate skills in three areas — analytical thinking, “coping with novelty” and practical brainpower, the nous used in everyday life.