Intelligence And I.Q

2 Pages 617 Words

INTELLIGENCE & I.Q TESTING


In this essay I will be examining the question “Are I.Q tests an accurate measure of intelligence?”
In order to do this I must first define the world intelligence and second examine the context of an I.Q test.
Defining the word intelligence is in itself a complex task, does being intelligent mean a person has the potential to learn and apply their knowledge, to solve problems or to merely think rationally and deal with situations effectively?. And if so are these qualities learnt or are we born with them.
Psychologists have many conflicting views on the subject and the debate over its true meaning is still continuing.
What influences our intelligence is also inconclusive. Some psychologists believe it may be due to environmental factors whilst others believe it is genetics and even health that are the main influence.
My own view is that all the factors play a part in our intellect. I believe that we are first influenced by our genetic make up but the environment in which we develop influences the extent to which our given ability is used, good parenting with stimulation and encouragement and a good social environment which opportunities must surely play a key role, but there is no clear conclusion and the definitions will vary depending on what you read.
So to try and put forward some kind of summary, if at all possible, may be to say that intelligence is the ability to respond to a given situation in an appropriate and accurate way, whether the reason for response be due to innate or learnt factors.

Does an IQ test measure this ability? I.Q tests were first proposed in 1904 by Alfred Binet as a means of assessing problems associated with subnormal children in schools.
Binet was to devise a test to measure the intellect of these children whilst relying on no particular intelligence theory.
He was only interested in testing a child’s ability against children of the same age. He tried to ...