The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

The Binet-Simon Scale was originally issued in 1908. It consisted of 30 tests arranged in order of increasing difficulty. From the average scores of children, Binet developed the concept of mental age. On this test, children were assigned a score that corresponded to their mental age, which was the average of children taking the test who achieved the same score. Assigning a mental age to students provided an indication of whether or not they were performing at the same level as their peers. It did not allow for comparisons among students of different chronological or physical ages. This test would be translated into English by H. H. Gadded (1866-1957) and then modified by Lewis Terman to "measure" the intelligence of every person, whether mentally disabled or not.

The best-known Binet adaptation, created by Stanford University's L. M. Terman in 1916, is the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Terman introduced the term intelligence quotient (IQ), which is a numerical value given to scores on an intelligence test (a score of 100 corresponds to average intelligence). To calculate an IQ score, the following formula was used: IQ score = Mental age/chronological age multiplied by 100 (MA/CA x 100).

The Stanford-Binet is designed to measure skills in four areas: verbal reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and short-term memory. Tests are grouped into age levels ranging from age two to superior adult. The examiner starts at a level slightly below the expected mental age and either works up or adjusts downward. The basal age is the level at which all tests are passed and the ceiling age is the level at which all tests are failed.

 

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