Intelligence Is Impossible To Define Or Measure?
...different ways of measuring it. I will discuss, starting from the early twentieth century, how intelligence first became of so much importance and of how the knowledge and understanding of the concept of intelligence has increased throughout the century. I will briefly describe the origins of the concept of intelligence and I will also mention the most recent developments in the subject such as those of multiple intelligences and artificial intelligence (AI).
Various definitions of 'intelligence' have been produced and psychologists have so far been unable to agree on a common definition. This indicates the complexity of the subject and the diverse ways of looking at it. Some of the definitions used during the twentieth century will be mentioned.
The continuous controversy as to whether intelligence is influenced mainly by hereditary or environmental causes will also be discussed.
As concepts such as 'intelligence' are always value laden, the political and ideological consequences of intelligence testing will also be briefly explored in relation to educational and racial issues.
The issue of intelligence and intelligence testing first came about within the problems of the education system. Teachers found that some children made slower progress in their studies, and explained this in terms of 'deficient capacity'. The school administrators found this explanation too simple. They believed poor academic performance could have been due to insufficient teaching. It became of some importance as to whether the cause lay on the individual or in the instruction. According to C.J. Adcock (1965, p.181) "It was this educational problem which led to the first effective tests of intelligence".
In 1904 in France A. Binet and Th. Simon were asked to create an intelligence test that looked at the problems associated with children who could not learn. Their...
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