A wide range of hypotheses exist about intelligence, however there is limited consensus on the concept. Generally, it is defined as a mental capability that involves reasoning, planning, problem solving and abstract thinking. The ability to learn from experience, comprehend complex ideas and learn rapidly also characterize intelligence. Intelligence is distinct from book-learning or test-taking. It reflects a deeper comprehension. Individuals differ in their ability to reason. The psychometric approach to the issue uses testing to measure intelligence in controlled settings.
Intelligence is defined by a number of different abilities and standards, and has been observed in humans and animals both. It was psychologist Alfred Binet who developed the first IQ test to assess students who needed educational assistance. The French government asked Binet in the early 1900s to assess which students were more likely to experience difficulty during education. At this point, the French government had passed laws which required all students to attend school. Binet and Theodore Simon developed a set of questions that focused on things not taught in school, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Using these questions, Binet determined the ones best suited to predict success in academia. Soon Binet discovered that some children were able to answer questions at an age level above their own, while other children were only able to answer questions that younger children could answer. Thus he proposed the idea of a mental age, or an intelligence measure based on the average ability of children belonging to a particular age group. The first intelligence test was known as the Binet-Simon scale. This test was the basis for intelligence tests used today, however Binet did not believe that his psychometric measures could measure a single static innate level of intelligence (Goodwin, 2008). He held that intelligence is a vast ...