Binet’s Legacy

Binet strongly believed that children with low test scores could benefit considerably if given special attention. Although Binet believed that inheritance may set an upper limit on intellectual potential, he also believed that everyone could grow intellectually if properly stimulated. He worried very much about students in classrooms where teachers believed that students’ intellectual performance was innately determined. This, of course, was especially regretful for students believed to have low intelligence:

I have often observed, to my regret, that a widespread prejudice exists with regard to the educability of intelligence. The familiar proverb, “When one is stupid, it is for a long time,” seems to be accepted indiscriminately by teachers with a stunted critical judgment. These teachers lose interest in students with low intelligence. Their lack of sympathy and respect is illustrated by their unrestrained

The 1911 revision of the scale included normative data on 15-year-olds and provided exactly five tests for each age level. The latter allowed for a more refined measure of intelligence. For example, if an 8-year-old child passed all the tests corresponding to his or her age, he or she would be considered normal. It is possible, however, that an 8-year-old will also pass some tests typically passed only by 9-year-olds. The new procedure allowed one-fifth of a year to be added to a child’s score for each test the child passed beyond those that were the norm for his or her age. Thus, a child’s “intellectual level” could be expressed in terms of “intellectual age”—that is, the age corresponding to the most difficult tests the child could pass.