Use of psychometric testing in defining intelligence

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Psychology - Learning Psychology, Intelligence Research, grade: 20, University of St Andrews, language: English, abstract: Researchers widely disagree on a common definition of intelligence

(Sternberg & Berg, 1986), conceptually describing it as ¿a general capacity for

inferring and applying relationships drawn from experience¿ (Herrnstein &

Murray, 1994), emphasizing that ¿it is not merely book learning []; [it is] a

broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings []¿

(Gottfredson, 1997). In stark contrast are more operational definitions based

on psychometric intelligence measures, such as ¿Intelligence is what the tests

test¿ (Boring, 1923), or ¿a person¿s score on a statistically determined set of

questions¿ (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). Although having supported the

theoretical development of intelligence, psychometric tests have been

criticized for their over-simplification, inaccuracies and potential misuse

(Nisbett et al, 2012). This essay will focus on evaluating potential benefits and

drawbacks of using psychometric intelligence tests to help define intelligence,

concentrating on the most dominant ¿IQ¿ test, for which the bulk of evidence

exists. [...]