Intelligence Tests

This week in class we looked at several different intelligence tests. We also read about tests in the IQ Testing 101 book. I found it particularly interesting to look at the tests designed for children. I work at a day care with children every day, between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 years. I have a pretty good idea of what milestones children are reaching at what ages. The Stanford-Benet test in particular stood out to me because the intelligence tests assigned to certain ages were not challenging enough. For instance, a milestone for children who were 9 years old was the ability to say the date. The children I work with are able to say the date at 4 and 5 years old. This made me consider how children's intelligence tests find a good balance that keeps them challenging but also without being too difficult for the designated age group.

Another thing to consider is how education has progressed over time. For example, I think that intelligence is partly inherited and partly learned. I definitely think it is possible for intelligence tobe obtained through studying a subject. How can you be good at something if you have never been taught it? So my next question is, how has education changed since the Stanford-Benet test was created. Perhaps at that time students were being taught to say the complete date when they were 9 years old. The children I work with are only capable to say the date because it is taught to them and reiterated every single day they are at school. When I was in elementary and middle school my parents always told me they did not learn the things I was learning until a later age. This makes me wonder when it was decided that education should be pushing its students harder and challenging them more at earlier ages.

This in turn would cause intelligence testing to be more challenging as well. The more students are learning in earlier grades the more material they would know to be tested on. This also makes me wonder if this makes people more intelligent over all. If students are learning more challenging material younger are they mastering more difficult material overall by the end of their education? Also, will this be a continuing trend? Will my children come home to tell me they are learning things I did not master until I was several years older than them? These are just some things I was considering when thinking about intelligence testing and our class this week.