Gould

Aim-To examine early history of intelligence testing and the problems with psychometric testing, specifically IQ tests. Research method -review article looks at history of Yerkes’ intelligence testing Sample- 1.75 million army recruits in USA during WW1. The recruits included White Americans,‘Negroes’ and European immigrants. Procedure- May to July 1917, three army tests, first two could be given to large groups and took less than an hour.

 ALPHA TEST- literate recruits, eight parts:analogies etc. understanding of  language/literacy. Although the tests considered by Yerkes to measure ‘native intellectual ability’ (intelligence that is not influenced by education and/or culture), they were very biased.How could someone who is unfamiliar with American culture achieve a decent score? eg. Washington is to Adams as first is to ..

 BETA TEST- in English, in three of seven parts the answers were in writing, yet this was for illiterates,or those who failed the Alpha.It consisted of picture tasks,The pictures were culturally specific.There were also maze tests, counting the number of cubes etc.

THE INDIVIDUAL SPOKEN EXAMINATION- If recruits failed, they were given  this test. Individual were given a Grade A to E, with plus/minus signs:Recruits who were illiterate should have taken Beta Test, or given if they failed the Alpha, but this happened in some camps. Illiterate/ immigrant recruits took the Alpha Test and scored low.Besides these inconsistencies, further problems arose with black men who failed the Alpha Test not being allowed to re-sit the Beta Test.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS: The tests had a large impact on officer screening. Two thirds of the men were promoted achieved good test results.The  average mental age of America wasc13 thatcwas concerning but the most important implication these tests had was the differences in racial and national groups. Although the tests were supposed to be accurate irrespective of country of origin or first language, even Yerkes admitted the results showed that there was a problem for people who weren’t familiar with English.

THE IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION ACT - was passed in 1924 by the US Congress and was shaped by Yerkes’ findings. People from southern and eastern Europe and from the Alpine and Mediterranean nations who had scored very poorly on the army tests were no longer welcome in the USA. 

Key findings from Yerkes study:showed that European immigrants could be graded by their country of origin with the darker people of Southern Europe and the Slavs of Eastern Europe being less intelligent than the fair people of Western and Northern Europe.The black man had an average mental age of 10.41. However the lighter the skin colour. The higher the scores.

Conclusions: ​The tests cannot be seen as valid or reliable, this is because intelligence is a very complex construct that needs to be assessed holistically. The results of Gould’s analysis would imply that intelligence is not innate, but that it is actually learned.