Are IQ tests fundamentally flawed?

Numbskulls measuring skulls, and other early methods of measuring intelligence

Even though what makes up intelligence had been discussed since the time of ancient Greece it wasn't until the 19th century that people tried to measure intelligence, and Paul Broca and Sir Francis Galton were among the first scientist to do that. The method they used was measuring the size of the human skull, assuming that the larger the skull, the smarter the person. Another scientist Wilhelm Wundt used introspection, or the human ability to reflect on one’s thoughts, as measurement of intelligence. Nowadays both of these methods are disregarded, and have been replaced by the IQ test.

The brief history of IQ tests

The IQ test was not developed until 1905, when the French psychologist Alfred Binet and researcher Theodore Simon were asked by the French government to develop a test that would help to identify children who might benefit from educational assistance. Together Binet and Simon created the “Binet-Simon scale” which used memory, attention, and problem-solving tasks to measure and produce a number, or "quotient" that summarizes intellectual ability. For the sake of convenience the average intelligence quotient (IQ) was set at 100. Around 95% of general population score between 70 and 130, and the top 0.5% score over 145, or the genius level. Since then the “Binet-Simon scale” has been the most used scale in IQ tests.

More creative approach

However, some believed that the ”Binet-Simon scale” had fundamental flaws. One of those people was J.P. Guilford who stated that intelligence tests based on the “Binet-Simon scale” ignored creativity and assumed that there is a general intelligence that can be represented by an IQ score. Guilford distinguished two types of thinking; one - called convergent thinking is the ability to come up with one correct answer. This type of thinking can be applied to questions of memory and simple problem solving. Another type of thinking is divergent thinking which is exploring many possible answers at the same time, or in other words applying creative solutions to problems.

“The person who is capable of producing a large number of ideas per unit of time... Has a greater chance of having significant ideas.” J.P. Guilford

Guilford believes that creativity is measurable. We can measure it by the number of directions in which a person's thoughts travel. Among a number of tests capable of measuring creativity he came up with his “Alternative Uses Test” in 1967. The test asks participants to write as many uses as they can think of for a) a toothpick, b) a brick, and c) a paperclip. In another type of test called “Consequences Test” people were asked to imagine things that could possibly happen if all the national and local laws were suddenly suspended. To score the test Guilford judged originality, fluency, flexibility, and elaboration. Guilford also distinguished three different groups of activities that could make up intelligence. First – content, or type of information or data involved (there are five of these, including visual and auditory content), second – operations, or intellectual processes we use (there are six of these, including memory, cognition, and evaluation), and third – products, or results of applying operations to content. Depending on how we apply one group to another, there can be up to 180 types of intelligence, more than 100 of which have already been verified. This makes measuring intelligence using Gifford's methods a very complicated process. That's why the standard IQ test are much more frequently used.

What do you think?

Do you agree with J.P. Guilford that the assumption of there being a general intelligence, measurable in IQ score, is flawed? Is coming up with multiple answers to a problem in the shortest amount of time (divergent thinking) an indicator of higher intelligence than coming up with only one solution to a problem (convergent thinking)? Can intelligence be linked to creativity? Or creativity be the sole, or at least the main, measurement of intelligence?

I appreciate your time and hope to see you in the comments below! In the meantime steem on and don’t let the bad guys get you!
John Merlyn

Here’s a few more words about the person “responsible for” today’s post:

J.P. Gifford was born on a farm in Nebraska, USA. He graduated from the University of Nebraska and then went on to earn his PhD from Cornell University. In 1940 he took a position at the University of Southern California where he remained until his retirement in 1967. He produced over 25 books, 30 test, and 300 articles.

His key works include:
1936 "Psychometric Methods"
1967 "The nature of Human Intelligence"