Intelligence Testing and Darwinian Ideas - Essay Example

Intelligence Testing and Darwinian Ideas To what extent did Darwinian ideas about natural selection influence the development and use of intelligence testing in the first half of the twentieth century? Darwin’s ideas did more than revolutionise the idea of human creation and the advancement of scientific thought. Not since the time of Galileo had there been such a conflict between the men of science and the men of faith and once when the theory had been accepted by the majority of scientific minds in the 1890s, the application of the theory to psychological and intelligence testing came to the forefront (Stefoff, 1996). Without a doubt, the impact of the theory regarding the evolution of the species had the greatest impact on intelligence testing since the discovery of intelligence itself. The central idea which underlies Darwin’s theory regarding natural selection is that the strongest of the species will eventually be the ones which survive and are able to pass on their genes to the next generation. It has been summed up as the axiom, ‘survival of the fittest’ and in terms of intelligence theories and measurement of intelligence; it has been applied to mean that the most intelligent individuals or animals will be more successful than those who are less intelligent. This is one of the problems which has plagued psychologists for many years i.e. how to create a scale of intelligence to measure one individual against the other? Darwin himself was not deeply interested in intelligence or the measurement of it since his work concerns itself more with the biological aspects of evolution. The first person to actually apply his theory to the process of intelligence measurement would have to be his distant relative, Francis Galton. At the end of the 19th century, Galton thought that intelligence could be measured directly through the testing of a person’s ability to react. Reaction time was thought to be a genuine measurement of intelligence. Even though we now know that this is not an exact measure but despite this assumption, many of his other achievements stand out significantly (Plucker, 2003). Galton was the person who came up with a scale of intelligence measurement and the idea of nature versus nurture (Plucker, 2003). His interest in intelligence testing began when he studied heredity in 1865 after his cousin (Darwin) had published his famous book. He was sure that intelligence was a heredity quality which was passed down from generation to generation and wrote his own book where he outlined his ideas that similar to plants and animals inheriting traits from their respective parents, human beings inherit the trait of intelligence from their parents (Fancher, 1995). Darwin himself appreciated these ideas and agreed with the system created by Galton to the extent of endorsing these thoughts by saying that, “I am inclined to agree with Francis Galton in believing that education and environment produce only a small effect on the mind of any one, and that most of our qualities are innate” (Plucker, 2003, Pg. 1). While Darwin himself made no moves to test the intelligence or intellectual abilities of a human being, he did set many psychologists on this path like Galton and those who came after him. For example, Alfred Binet is a positive example of what direction was taken with intelligence testing since the creation of the Binet-Simon Scale of intelligence was connected with the same ideas presented by Darwin and Galton but had less of the racial colours associated with it. The Binet-Simon scale was used to figure out the mental age of a child when it was compared to children of a similar age. The testing methods used had several limitations and Binet was quite aware of these. For instance, he discussed at length the issue of diversity in intelligence and the study of intelligence as a qualitative measure rather than a quantitative trait. He was further of the opinion that intelligence could be strongly influenced by education and the environment as opposed to Darwin and Galton who took it come from inheritance (Plucker, 2003). Cyril Burt was one of the first psychologists who were somewhat against the idea of using inheritance as the sole source of intelligence and wrote: “That children of better social status succeed better with the Binet-Simon scale is not necessarily an objection to that scale; nor is it necessarily a ground for constructing separate norms (Burt, 1922, Pg. 192)”. He was of the opinion that intelligence could not be explained solely due to ‘good’ genes and there had to be more to the equation than inherited traits. In fact, in his own definition of intelligence he stated that, “A weakness… in the ability to speak or to read, to learn or to calculate-is of itself by no means a sign of defective intelligence… intelligence is by definition an innate capacity: hence a lack of it is not necessarily proved by a lack of educational knowledge or skill (Burt, 1957, Pg. 65)”. Despite his ideas, he was at the forefront of recommending a national testing system for England that would establish a merit system for the children. The logic behind this was to show that children from disenfranchised backgrounds could also show intelligence enough to be considered the same as those from aristocratic ones. His system was established in the UK and all British students had to take the exam when they were approximately eleven years old to determine their future placement (Fancher, 1985). The approach is certainly Darwinian in nature and allows the selection of those children who show promise as compared to those who do not. They were then permanently divided into grammar schools for high scorers and modern schools for others. The universities of England wanted grammar school educated children and therefore the doors of the universities were opened to many children who could not have gotten in otherwise. At the same time, the majority of children were sent to modern schools which ended their educational careers and left them little chance to get to a university (Fancher, 1985). There are many advantages and disadvantages to this method and application of intelligence testing but Cyril Burt was a strong supporter of this system. Like Burt, Jean Piaget was also interested in intelligence and he saw an inseparable link between intelligence, nature and the environment where a child is raised. For example, he said, “Intelligence is assimilation to the extent that it incorporates all the given data of experience within its framework (Piaget, 1963, Pg. 7)” and further defined intelligence as, “an adaptation (Piaget, 1963, Pg. 3)”. Knowledge and intelligence are also linked in Piaget’s ideals since knowledge is created by assimilation and accommodation of information. His theory on intelligence suggests that as children interact with the environment they create schemas which are constantly being updated with new information. Piaget also gave the stages of intellectual development and how they can be recognized in children. Information gathered from one stage is utilized to build to the next stage of mental development. He also believed in genetic limitations of the stages and argued that children can not be taught to go from one stage to another without creating the links on their own based on the environment. In his own words, he said that, “Intelligence does not by any means appear at once derived from mental development, like a higher mechanism, and radically distinct from those which have preceded it. Intelligence presents, on the contrary, a remarkable continuity with the acquired or even inborn processes on which it depends and at the same time makes use of (Piaget, 1963, p. 21)”. Charles Spearman’s work on intelligence and intelligence testing led him to his creation of the two-factor theory of intelligence. In this theory intelligence was separated into general intelligence (g) and specific intelligence denoted by (s). Spearman had studied statistics for a long time and with his application of that science to intelligence measurement he discovered that ‘g’ could be calculated for a person and their performance on any specific task could be estimated with the use of g and s (Fancher, 1985). According to Spearman, g is available to all persons regardless of the task they are performing since that factor of intelligence is applicable to all tasks. However, specific tasks, like mathematical operations, writing and reading etc. may require specific intelligence (s) which can vary significantly from person to person (Fancher, 1985). Of course this also meant that a person with high general intelligence could perform many tasks with a high level of competence since g is utilized in all acts. Therefore a measurement of g would be a good way to measure the broad intelligence of a person. The Two Factor Theory is an important instance in the history of intelligence measurement since it shows how a person can be measured in terms of intelligence on more than one scale. It also laid the foundation of recent intelligence theories that suggest that there may be more than one measurement of intelligence in a person and simply because a person can not perform mathematical operations in their head does not mean that they are far less intelligent that a person who does (White, 2000). Despite the many positive instances of intelligence measurement and its use to show how hereditary advantages do not necessarily mean mental advantages. Darwin’s ideas were often misinterpreted and corrupted in terms of application with the most famous example of how Hitler used his ideas to show that the Aryan nation was racially pure and therefore the master race. At the same time, he used these ideas to convince the people that the Jews were inferior and should be prevented from mixing with and diluting the strength of the Aryan bloodline. We do not have to recount the horrors of the war to realize what the Nazis did to those they considered feeble minded or imbeciles was absolutely wrong. The holocaust and the associated bloodshed was probably the worst use of science ever since the discovery of fire. In conclusion, Darwin’s ideas had only to be accepted by the scientist of the time and their application followed soon after. I do not think that an idea can be good or bad, therefore I can not comment on Darwin’s idea even though I believe it to be true. However, the application of an idea or instruments based on an idea can have negative or positive ethical/moral dimensions. This is why I am of the firm opinion that the application of Darwin’s ideas to the process of intelligence testing in the 20th century had more negative influences associated with it than positives. Works Cited Burt, C. 1922. Mental and Scholastic Tests, London, King and Son. Burt, C. 1957. The Causes and Treatments of Backwardness, London, University of London Press. Fancher, R. 1985, The Intelligence Men: Makers of the IQ controversy. New York, Norton. Piaget, J. (1936) The Origins of Intelligence in Children, New York, Norton. Plucker, J. 2003. ‘Human intelligence: Historical influences, current controversies’. Indiana University, [Online] Available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~intell Stefoff, R. 1996, Charles Darwin and the evolution revolution, Oxford, Oxford University Press. White, S. 2000, ‘Conceptual foundations of IQ testing’, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, no. 1, p33. Read More