Compare and contrast binet and simons approach to measuring intelligence with that of sternberg - Essay Example

In 1905, Binet and Simon devised one of the first tests of measuring intelligence in French children. The test was carried out in order to detect French children that were likely to face difficulties in their studies so that these children could receive special education. Binet and Simon developed tests that assessed each child’s intelligence. As a result of these tests, Binet and Simon discovered that tests of memory, practical skills, puzzle solving skills and vocabulary tests were better at predicting the level of intelligence in school children than the simple sensory tests that was previously used (Binet & Simon, 1916).

In the approach employed by Binet and Simon to measuring intelligence in children, children were instructed to perform certain tasks; such as defining abstract terms, defining common words, spotting the differences between two objects, recognising objects in pictures, repeating spoken digits and following simple commands and gestures. Sternberg on his own part proposed an alternative, cognitive-components approach to measuring intelligence (1977); he posited that the level of intelligence of an individual could be measured in terms of a data-analysis component that constitutes some form of multifaceted analysis such as deductive reasoning and logical inference.

He used this data and statistical analysis technique to disintegrate mental task performance into its fundamental constituents. Binet and Simon invented what is generally known as the Binet-Simon scale, which encompassed a series of tasks that they thought typically represented the intellectual competencies of the children at different ages. They tested their measurement on a sample of fifty children that were divided into five age groups; each group comprised ten children believed to be averagely intelligent.

The main aim of the Binet-Simon scale was to compare the mental abilities of some children to those of their