What were the most important phases and events in the assessment of intelligence?

Questions on the texts

Read Wasserman (2012) for a historical overview of intelligence assessment (core reading). Try to answer the following questions:

1. What are common aspects of past definitions of intelligence (see section “The Definition of Intelligence”, pp. 37-38)?
2. What were the main structural models of intelligence (see section “The Structure of Intelligence”, pp. 42-44)?
3. Which ethical concerns surround intellectual assessment (see section “Intelligence and Eugenics”, pp. 44-46)?

Cover of “The Eugenic College of Kantsaywhere” by Francis Galton. Francis Galton was a pioneer of intellectual assessment and coined the word “eugenics”. His novel presents his vision of a society dedicated to the improvement of the human species and in which people “think more of the race than of the individual”. In Kantsaywhere, compulsory physical and mental testing helped identify individuals fit to procreate. In 2011, University College London (UCL) celebrated Galton’s centenary with an exhibition and digitalization of the novel. In 2020, UCL denamed buildings named after Francis Galton and his colleague Karl Pearson as “one step in a range of actions aimed at acknowledging and addressing the university’s historical links with the eugenics movement.”
(UCL Special Collections, GALTON/117-188/120-138/138/6/1, Copyright UCL Library Services, 2011.)

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References

Wasserman, J. D. (2012). A history of intelligence assessment: The unfinished tapestry. In D. P. Flanagan & P. L. Harrison (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (3rd ed., pp. 3-55). Guilford Press.
https://johndwasserman.com/index_htm_files/Wasserman%202012%20A%20History%20of%20Intelligence%20Assessment%20The%20Unfinished%20Tapestry.pdf

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