Henry Goddard’s Intelligence Quotient

Goddard is believed to have brought French psychologist Alfred Binet’s intelligence scale to America and modified it to make his own measure of intelligence (Benjamin, 2009).

Goddard classified results from the test into categories as listed below:

If one scored between 0 – 25, Goddard categorized them as idiots

For a score between 26 to 50, he categorized these people as imbecile

Those that scored between 50 to 70 were considered morons.

If you scored above 70 and below 100 you were considered above average and those that scored above 100 were considered genius.

Strength

1.The questions set by Goddard clearly defined intelligence as something that is not acquired but inborn

2.If your are of the same community and speak the same language the test can present a good tool for testing IQ for they test reasoning e.g. How many are 30 men and 7 men? Is a good question to test reasoning other than memory

Weakness

If you are not of the same environment (community background) then Goddard’s IQ test wouldn’t give a clear score to differentiate the two of you for they are based on western cultural norms.E.g. a question like Is “leather used for shoes because it is produced in all countries, or because it wears well, or because it is an animal product?” cannot be a question of reason for someone from a community where people don’t put on shoes and has never interacted with leather making it not a good tool to test IQ of people from different background for someone from a leather and shoe wearing community would answer it with ease as compared to the person from a community where none exists.

References

Benjamin, D. L. (2009). The birth of American intelligence testing. American Psychological Association, 40(1), 20. Retrieved from American Psychological Association.