Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Psychology – Intelligence and Learning Psychology, grade: 2, 0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England- und Amerikastudien), language: English, abstract: The search for a generally accepted definition of intelligence has been dividing the academic world for a long time, but this tension has not stopped scholars from various attempts to measure intelligence. This paper focuses principally on the most widely accepted test: that which measures the intelligence quotient, IQ.
Richard Herrnstein’s and Charles Murray’s ‘The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life’, published in 1994, attracted a lot of public attention. In response to this research, many people drew the conclusion that the measurement of IQ is a highly accurate method. In addition, it was thought that IQ is to a great extent hereditary and therefore little affected by environmental elements, and that racial differences in IQ can also be explained with genetics. Hence, the book was responsible for a heated debate, as it creates a scenario in which ‘belonging’ to a socio-economic class is an innate attribute.
To begin with, this paper examines the beginnings of mental measurement. This part portrays the development from the primary intention to the actual usage of the tests. As a second step I will portray the danger of misinterpreting the results of IQ tests using the relatively recent example of The Bell Curve. This part presents and also challenges the many rushed conclusions of the controversial book. Lastly the paper ends with an assessment of whether IQ tests have been used reasonably or improperly throughout history.
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