that certain mental tasks are appropriate to certain ages, such as the ability to recite the names of the months: while expected of a ten year old, such ability would be rare in a three year old. Binet quantified intelligence as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ): the ratio of mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100. Reasoning that low intelligence stemmed from improper development, Binet envisioned the test as a first step in treatment: a diagnostic instrument used to detect children with inadequate intelligence in order to treat them using "mental orthopedics." Binet argued forcefully against the idea that intelligence is fixed or innate: "We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism (Lewontin, Rose, & Kamen, 1984)." However, those who translated his test into English tended to disagree, arguing that the test measured an innate and immutable, genetically inherited characteristic. After Binet's death in 1911, the Galtonian eugenicists assumed control, shifting the focus firmly toward genetic explanations by insisting that differences in intelligence between social classes and races were due to inherent genetic differences.Over time, the tests were standardized to correspond to a priori conceptions of intelligence by including items that correlated well with school performance. Test items that differentiated between gender were removed; items that differentiated between social classes were left in "because it is these differences that the tests are meant to measure (Lewontin, Rose & Kamin, 1984)." There are many criticisms of the use of IQ test as a measure of intelligence. IQ tests limit our definition of intelligence: they are powerful predictors only in the fields in which literacy and mathematical ability are of central importance. Mental aptitudes not requiring excellence in these two abilities are left out. The result is that we tend to view creative abilities such as art, music, dance, cooking, and raising ch...
