Intelligence: IQ Scores

Intelligence is an extremely broad construct, and its characterization and assessment have historically proven to be a challenging task. One of the reasons is the definition of intelligence has changed and evolved substantially over time. For example, very early assessments of intelligence tended to focus on physical traits (e.g., length of the middle finger of the left hand), sensorimotor functioning (e.g., visual reaction time), and sensorimotor acuity (e.g., lowest audible note). With time, the assessment of these simpler mental and tangible processes fell out of favor, as they were found to be negligibly associated with other measures of intellectual aptitude (e.g., college grades). Beginning in the 1960s, modern definitions of intelligence generally referenced verbal and nonverbal problem-solving skills (i.e., reasoning), knowledge and skills acquired from ...