David Wechsler's Theory Of Intelligence

Improved Essays
According to Deary, Johnson & Houlihan (2009), intelligence is one of the most frequently studied human behavioral traits and one of the strongest known predictors of major life outcomes such as educational attainment, occupational success, health, and longevity. On that, intelligence can be defines as the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations and also the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria. It also includes one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving (Jerison, 1973). This intelligence within …show more content…
When the United States entered the First World War, David Wechsler was completing his master’s degree in psychology at City College of New York. Then, he joined the Army, and this circumstance brought him into contact with several pioneers in the field of intelligence theory, including Karl Pearson, Charles Spearman, Edward Thorndike and Robert Yerkes. While awaiting his induction, Wechsler volunteered to score the Army Alpha test, one of the two group intelligence tests developed by the Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits. Next, he became an individual psychological examiner, and was charged with administering the Stanford-Binet to recruits who had performed poorly on the group intelligence tests. In 1918 the Army sent him to London to work with Spearman and …show more content…
After that, in 1939 he produced a battery of intelligence tests known as the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. The original battery was geared specifically to the measurement of adult intelligence, for clinical use. The Wechsler-Bellevue test quickly became the most widely used adult intelligence test in the United States, and in 1942 Wechsler issued his first revision. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was published in 1949 and updated in 1974. In 1955 Wechsler developed yet another adult intelligence test, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), with the same structure as his earlier scale but standardized with a different population. He contributed to the revision of the WAIS in 1981, shortly before his death. The last of his intelligence tests, the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, was issued in 1967 as an adaptation of the children’s scale for use with very young children. His intelligence tests continue to be updated for contemporary use (Sattler,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In 1968 Rosenthal and Jacobson studied elementary-aged children and compared their intelligence quotient. After their study was over, the two then aimlessly picked out one-fifth of the involved students and explained to the teachers that those children scored the highest on the IQ test. Regardless of what these chosen students actually received on the test, the teachers and the children both thought that they were bright. After the school year was over, Rosenthal and Jacobson preformed the experiment again on the same children. The retest concluded that the one-fifth of students who were chosen in the beginning of the year actually ended up scoring extremely higher on their second test.…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Another important factor is that the test was given at a mean age 27.2 years of age so all the subjects have gone through the same amount of mandatory education(kindergarden-highschool). 2. Reserchers used verbal and performance test markers using the Wechsler adult intelegence scale to measure and quantify intelligence scores. The study is both empirical and valid due to the fact it was quantitative and they used a common and up to date scale. 3.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether at a job, at home, or in between, any experience can be just as educational as a class at a university. In “Blue Collar Brilliance”, the author, Mike Rose, uses anecdotes from his family’s experiences to prove how although his family members might not have had much formal education, they all were “intelligent” due to the lessons they learned at work. Given my family’s own experience, I can attest to that. Throughout all of the generations of my family, half have attended a traditional university, while the others went to work or had a different experience, some even had both.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The IQ test is the test in which intelligence can be measured. In the last few centuries test scores have changed, or even increased. Psychologist and scientists are uncertain about why this is happening, either we’re getting more intelligent, or the IQ tests need to change. In the field of psychology there's one psychologist who is ready to show the world what human intelligence is really about, his name is Professor Flynn. Intelligence is an indirect process that humans use to explain the different degrees of adaptive success in people’s behavior.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Merriam Webster’s dictionary meaning of intelligence was “The ability to to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations”. One man who fits that description is Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson used is intelligence to change the world as we know it. Thomas Jefferson was a genius and widely regarded to be the most intelligent president in America (Marshall). Thomas Jefferson used his undeniable intellect to change the course of this country and the world that we live in.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    a) My thoughts to “IQ: History of Deceit,” was nothing really. It was informative and insightful on how the testing for IQ came about. It also showed how IQ has been abused throughout the years from the time of its inception to now and that it has happened in different countries; countries that were considered intelligent and respected for their accomplishments as well. IQ also seems to be effected by the interaction of both genetics and the environment in which one is nurtured and their surrounding stimuli. Now, the idea that IQ is predetermined by genetics is kindly understandable when genetics was first being broken down into what genetics was like in the early 1970s.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Intelligence is seemingly very important to our society, maybe a little too important to how we rank people. Well since it is so important what exactly is it? Intelligence by definition is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Intelligence test are very common in our society to rank people quite literally from the smartest to the dumbest. We as being human like being able to call ourselves smart or intelligent.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Why are intelligence tests important in our society? The purpose of these tests are to see how well individuals can process, rearrange or utilize information. Psychologist ties these concepts to our school achievement and our occupational status. How is intelligence defined? Intelligence is defined as a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is Intelligence? Does receiving a higher education or getting above average grades in school prove someone’s intelligence or their smartness? No. Intelligence is something people learn from their day to day life experiences, their actions on several activities and how wise their decisions are made. These people are generally known as “Street Smarts”.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The coefficients of this model resulted in low to moderate providing proof that an individual’s cognitive ability are related but distinct from one another. The Concurrent Validity used special study reports to demonstrate the WJ IV test and clusters measures and interprets an individual’s general intellectual ability. The coefficients of this model suggest that the WJ IV Tests of Achievement is comparable to other achievement tests measuring intellectual ability (LaForte, McGrew, & Schrank, 2014). The procedures used in validating the WJ IV formed a diagnostic tool that can be used in confidence in both educational and psychological…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    There are different ways of understanding how people cope with success and failure. When coping with failure the author explains two different mindsets. Firstly, the “Fixed Mindset”, this is a way of thinking that is carved in stone. With a fixed mindset you are either smart or not and your qualities and capabilities are carved in stone. Also, this mindset believes that a certain amount of intelligence, a certain amount of personality, and a certain moral character are inherent.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A great man by the name of Jack Lord once said “What you have, what you are - your looks, your personality, your way of thinking - is unique. We all have a story to tell, we are all unique. If someone were to describe me in three words I would have to say that most likely this person would say that I am intelligent, helpful, and creative. Intelligence is something that is achieved and is not a trait you are naturally born with. When I was in elementary school and even some parts of middle school I was not considered an intelligent student.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The definition of intelligence in the Merriam Webster Dictionary states, “The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” With that definition, we instantly think of a good ACT score, a homemaker Albert Einstein, however; do we ever stop and think that intelligence as a gift? In the book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, author Terry Pratchett argues that intelligence is a gift and our story will play out based on how we use this precious ability given to us. There are two ways that Terry Pratchett describes using intelligence and they are: excelling or abusing. There are two characters that Pratchett uses to distinguish how different a story can turn out based on excelling or abusing the sublime talent of intelligence.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (1) In your own words, define, then compare and contrast the different theories of intelligence that are presented in the textbook, including Spearman 's G Factor, Gardner 's Multiple Intelligences, Sternberg 's Triarchic Theory and the concept of Emotional Intelligence. Sternberg proposed that there consist three types of intelligence: analytical, creative and practical. Analytic intelligence consists of problem-solving; creative intelligence deals with new ideas, new ways of problem-solving and processing certain aspects of information; practical intelligence, in other words, "street smarts," involves the ways people get through life. In general, these three types of intelligence work systematically to solve problems.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is having knowledge and intelligence a curse or a blessing? It can be argued that intelligence can cause problems and in return fix problems. Intelligence and knowledge are a curse and a blessing at the same time. Intelligence and knowledge can make someone feel unjustly superior and they can even begin to “play God.” Power can easily go to a person’s head.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays