INTELLIGENCEMost of the standardized intelligence tests in use today were devel-
oped by David Wechsler, a test administrator for the US army during
World War I. Before and after the war, Wechsler worked with most of
the leading proponents in the field, and in the 1930s he put together
what he considered all the best bits from the various tests then in use,
including verbal and non-verbal questions, to create a new comprehen-
sive exam that became the gold standard of intelligence tests. Today,
different versions of his test are used for different age-groups, including
the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI;
pronounced Whipsee), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
(WISC) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).
THE DARK SIDE OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING
The idea of using intelligence-test results as the basis for rejecting
immigrants or selecting school pupils raises ethical questions all of its
own. But the dark side of this field really emerged when Terman and
his colleagues began analysing all the data they’d accumulated during
their military work. As well as providing the alarming finding that half
of all tested Americans were officially “morons”, the data also revealed
differences between social groups, including between black people and
A US Army recruiting officer testing the mental ability of an applicant by means
of cutout blocks.