With his collaborator Theodore Simon, they created the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale.

The test is still used today and remains one of the most widely used intelligence tests.

At a Glance

The Binet-Simon test was the world’s first intelligence test.

Alfred Binet portrait

Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

The test was named for its developers, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon.

Now known as the Stanford-Binet, the test remains a popular and important psychometric instrument.

The scale they developed became known as the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale.

How Were Score Calculated?

A person’sIQ score was calculatedby dividing their mental age by their chronological age and dividing the total by 100.

Theaverage IQ scoreon the Binet-Simon test was 100.

Scores higher than 100 represented above-average intelligence, while scores below 100 represented below-average intelligence.

Psychologist Lewis Terman later revised the test, and became known as the Stanford-Binet.

By doing this, the eugenicists believed they could produce more desirable inherited characteristics.

He believed that intelligence was complex and could not be fully captured by a single quantitative measure.

He also believed that intelligence was not fixed.

According to Binet, an individual’s score can vary.

He also suggested thatmotivationand other variables can affect test scores.

Today, experts recognize that IQ tests often have problems with validity and reliability.

Many tests also contain biases that have contributed to scientific racism and discrimination.

Michell J.Alfred Binet and the concept of heterogeneous orders.Front Psychol.

2017;75(9):673-675. doi:10.1590/0004-282X20170097

Becker K.History of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales: Content and psychometrics.

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition Assessment Service Bulletin No.

Holden LR, Tanenbaum GJ.Modern assessments of intelligence must be fair and equitable.J Intell.

2023;11(6):126. doi:10.3390/jintelligence11060126

National Human Genome Research Institute.Eugenics and scientific racism.

Fancher RE, Rutherford A.Pioneers of Psychology.

New York: W.W. Norton; 2016.

InPortraits of Pioneers in Psychology, Volume 3.

GA Kimble & M Wertheimer (Eds.).

Washington DC: Psychology Press; 2014.