Condensed Guide for the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Tests

Excerpt

PREFACE

Since the appearance of the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale I have been frequently urged to prepare a condensed guide which would make the application of the tests easier and more convenient. I have hesitated somewhat to act upon this suggestion because I have not wished to encourage the use of the scale without the supplementary directions and explanations which are set forth in the original text of the Stanford Revision. The demand has become so insistent, however, that I have decided to heed it. I have been led to this decision largely by the fact that my revision is now so generally used by examiners who are sufficiently experienced to be trusted to follow the correct procedure without the necessity of constantly consulting the complete text. Those who are thoroughly familiar with the contents of the latter will find the Condensed Guide a convenient help. It is impossible, however, to warn the inexperienced examiner too emphatically against the dangers inherent in the routine application of mental tests without some knowledge of their derivation, meaning, and purpose. The necessary psychological background for the use of the Binet scale I have tried to supply in The Measurement of Intelligence, and in The Intelligence of School Children I have explained the practical uses of mental tests in the grading and classification of school children. It is only as a supplement to these books that the procedure of the Stanford Revision is here presented in abbreviated form.

For the further aid of the experienced examiner a condensed record blank has also been prepared. Although this is considerably cheaper than the original Record Booklet and in certain respects perhaps somewhat more convenient, it is not recommended as a satisfactory substitute except when used by thoroughly trained examiners. Beginners, at least, should continue to use the complete Record Booklet both because of the accuracy of procedure which it fosters and because of the advantages of having a complete verbatim record of the responses. Besides being indispensable for the analytical study of the child's mental processes, the complete record makes possible the correction of errors in scoring and permits interesting qualitative comparisons between earlier and later performances by the same subject. It is believed that only for the veteran examiner, and perhaps even then only in special cases, are these advantages outweighed by the lower cost of the abbreviated blank.

The labor of preparing this Guide was made considerably lighter than it would otherwise have been by the fact that a similar guide had been prepared in the Office of the Surgeon-General for use in the army. I am greatly indebted to Dr. J. W. Bridges and to Major H. C. Bingham for assistance in the preparation of the latter. Their careful work has saved me many hours and has doubtless made the Condensed Guide more accurate and serviceable than it could otherwise have been....