Why Binet Designed the IQ Test
Alfred Binet “designed [the IQ] test to
identify children who were not profiting
from the Paris public schools, so that new
educational programs could be designed
to get them back on track. Without
denying individual differences in children’s
intellects, he believed that education and
practice could bring about fundamental
changes in intelligence” (p. 5).
Binet’s Beliefs on Intelligence
“A few modern philosophers… assert that an
individual’s intelligence is a fixed quantity, a
quantity which cannot be increased. We
must protest and react against this brutal
pessimism…. With practice, training, and
above all, method, we manage to increase
our attention, our memory, our judgment and
literally to become more intelligent than we
were before” (p. 5).
Nature AND Nurture
“Scientists are learning that people have
more capacity for lifelong learning and brain
development than they ever thought. Of
course, each person has a unique genetic
endowment. People may start with different
temperaments and different aptitudes, but it
is clear that experience, training, and
personal effort take them the rest of the way”
(p. 5).
Sternberg’s Beliefs on Intelligence
“Robert Sternberg… writes that the major
factor in whether people achieve
expertise ‘is not some fixed prior ability,
but purposeful engagement.’ Or, as his
forerunner Binet recognized, it’s not
always the people who start out the
smartest who end up the smartest” (p. 5).
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
They believe human qualities are
carved in stone.
They believe human qualities can be
developed.
They believe success depends on
intelligence or talent (which you can’t
change). Effort is only needed by those
who don’t have ability.
They believe success depends on
effort; effort leads to increased
intelligence and talent.
They believe success is about proving
yourself to others.
They believe failure is getting a bad
grade, losing a game, or getting
rejected. Failure is a setback and
means you’re not smart or talented.
They believe people who are born
smart don’t make mistakes.
They believe success is about
stretching yourself to become smarter.
They believe failure is an opportunity
for growth. The only real failure is giving
up.
They don’t assume they are fully
evolved, flawless beings who have
nothing more to learn but recognize a
constant need for growth.
Fixed Mindset
They fear challenge and can’t run
from it fast enough.
They devalue effort, because they
think needing to try hard is a sign of
weakness.
They thrive when things are safely
within their grasp and they stay
interested only when they do well right
away. Even if they have natural ability,
if things get too challenging—as soon
as they’re not feeling smart or
talented—they lose interest.
They don’t ask for help because they
think asking for help shows weaknesses.
Growth Mindset
They confront obstacles and keep
working at the until they are able to
change setbacks into successes.
They see effort as more important than
natural ability.
They don’t just seek challenge, they
thrive on it. The bigger the challenge, the
more interested they get and the more
they stretch themselves.
They don’t have to already be great at
something to want to do it and enjoy
doing it.
They long for and seize the chance to
get help.
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
They have an urgency to constantly
prove themselves.
They have a passion to stretch
themselves and stick to it.
They think everyone is watching them,
waiting for them to fail.
They take risks and see failure as an
opportunity for growth.
They are super sensitive about being
wrong or making mistakes and grant
one test or evaluation the power to
define them.
They can identify their own strengths
and weaknesses.
They exaggerate their abilities or make
excuses for their lack of abilities.
They resist evaluation because they’re
afraid of not being smart.
They seek friends and companions
who put them on a pedestal, make
them feel perfect, and worship them.
They are energized by criticism and
open to accurate evaluation about their
abilities because they know you need
feedback in order to grow.
They seek friends and companions who
challenge them to become a better
person, see their faults and help them to
work on them, and encourage them to
learn new things.
Fixed Mindset
“It’s when I don’t make any
mistakes.”
“It’s when I finish something fast and
it’s perfect.”
“It’s when something is easy for me,
but other people can’t do it.”
For those with a fixed mindset it’s not
enough just to succeed. It’s not
enough just to look smart and
talented. You have to be pretty
much perfect. And you have to be
perfect right now.
Growth Mindset
“It’s when something is really hard,
and I try really hard, and I can do
something I couldn’t do before.”
“It’s when I work on something for a
long time and start to figure it out.”
For those with the a growth mindset,
It’s not about immediate perfection.
It’s about learning something over
time: confronting a challenge and
making progress.
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
“I’m a total failure.”
“I love a challenge!”
They cope by quitting – “I won’t bother
putting so much time and effort into
doing well in anything.”
They cope with determination – “I
need to try harder.”
“Nothing good ever happens to me.”
“The harder it gets, the more I have to
force myself to want to try. If you don’t
have the ability, why waste your time?”
The fixed mindset does not allow
people the luxury of becoming. They
already have to be.
In the fixed mindset, failure gets
transformed from an action (I failed) to
an identity (I am a failure).
“It isn’t the end of the world.”
“When they tell me I can’t, it just
makes me try harder.”
For those with a growth mindset, it’s
about becoming – “Becoming is better
than being.”
Even in the growth mindset, failure can
be a painful experience. But it doesn’t
define you. It’s a problem to be faced,
dealt with, and learned from. Those with
a growth mindset take control of failure
and use it to become better.
What is “Intelligence”?
“I think intelligence is something you work
for… it isn’t just given to you… Most kids, if
they’re not sure of an answer, will not raise
their hand to answer the question. But what I
usually do is raise my hand, because if I’m
wrong, then my mistake will be corrected. Or
I will raise my hand and say, ‘How would this
be solved?’ or ‘I don’t get this. Can you help
me?’ Just by doing that I’m increasing my
intelligence.” – 7th grade girl
Conclusion (for now)
“Why waste time proving over and over
how great you are, when you could be
getting better?”
“You can change your mindset.”
“I don’t divide the world into the weak
and the strong, or the successes and the
failures… I divide the world into the
learners and the nonlearners.” ~ Benjamin
Barber