Stanford-Binet Intelligence test

Ø Name of test:

The name of test is Stanford-Binet Intelligence test, which is an individually administered intelligence test that was revised from the original Binet-Simon scale by Lewis M. Terman, a psychologist at Stanford University. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is now in its Fifth Edition.

Ø Purpose of test:

“It is a cognitive ability and intelligence test that is used to diagnose developmental or intellectual deficiencies in young children.  It is used to provide educational planning and placement, neuropsychological assessment, and research.

                                                                                                               (murad, 2013)

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is generally administered in a school or clinical setting. The test measures five weighted factors and consists of both verbal and nonverbal subtests. The four factors being tested are:

• Verbal Reasoning - The score in verbal reasoning is supposed to reflect the examinee’s verbal knowledge, which is acquired in school and at home. The score shows the examinee’s ability to apply such knowledge to new situations.

• Quantitative Reasoning – The score in quantitative reasoning demonstrates the examinee’s knowledge and skill in using numerical concepts.

• Abstract/Visual Reasoning – The score in abstract/visual reasoning indicates the examinee’s abilities to solve problems through reasoning, to determine the logic behind patterns, and to perform mathematical operations.

• Short-Term Memory – The score in short-term memory shows the examinee’s skills in focusing, using short-term memory, and understanding sequences.

Ø  Operational definition:

Stanford Binet intelligence test: IQ test developed by Lewis Terman who revised binet’s scale and adapted questions to American students. Work on many ages, but is strongest with lower grade levels.

Ø Author and history of Stanford Binet test:

It was initially created by the French psychologist Alfred Binet, who following the introduction of a law mandating universal education by the French government, undertook to develop a method of identifying "slow" children for their placement in special education programs (rather than removing them to asylums as "sick"). The test originated in France, and then was revised in the United States.  As Binet indicated, case studies might be more detailed and helpful, but the time required to test many people would be excessive. In 1916, at Stanford University, the psychologist Lewis Terman released a revised examination which became known as the "Stanford–Binet test".

Ø History of the Stanford-Binet:

In a conference in Rome in April 1905, Dr. Henri Beaunis read a paper prepare By Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon that announced the development of a Objective measure capable of diagnosing different degrees of mental retardation (Wolf, 1973). This announcement was followed 2 months later by the publication of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test in L’Anée Psychologique (Binet & Simon, 1905). The original form of this test was expanded and revised, leading to new versions in 1908 and 1911. The new forms were the result of extensive research and testing involving “normal” as well as mentally retarded examinees.

In 1916, Lewis Terman authored The Measurement of Intelligence: An Explanation of and a Complete Guide for the Use of the Stanford Revision and Extension of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale (Terman, 1916). This manual presented translations and adaptations of the French items, as well as new items that Terman had developed and tested between 1904 and 1915. Although there were other translations of the Binet-Simon available around this time (Binet & Simon, 1916; Kuhlmann, 1912; Melville, 1917; Herring, 1922), Terman’s normative studies and his methodical approach are credited with the success of the Stanford-Binet (Minton, 1988).

Over the two decades following the initial publication of the Stanford-Binet, Terman continued his research and development of the test. Working with Maud Merrill, first his student and later a fellow professor and research collaborator at Stanford University, Terman created two parallel forms of the Stanford-Binet. These forms used many of the items from the original Stanford revision and added a substantial number of new items. With regard to this revision, Terman and Merrill wrote that they had “provided two scales instead of one, have extended them so as to afford a more adequate sampling of abilities at the upper and lower levels, have defined still more meticulously the procedures for administration and scoring, and have based the standardization upon larger and more representative populations” (Terman & Merrill, 1937, p. ix). These parallel forms were published as Form L (for Lewis) and Form M (for Maud) of the Stanford-Binet.

In the 1950s, Merrill took the lead in revising the Stanford-Binet, selecting the best items from Forms L and M to include in a new version of the test. The two forms from 1937 were combined to create the Form L-M. This form was published in 1960 (Terman & Merrill, 1960) and was later reformed in 1973 (Terman & Merrill, 1973). This form added alternate items at all levels, but otherwise, the format remained similar to the 1937 forms. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (Thorndike, Hagen, & Sattler, 1986) moved from the age-scale format introduced by Binet to a point-scale format (the section on “Test Structure” that follows provides details on the characteristics of age and point scales). Many of the items and item-types from the prior editions were included in the Fourth Edition, and extended scales were created using the same types of items and activities. In the Absurdities test, for example four classic items were used in addition to 28 new items. Also, several completely new subtests, such as Matrices and Equation Building, were created. Besides the new and expanded tests, the Fourth Edition provided several factors (Verbal Reasoning, Abstract/Visual Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Short-Term Memory) in addition to IQ. Although the prior versions had items that related to3 these four areas (McNemar, 1942; Sattler, 1965), the published test had never offered scores for these factors. The Fourth Edition also formalized the practice of multi-stage testing, in which performance on the Vocabulary scale determines the starting point for subsequent tests. While some examiners used the vocabulary test for routing on earlier editions of the test, this was not official practice.

In 2003, the Fifth Edition (Roid, 2003a) was published. This edition attempts to carry on the tradition of the prior editions while taking advantage of current research in measurement and cognitive abilities. Like the Fourth Edition, the SB5 includes multiple factors. These factors are modified from those on the Fourth Edition, but represent abilities assessed by all former versions of the test. The use of routing subtests continues, with a nonverbal routing test added to complement vocabulary. The Fifth Edition reintroduces the age-scale format for the body of the test, presenting a variety of items at each level of the test. The age-scale is intended to provide a variety of content to keep examinees involved in the testing experience and to allow for the introduction of developmentally distinct items across levels.

Ø Development of Stanford Binet test:

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence scale is a modified version of the Binet-Simon Intelligence scale. The Binet-Simon scale was created by the French psychologist Alfred Binet and his student Theodore Simon. Due to changing education laws of the time, Binet had been requested by a government commission to come up with a way to detect children with significantly below-average intelligence and mental retardation.

Ø  Psychometric detail:

Stanford-Binet scale tests intelligence across four areas: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning, and short-term memory. The areas are covered by 15 tests, including vocabulary, comprehension, verbal absurdities, pattern analysis, matrices, paper folding and cutting, copying, quantitative, number series, equation building, memory for sentences, memory for digits, memory for objects and bead memory. Age ranges from 2 to 85+ years. And administration time of test is approximately 5 minutes per subtest. This is the test administered individually having varying items.  One hindrance to widespread understanding of the test is its use of a variety of different measures. In an effort to simplify the information gained from the Binet-Simon test into a more comprehensible and easier to understand form; German psychologist William Stern created the now well known Intelligence Quotient (IQ). By comparing the age a child scored at to their biological age, a ratio is created to show the rate of their mental progress as IQ. Terman quickly grasped the idea for his Stanford revision with the adjustment of multiplying the ratios by 100 to make them easier to read.

IQ= mental age/chronological age*100.

Ø  (stanford binet intelligence scale, 5th edition, 2003)

Some of items are:

1.       Which one of the five is least like the other four?

·         Bear

·         Snake

·         Cow

·         Dog

·         Tiger

2.      If you rearrange the letters "BARBIT", you would have the name of a:

·         Ocean

·         Country

·         State

·         Animal

·         City

3.      John, twelve years old, is three times as old as his brother. How old will John be when he is twice as old as his brother?

·         15

·         16

·         18

·         20

·         21

Ø  Reliability:

Several reliability tests have been performed on the SB5 including

Split-half reliability, Standard error of measurement, plotting of test information curves, Test-retest stability, and Inter-scorer agreement.

On average, the IQ scores for this scale have been found to be quite stable across time. Internal consistency was tested by split-half reliability and was reported to be substantial and comparable to other cognitive batteries. The median interscorer correlation was found to be .90 on average. The SB5 has also been found to have great precision at advanced levels of performance meaning that the test is especially useful in testing children for giftedness. There have only been a small amount of practice effects and familiarity of testing procedures with retest reliability, however, these have proven to be insignificant. Readministration of the SB5 can occur in a six-month interval rather than one year due to the small mean differences in reliability.

Ø Validity:  

To date most studies of construct and concurrent validity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition, have employed an established measure of ability as the criterion. Here achievement, assessed by the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, was the criterion for establishing concurrent validity. The sample consisted of a naturally occurring group of 21 children referred for learning difficulties. The results provided partial support for the theoretical model of the Stanford-Binet IV. Intercorrelations among individual Stanford-Binet IV and achievement subtest scores were examined to generate explanatory hypotheses for those predictions which were not empirically supported. Finally, correlations between the WISC-R and the achievement measures were compared with those between the Stanford-Binet IV and the achievement measures. Examination shows that the correlations of the Stanford-Binet IV with achievement are as strong as and sometimes stronger than those between the WISC-R and achievement.

Content validity has been found based on the professional judgments Roid received concerning the extent a test measures a particular construct of behavior trait, fairness of items and item content as well as items concerning the assessment. Predictive validity refers to the accuracy with which test predict the performance in some future situation.

Ø Standardization —the process of determining established norms and procedures for a test to act as a standard reference point for future test results.

Ø Score classification: 

The SB5 can be scored by hand or scored with the SB5 ScoringPro. ScoringPro is a Windows based software program that provides consistency in raw score conversion, an extended score report, a graphical report, and a brief, narrative summary report with guidelines and suggestions based on well-established principles of assessment. The report can be exported to a word-processing file for editing as necessary.

Ø  The test publisher includes suggested score classifications in the test manual.

Ø  Stanford-Binet Fifth Edition (SB5) classification
Ø  IQ Range ("deviation IQ")	Ø  IQ Classification
145–160	Very gifted or highly advanced
130–144	Gifted or very advanced
120–129	Superior
110–119	High average
90–109	Average
80–89	Low average
70–79	Borderline impaired or delayed
55–69	Mildly impaired or delayed
40–54	Moderately impaired or delayed

The classifications of scores used in the Fifth Edition differ from those used in earlier versions of the test.

Ø Interpretation: 

At the most granular levels of the norm-referenced scores are the 10 subtest scores. These subtest scores combine to form four types of composite scores: factor index, domain, abbreviated, and full scale. Two subtests (one verbal, the other its nonverbal complement) combine to form each factor index. There are two domain scales: Nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) and Verbal IQ (VIQ). Finally, the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) combines all 10 subtests. (stanford binet intelligence scale, 5th edition, 2003)

Ø Summary of Pakistani article related to Stanford Binet intelligence test:

link:(https://www.google.com.pk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wlu.ca%2Fdocuments%2F22839%2FLecture_14__The_Binet_Scales.ppt&ei=Vi6lVPe7EtDlas6sgeAI&usg=AFQjCNFoFY5lPPva6eaL4mfGyPaHA0tgwQ)

One of the case study was done on the girl (native of Pakistan) named as Noor who immigrated to the United States with her parents. Noor spoke English in the testing session, but speaks her native language, Urdu, at home with her parents. She is enrolled in an ESL program in her high school, where she receives 4 hours per week of language instruction. Her examiner was A. smith. There was difference between her points. For example: Her NVIQ was 97 and VIQ was 78 and FSIQ was 87 due to her language and cultural context. And examiner suggests that her NVIQ probably represents the lower bound of her cognitive potential because of her English language difficulties. And the differences in the scores are due to cultural context, English deficits which affects her performance.