Binet-Simon Method

BINET-SIMON METHOD, the name of a psychological method whose main idea consists in creating a 'metric scale of mental abilities', determined on the basis of tasks (or tests) that are presented to the subject. The tasks are arranged in order of difficulty and touch on different aspects of a child's intelligence: school knowledge, everyday skills, random information, natural properties of the psyche, etc. In this part of the tests, the following order of tasks is outlined: for 3-year-olds: show your mouth, nose, eyes. Repeat a phrase of 6 syllables and one of three pairs of numbers. Name several objects in a picture. For 4-year-olds: name your gender. Name 3 household items. Repeat a series of 3 digits. Compare the length of two lines and indicate the longer one. For 5-year-olds: compare two pairs of boxes of different weights and indicate the heavier one. Copy a square. Repeat a phrase of 10 syllables. Count 4 small coins. Construct a parallelogram from two line segments. For 6-year-olds: determine the time of day: Describe 5 objects. Draw a rhombus. Count 13 identical coins. Compare two drawn faces from an aesthetic point of view. For 7-year-olds: show the right hand and left ear. Copy a picture. Complete 3 simple tasks. State the sum of three kopeck coins and three coins of 2 kopecks each. Name 4 colors. For 8-year-olds: compare by memory 3 pairs of objects. Count backwards from 20 to 0. Indicate the missing parts in drawn faces. Repeat a series of 5 digits. Name the day and date. For 9-year-olds: give change from 16 kopecks, from 20 kopecks. Identify 5 objects. Name the months in order. Answer 3 simple abstract questions. For 10-year-olds: arrange 5 boxes of different weights in order. Draw from memory a simple diagram. Find inconsistencies in four phrases. Give answers to more difficult abstract questions. Construct 2 sentences from three given words. For 12-year-olds: resist the following suggestion: the child is shown 6 pairs of lines, the size of the first pair is 4 and 5 cm, the second is 5 and 6 cm, the third is 6 and 7 cm, the lines of the remaining pairs are all 7 cm. (If the subject, when proceeding to compare the 5th and 6th pairs, continues to assert that the lines on the right side are larger, this proves that he is not resisting suggestion.) Construct one simple or complex sentence from three given words. Speak more than 60 words in 3 minutes. Define 3 abstract concepts. Restore intentionally disrupted word order. For 15-year-olds: repeat a series of 7 digits. Find 2 rhymes for a given word. Repeat a phrase of 26 syllables. Explain the meaning of three pictures. Draw a conclusion from a series of facts. Those who complete all tests appropriate for their age are considered normal; those who complete tasks for the previous age are considered retarded by one year. Those who complete tasks for the next year are considered more gifted. The entire Binet-Simon method can easily be accommodated in a small album; the apparatus is simple and accessible and consists of 5 boxes of different weights, a set of copper and silver coins, and several simple objects—a knife, pencil, key, and book. The method has gained many supporters and has been adapted to various social and school conditions. Among the method's shortcomings should be noted that the age accuracy of the tests is roughly approximate. The tests themselves are not sufficiently systematically arranged in increasing difficulty, and many tests for older ages are completed by younger ones without special giftedness. The Binet-Simon method, which quite accurately determines the age level of 'development', does not sufficiently reveal either innate properties of intelligence or their pathological deficiencies, without noting such properties as attention, volitional processes, memory.