Lewis Terman: biography of this intelligence researcher

In the field of psychology and education, Lewis Terman was one of the first authors to talk about intelligence, along with Alfred Binet and William Stern. Terman was an American psychologist, very interested in studying intelligence, the tests that evaluate it and giftedness.

Through this article you will find a biography of Lewis Terman, in which some of the most important contributions of the creator of the most widely used intelligence test in the United States (the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale) are explained.

• Related article: "Theories of human intelligence"

Biography of Lewis Terman

Lewis Terman (Johnson County, 1877 - Palo Alto, 1956), full name Lewis Madison Terman, was a collaborating American psychologist at various American universities, such as Stanford University.

Terman was born in Johnson County, Indiana (USA) on January 15, 1877, and died on December 21, 1956 in Palo Alto, California (USA). Terman began his studies at the Central Normal College in Danville (Indiana), and at the University of Indiana (where he took some courses). He subsequently graduated in Psychology from another university, Clark University, in 1905.

The intelligence

Terman devoted a lot to researching human intelligence, which he defined as "the ability to think abstractly." He was also a pioneer in the field of educational psychology, in the early 20th century.

In fact, Lewis Terman became known worldwide for creating the first intelligence test, widely used in the United States. To create it, was based on the Binet-Simon test (the original Binet-Simon scale), and created the so-called "Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale."

To this day, this Scale is still widely used, and is now in its fifth edition. Later we will comment on some of its most relevant characteristics.

Eugenics

Lewis Terman was also a member of the Human Betterment Foundation (a eugenics group founded by E.S. Gosney in 1928).

Thus, Terman was defender of eugenics, a philosophy that advocates the improvement of hereditary traits (especially intelligence) through different methods of manipulation and human selection.

• You may be interested: "Eugenics: what it is, types, and social implications"

Career path

On a professional level, Terman was a professor of psychology and pedagogy at the State Normal School (Los Angeles) for four years (from 1906 to 1910). In 1910 he began working at Stanford University, this time as a professor of education.

On the other hand, Terman he was also president of the American Psychological Association. Regarding the recognitions granted to Terman, the Honorary Chair, awarded by Stanford University, stands out.

• You may be interested: "History of Psychology: main authors and theories"

Contributions

We are going to know the most relevant contributions of Lewis Terman in the field of education, intelligence and psychology.

1. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

The aforementioned Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, developed by Terman, measures intelligence and cognitive ability, through several differentiated factors: working memory, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, fluid reasoning and visual-spatial processing. This scale consists of two subtests, verbal and non-verbal, and is administered individually.

The Terman Scale originated from the proliferation of intelligence tests, and in fact is an example of an adaptation of another test, the Binet scale (Alfred Binet, French psychologist).

Later, with Terman's adaptation, the test was published in 1916 in the form of an exam under the name "Stanford-Binet test" at Stanford University.

2. Military psychology

On the other hand, Lewis Terman also introduced group intelligence tests in the United States Army. United, so we find part of the roots of intelligence assessment in military psychology, in this Author.

3. I.Q

One of Terman's most important contributions was the introduction of the term "intelligence quotient" (IQ) to measure human intelligence; It was an index of measurement of this ability, applicable to children and adults.

Specifically, what Terman did was adopt the suggestion of another author, William Stern (German psychologist), who proposed multiplying the Mental Quotient by 100, in order to avoid the inconvenience caused by decimals. This is how Lewis Terman established the Intellectual Quotient (IQ), which is calculated through the following formula:

(mental age / chronological age) * 100

Advantages and disadvantages of IC

In relation to the advantages and disadvantages of Lewis Terman's IQ, we find that: as an advantage, it is an independent index of age (thus, if a subject shows an average performance compared to his invariable age group in successive years, his intelligence quotient varies).

As a disadvantage or problem, we find that there are no differentiating tasks for the age groups of 20 and 25 years, and that Mental Age (EM) does not grow at the same rate as Chronological Age (CE) so in adults, Mental Quotients are low.

Outstanding works

Among the most outstanding works of Lewis Terman we find (in chronological order):

• The measure of intelligence (1916)
• The Use of Intelligence Tests (1916)
• The intelligence of schoolchildren (1919)
• The Stanford Achievement Test (1923)
• The genetic study of genius (1925, 1947, 1959)
• Autobiography of Lewis Terman (1930)

In relation to the work of The genetic study of genius, it should be noted that it is made up of five volumes, where the analysis of 1,500 gifted children is collected. This work was published after the death of Terman (it is, therefore, a posthumous work).

Research on Gifted Children

Beyond "normative" intelligence, Terman also took a keen interest in gifted (ie, gifted) children. Through his studies, Terman observed that gifted children did not represent the stereotypes frequently associated with them, at that time (who were sickly children, poorly adapted to society ...).

Moreover, he found that they were taller children, with healthier physical development and better social adaptation, compared to other children. Thus, he elaborated different studies of them; as a curious fact, the children he included in these studies, he colloquially called "termites".

On the other hand, in the field of giftedness, another of the contributions that Lewis Terman made was implement a program, in 1921, that had the objective of studying gifted children (long term). According to Terman, these children belonged to 2% of the population (that is, the top 2% of the population, in terms of intelligence).

Bibliographic references:

• Joel N. Shurkin, Little Brown & Co. (1992). Terman's Kids: The Groundbreaking Study of How the Gifted Grow Up.
• Moreno, V., Ramírez, M.E., De la Oliva, C. and Moreno, E. (2019). Lewis Terman. Buscabiografias.com [Consulted on December 19, 2019]
• Sánchez Elvira, A. (2005). Introduction to the study of individual differences. Madrid: Ed. Sanz y Torres. 2nd Edition.