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The most commonly used intelligence tests in clinical settings are administered on a one-to-one basis, providing a comprehensive view of the client’s abilities to perform a range of perceptual, memory, reasoning, and timed tasks.
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Human resource departments often use intelligence tests in personnel selection to evaluate the potential for employees to perform in specific conditions.įor clinicians, intelligence testing makes it possible to obtain standardized scores that permit them to evaluate the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of their clients rather than simply to assign a score. Clinicians may use intelligence tests in the diagnosis of neurological and psychiatric disorders as a component of a more comprehensive assessment procedure. Because intelligence is such an important individual difference dimension, psychologists have invested substantial effort in creating and improving measures of intelligence, and these tests are now the most accurate of all psychological tests. Good intelligence tests are reliable, meaning that they are consistent over time, and also demonstrate construct validity, meaning that they actually measure intelligence rather than something else. In fact, the ability to accurately assess intelligence is one of the most important contributions of psychology to everyday public life. We tend to think of intelligence testing as specific to the schools, but intelligence tests can serve a variety of functions, including overall cognitive evaluation, diagnosis of learning disabilities, determination of giftedness and intellectual disability. This section introduces common assessment strategies related to intelligence. The development of assessments to measure this concept is at the core of the development of psychological science itself. Intelligence is among the oldest and longest studied topics in all of psychology.
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