Rationalities of Intelligence. Testing in Different Local Contexts

Annette Mülberger Rogele

Abstract: In my work as a historian, I deal with rationality and locality on two different levels. On the one hand,as a historian from the 21st century, I want to understand and make sense of statements written by someone in the past, who had different cultural, historical and linguistic references. On the other hand, these two topics (locality and rationality) are directly addressed within my primary sources consisting of reports on psychological (intelligence) testing. In my talk I will discuss some research undertaken in the first decade of the 20th century by some European scholars using word association and the intelligence test. The intelligence tests of that time, such as the Binet-Simon, included, among its tasks, logical thinking and problem solving. It was a time when psychologists were interested in marking a contrast between the "normal" (rational) thinking of the healthy average adult and the way the "abnormal" (mentally ill) mind works or the way children think. 

One of the aims of the testing was to detect and measure individual as well as group differences. When applied to heterogeneous samples stemming from different locations (i.e. countries), both tests led researchers to detect surprising variations in the responses.  Also, the appropriation of the test by researchers working in other local contexts led to changes (translations, adaptations and standardization), as well as the design of new tests. My research shows that some of these changes were linked to local, cultural, traditions and the current social-political setting.