The Development of Interactive-Dynamic Approaches to Assessment of Learning Potential

Traditional methods of assessing mental ability have been intimately related to concepts of intelligence (see Haywood, Tzuriel, & Vaught, Chapter 2 in this volume). Most proponents of conventional testing approaches believe in the existence of “intelligence” as a more-or-less fixed entity. This approach has served as a guide for the design of testing procedures that would justify the concept. A more practical approach has been to devise tests simply for applied purposes, such as classifying children for different educational “tracks” or allocating a school system’s resources. A third source of influence on the testing movement has been the pressure of social movements and the particular needs of societies. We focus here on this third aspect, the development of psychological assessment procedures in response to problems and needs posed by social processes such as accelerated urbanization, industrialization, mass production, and attempts at universal education. We try to demonstrate that psychometric practices mirror, to some extent, the social movements and circumstances of their time. Traditional, standardized assessment procedures have grown up in that manner, and the newer approaches described and advocated in this book have developed as well in response to changing societal demands.