Trends in the measurement of intelligence

On the assumption that an understanding of the past provides a guide to the future, analyses are directed at explicating major trends of the last 25 years in the scientific study of intellectual abilities. Five major trends are identified. These suggest that in the future several kinds of tests will be used to measure several kinds of basic processes of intelligence; there will be a corresponding decrease in concern to measure a single attribute of general intelligence. There will be emphasis in measuring complex learned capacities of a kind that characterizes adult thinking, in contrast to tests desinged for school children. Test items will be presented through the computer, on TV screens, and in ways that permit the individuals' responses to determine which items will follow; responses, including time to respond, will be gathered in the computer and there converted to scores.