Henry Herbert Goddard, a Quaker school teacher and psychologist, produced the first American standardized intelligence and aptitude tests in 1910 and invented the term IQ, or intelligence quotient. These tests were first used in US public schools in 1911and helped Goddard and others categorize people as "feeble-minded," based on low IQ test results.
Goddard had, in a sense, simply imported standardized tests developed in France by Alfred Binet and began urging US hospitals, schools and courtrooms to use them.
According to Goddard, feeble-mindedness resulted from both genetic and inherited factors, as well as due to the environment children grew up in. The most important factor, however, was what Goddard called "feeble inheritance." In 1904, 150,000 Americans were classified as feeble-minded.
Goddard's most famous study was a 1912 monograph called "The Kallikak Family," in which the psychologist aimed to study the history of specific, troubled family, namely Deborah Kallikak and her relatives, in order to determine what caused feeble-mindedness.
Goddard had, in a sense, simply imported standardized tests developed in France by Alfred Binet and began urging US hospitals, schools and courtrooms to use them.
According to Goddard, feeble-mindedness resulted from both genetic and inherited factors, as well as due to the environment children grew up in. The most important factor, however, was what Goddard called "feeble inheritance." In 1904, 150,000 Americans were classified as feeble-minded.
Goddard's most famous study was a 1912 monograph called "The Kallikak Family," in which the psychologist aimed to study the history of specific, troubled family, namely Deborah Kallikak and her relatives, in order to determine what caused feeble-mindedness.
