Psychometric Approach of Cognitive Development

The psychometric approach to cognitive development measures differences in the abilities that make up intelligence.

Intelligence enables individuals to acquire, remember, and use knowledge.

It also helps them understand relationships between concepts and solve problems in daily life.

Intelligent behavior is goal-directed and adaptive, helping individuals achieve goals and adjust to change.

In school-age children, Intelligence Quotient or IQ tests use questions and tasks designed to measure specific abilities.

They compare an individual’s performance to norms based on a large standardization sample.

In infants and toddlers, assessing intelligence is more challenging since they cannot verbally express their knowledge.

Instead, their intelligence is evaluated through their actions using developmental tests.

These tests assess behavior on specific tasks and compare each child’s performance to age-based norms.

Additionally, IQ tests reliably predict later academic performance in school-age children.

On the other hand, developmental tests mainly assess current functioning and do not reliably predict future intelligence.