A psychology club in Pune studied the test scores of 200 students. Students who did well on one test usually did fairly well on the others, though Tanvi, a gifted singer, stood far above everyone in one special skill. Rohan memorised a list of historical dates and repeated them exactly, but could not use them to explain events. Sana took the same dates and worked out the causes behind the events. The club also found that the verbal, numerical and spatial scores were largely unrelated to one another. Finally, analysing scores from an early one-score test made the members doubt the oldest theory, that one similar set of abilities solves every problem.
The oldest theory that the club came to doubt was put forward by:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Alfred Binet
Option (1) Arthur Jensen — Incorrect. Arthur Jensen proposed a hierarchical model with abilities at two levels, associative learning and cognitive competence.
Option (2) Charles Spearman — Incorrect. Charles Spearman's two-factor theory of 1927 came after Binet's. It added specific factors (s-factors) to a general factor, so it is not the one-set view.
Option (3) Louis Thurstone — Incorrect. Louis Thurstone's theory of seven primary abilities came after Spearman's. Its largely independent abilities fit the club's finding; it is not the theory the club doubted.
Option (4) Alfred Binet — Correct. Alfred Binet saw intelligence as one similar set of abilities used for solving any or every problem, the Uni or one factor theory. It came to be disputed when psychologists analysed data from Binet's own test, as the club did.
NCERT (2026-27): “THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE … |