Mental age

Leen odeh
Imagine that you are observing a group of 12-year-old boys. You notice that they
all look very different from each other, even though they are the same age. Some
boys are more muscular, while others are tall and thin. You notice that some have
already started their growth spurt, while others have yet to follow. You also
notice that some boys are stronger and can endure more physical activities than
their same-age counterparts. Just as these boys differ in their physical capabilities
and characteristics, they also differ in their mental capabilities and characteristics,
even though they are all the same age.
So what exactly do we mean by mental age? Mental age is the age level of an
individual's mental ability. It is based on the age in which it takes an average
individual to reach that same level of mental attainment. Mental age is usually
measured by standardized intelligence tests. For example, early versions of the
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales calculated a mental age based on how well a
child performed on the test.
Those who support mental age believe that even though children develop
intellectually at different rates, the path of intellectual development is essentially
the same for all children. They also believe that mental age is less meaningful for
adults because adult intelligence changes very little year to year.
What is the difference between mental age and an IQ?
An IQ or intelligence quotient, is a score derived from one of several different
standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. The mental age is the age
group which scored such a result on average.
Throughout much of the 20th century, many psychologists believed intelligence
was fixed and hereditary while others believed other factors would affect
intelligence.
The Nature of intelligence?
After World War I, the concept of intelligence as fixed, hereditary, and
unchangeable became the dominant theory within the experimental
psychological community. By the mid-1930s, there was no longer agreement
among researchers on whether or not intelligence was hereditary. There are still
recurring debates about the influence of environment and heredity upon an
individual's intelligence.