THE CLINICAL USE OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS
It is time to take a closer look at how these tests are used in the clinical setting.
THE ESTIMATION OF GENERAL INTELLECTUAL LEVEL
The most obvious use of an intelligence test is as a means for arriving at an estimate of the patient's
general intellectual level. Often the goal is the determination of how much general intelligence “g” a
given person possesses.
Often, the question is stated a bit differently, for example, what is the patient's intellectual potential?
Posing the question in this way suggests that perhaps the person is not functioning as well as his or her
potential would indicate. The potential can form a baseline against which to measure current
achievements, thus providing information about the patient's current level of functioning.
PREDICTION OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
There are data that demonstrate a relationship between intelligence test scores and school success. To
the extent that intelligence should logically reflect the capacity to do well in school, we are justified in
expecting intelligence tests to predict school success. Not everyone would equate intelligence with
scholastic aptitude, but the fact remains that a major function of intelligence tests is to predict schoolperformance. One must remember, however, that intelligence and academic success are not
conceptually identical.

THE APPRAISAL OF STYLE
The clinical psychologists’ interest is not only in the client’s success or failure on particular test items
but also how that success or failure occurs. One of the major values of individual intelligence tests is
that they permit us to observe the client or patient at work. Such observations can help us greatly in
interpreting an IQ. For example, did this child do as well as possible? Was there failure-avoidance? Did
the child struggle with most items, or was there easy success? Was the child unmotivated, and could this
have detracted from the child's performance? Such questions and the ensuing interpretations breathe life
into an otherwise inert IQ score.

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Born with personality is an accident but dying as a personality is an achievement.