Mental tests have come in for a volley of criticisms ever since their inception at the

beginning of the present century. Such criticisms came from many quarters, the promi-
nent among them being that the successful performance on such tests was primarily

dependent upon acquired knowledge which was not equitably available to all indivi-
duals. The problem of bias (resulting from cultural, socio-economic and racial) has
been experienced as discriminative against certain social and ethnic groups. Recent
developments in psychology have mobilised efforts in the quest of alternatives to
psychological testing technology. This paper examines the suitability of various attempts
for measuring intelligence in terms of information processing speed (RT), inspection
time (IT), STM, iconic image duration. It also reviews attempts made to diagnose
functional psychosis in terms of memory processes in the form of Trace Inaccessibility
(TI) of memory and assessment of personality in terms of signal detection parameters.

Alternative to
Psychological Testing
ANIMA SEN

University of Delhi, Delhi

The Background

The controversy over mental testing spans over six decades. The
problem of bias (cultural, socio-economic and racial) was noticed
not long after the first practical test of intelligence was put into use
in 1905. In the beginning test technology was an accepted and
increasingly influential feature in identifying men who would make
satisfactory recruits for the army. However, after the First World
War, when the military testing programme provided large scale
adult norms, it was revealed that the average adult MA was only
13 years, instead of the expected 16 years. Wechsler pointed out
that the application of 16 years norms to the army population
would imply that 34% of them would be feebleminded (IQ below
75) for English-speaking whites, whereas the percentage would
be almost double for other populations (Korn & McCorkle,
1965).
The publication of army data inspired a critical revaluation of

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earlier interpretations. Adler and Worthington (1925) found that the

average scores of Illinois prisoners were higher than those of a selected
sample of officers and men, at the end of the First World War. In the
context of mental subnormality, Pintner (1923) found a shift from
64% to 26% in mental retardation when he compared 16 post-war
with 16 pre-war reports. Sutherland (1931) conducted a survey of a
total of 350 investigations up to the year 1929. He found wide varia-
tions in the methods of scaling intelligence tests, as used by different
investigators. This affected interpretations regarding the intellectual
status of the subject (Sen, 1978).
Davis (1949) has contended that the existing tests underestimate
the abilities of children of the working class. He commented, ’Half
the ability in this country goes down the drain because of the failure
of intelligence tests’ (p. 295). The role of cultural factors in the
assessment of intelligence discriminating against certain social and
ethnic groups has already been recognised all over the world,
though the mechanism of such an operation is not always readily
understood. Some of the typical criticisms have been listed by
Cronbach (1975) and Jensen (1980a).
Piaget (1966) attempted to clarify the possible contributions of
cross-cultural research to his theory of cognitive development using
four theoretically distinct factors (a) biological factors, (b) equilibra-
tion factors, (c) social factors, and (d) factors of educational and
cultural transmission. The last three factors operate singly and in
general to increase the level of the child’s thinking through a series
of stages and sub-stages. More operational exercise is possible in
all the three realms; a little more exercise leads to a little more
development. The problem, as pointed out by him, is to identify the
dimensions of cultural differences that are theoretically significant,
in order to predict the course of cognitive development in different
cultures.
In France, a nuclear physicist, Michael Schiff along with Richard
Lewontin (Schiff & Lewontin, 1986) published the results of a
natural experiment. They pointed out that social class of rearing has
an important effect, though a modest one, on the child’s IQ. Schiff’s
general inference attached greater weightage to the environment,
maintaining that the effect of genes depends on the environment.
However, psychologists and social scientists do agree that the
biological infrastructure and the psychological and cultural super-
structure are integrated in a very complex manner.

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After the Second World War, human talent was recognised to be

worth cherishing as a resource. Around 1960 the importance of
genes and the biological substrate was not undere~stimated; however
the role of experience in intellectual development was emphasised in
the use of experience made by the child. Criticism of the early work
on the problem of measuring individual differences in abilities had
convinced social scientists that no research design could disentangle
the genetic and environmental components of group differences. No
single test is a perfect measure of the construct that it purports to
measure.
As a result of such public controversies, the interest and concern of
psychologists in the study of mental abilities is strong today. Berry
(1976) observed that the search for a &dquo;culture free&dquo; test is futile in so
far as it is hoped to find a universally valid test; although tests might
be used with fairness in a limited number of societies, this still leaves
psychologists with the problem of comparing the results between
these various &dquo;test-fair&dquo; units. On the basis of his own study Berry
(Berry & Dasen, 1974) concluded that tests of cognitive ability must be
culturally dependent, because individuals from different cultures
and ecologies tend to develop and maintain different sets of skills so
that the concept of intelligence (or its equivalent) would differ from
one society to another.

However, Jensen’s (1980a) exhaustive review of empirical researches

on mental abilities led him to conclude that the currently most widely
used standardised tests of mental ability-IQ, scholastic aptitude,
and achievement tests-are, by and large, not biased against any of
the native born English-speaking minority groups on which the
amount of research evidence is sufficient for an obiective determi-
nation of bias, if the tests were in fact biased. Jensen stated that &dquo;The
main faults with mental testing generally involve abuses and in-
adequacies in the use of tests rather than bias or other psychometric
deficiencies in the tests themselves&dquo; (p. 738).
Flynn (1987) demonstrated a &dquo;massive&dquo; increase in raw scores in
culture-fair tests of fluid intelligence (equivalent to 18 IQ points)
per generation in 14 economically advanced nations over the years.
However, Brand (1987) pointed out that Flynn’s observation could
not possibly survive the wider series of empirical tests to which it
could be subjected.
Gardner (1983) proposed that there are seven different types
of intelligence. Intelligence has been defined by him as &dquo;a

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relatively autonomous intellectual competence.&dquo; These seven

types are (a) logical-mathematical, (b) linguistic, (c) musical, (d)
spatial, (e) bodily-kinaesthetic, (f) inter-personal, and (g) intra-
personal.
The criticisms levelled against Gardner’s hypothesis are that
musical and bodily-kinaesthetic activities are dependent on skills or
talents and not intelligence per se. Neuro-physiological evidence,
however, unequivocally subscribes to the notion that learning and
perfecting these faculties do involve mental or cerebral processes
that are generally assumed to be intelligence.
Logical-mathematical intelligence which is required in day-to-day
functioning has dominated psychological tests aimed at evaluating
intelligence. Several forms of intelligence are somewhat debarred
from most of the present day intelligence tests which are also found
to lean heavily on cultural influences having a direct bearing on the
development of one’s innate faculties.
In spite of many clarifications, the myth of measuring inner abili-
ties, however, still remains. Each person is an individual and not just
a member of a race, group or sex and needs to be treated as such.

The continuous stream of criticisms levelled against psychological

tests are, in fact, multifaced, the prominent among them being that
the successful performance is primarily dependent upon acquired
knowledge which is not equitably available to all individuals.
Other criticisms directed against the use of intelligence tests
centre around poor predictability of scores for many practical

purposes such as medical, educational or vocational success. It is

. now universally recognised that intelligence does not refer to any

particular &dquo;thing&dquo;, but it covers a multitude of cognitive skills,

schemates or plans which become mature or are built up in response
to stimulation and exercise in increasingly complex and symbolic
forms. As observed by Vernon (1979), cognitive capacities are the
essential raw materials of intelligence. Tests of general intelligence
or other cognitive factors relate closely to adult abilities which are

perceived to be important by society such as vocational success, well

informed and quick thinking, clearness, wisdom in the affairs
of daily life, creative productivity, even achievement in higher
education.
In the face of such controversies, a good deal of effort has been
mobilised in the quest of alternatives to psychological testing
technology and to find suitable means for the assessment of mental

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abilities and other psychological characteristics. For example,

developments in the field of computer science have provided a
powerful impetus for psychologists’ interest in cognitive function-
ing of human beings and study their cognitive capacities and
functioning in terms of information processing.

Information Processing Capacities and Intelligence

There are two distinct trends in Information Processing (IP)

research: one is the study of the phenomenon of IP pertaining to the
specific task in question (Royer, 1977), and the other is the study of
processing speed, i.e., its relationship with various components of
mental capacity. These two aspects, however, are not mutually
exclusive. The second perspective has been emphasised in con-
temporary literature (e.g., Sternberg, 1969; Vickers, Nettlebeck, &
Wilson, 1972; Elliott & Murray, 1977; Spiegel & Bryant, 1978;
Brand, 1980; Jensen, 1980b; Nicolson, 1980).
The germane of the idea that the speed of information processing
is an index of learning ability which is related to general intelligence,
can be observed in some of the earlier works of Galton (1883),
Cattell (1890), Thorndike (1927), and Lemmon (1927). Galton
attempted to study the sensory process through reaction time (RT)
measures to estimate cognitive functioning. With the introduction
of Information Processing theories, RT experimonts ranging from
the simplest to the most complex were implicitly related with the
speed of processing of Information.
Attempts to relate processes with RTs were not, however, as
smooth, as is evidenced in Woodworth’s (1938) writing where he
remarked &dquo;we can not break up the reaction into successive acts and
obtain the time of each act, of what use is (then) the reaction time&dquo; ?
(Woodworth, 1938, p. 309). Similar sentiments have been expressed
by Johnson (1955, p. 5) who commented: &dquo;The reaction time experi-
ment suggests a method for the analysis of mental processes which
turn out to be unworkable&dquo;.
Nevertheless, the attempt to analyse RT into components for
understanding the mental processes never took a backward turn. In
fact, in contemporary literature RT has been used more and more as
a tool to study mental abilities and processes including perceptual

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I

encoding, selective attention, problem solving, retrieval of informa-

tion from STM and LTM, parallel and serial processing and intelligence
(Sen, 1984). RT measures are increasingly used in human informa-
tion processing research. Over the past two decades a large number
of experiments on substantive psychological problems have been
conducted where RT has been used as a major dependent variable
(for example, Pachella, 1974).

RT Measures and Intelligence

The view that intelligence might be related to the speed of non-
motoric, decisional, information processing components of RT
measures, has been supported by a number of contemporary
research works of Eysenck (1967), Jensen and lvlunro (1979), and
Sen, Jensen, Sen, and Arora (1983). The levels of correlations, however,
were found to be only about 0.3 to 0.5. Jensen (1980b), Vernon

(1981), and Sen and her associates (Sen, 1984) have conducted a
number of studies in relation to RT and intelligence, demonstrating
that reaction time, particularly choice reaction time, is significantly
related with intelligence.
Jensen’s (1979) extensive work on intelligence from the stand-
point of RT paradigm, emphatically points out that the relationship
between IQ or &dquo;g&dquo; and RT parameters shows that standard IQ tests
tap fundamental processes involved in individual differences in
intellectual ability and not merely difference in specific knowledge,
acquired skills or cultural background. Jensen (1979) found that the
measurement of various parameters such as intra-individual vari-
ability (the mean of the standard deviation over the total number of
trials for each individual), the slope of the linear regression of RT on
bits of information and intercept of the regression line are highly
correlated. with psychometric measurements, when combined in a
multiple regression equation, predicted more than 50% of the
variance in &dquo;g&dquo;.
However, techniques for measuring mental speed have not
become substantive as yet so as to be substitutes for conventional
intelligence tests, at least not for the assessment of intelligence at the
individual level. There are three basic RT paradigms proposed by
. Hick (1952), Sternberg (1969), and Posner (1969); and these three
different paradigms involve stimulus encoding, scanning of STM

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and retrieval of semantic codes in LTM, respectively. RT measures

as such from a particular paradigm cannot replace intelligence tests.
In fact, Jensen noted that the increasing relationship between RT
and IQ did not seem to extend beyond the range of tasks in which
RT is more than about 1000 m secs. This implies that the role of task
complexity beyond a certain limit in the context of the RT-IQ
relationship is not effective (Spiegel & Bryant, 1978).
Jensen (1980b), however, proposed that RT measures derived
from these different paradigms, may be conveniently combined
(with due weightage) and may yield even more substantial correla-
tion with intelligence tests scores.

Inspection Time Measures and Intelligence

So far as the chronometric aspect of intelligence is concerned,
another concept has emerged in contemporary literature, namely,
Inspection Time or IT (Sen, 1984). Nettlebeck and Lally (1976)
reported a study in which performance IQ on the WAIS was found
to have a correlation of-0.92 with the speed at which two lines
could be exposed to subjects who were able to identify the difference
in their lengths. The time duration during which a subject made
such discrimination reliably was referred to as Inspection Time or
IT. Vickers et al. (1972) proposed an estimate of inspection time as
provided by the stimulus duration during which performance in an
extremely easy discrimination task is practically free from error.
Following this lead, several studies on the relation between IT
and IQ were conducted by Brand and Deary (1982) which demon-
strated that the relation between general intelligence and IT was
both strong and robust. This led to the assertion that individual
differences in measured intelligence reflect the underlying differences
in &dquo;mental speed&dquo;. A number of independent studies by Brand
(1980) have indicated that the IT-IQ relation, far from being
restricted to performance IQs, is more pronounced for general
intelligence and also for measures of vocabulary, than for discrete
measures of spatial ability. It also appears that the relation is not
restricted to adult groups only, but a similar relation is also observed
among children of 4 years of age. Brand (1981) also found that people
with higher IQ had shorter inspection time(-0.76). Brand’s studies
also indicated that IT is primarily related to general intelligence or

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verbal ability, rather than to &dquo;spatial&dquo; intelligence. An overall cor-

relation of -.88 was observed between IQ and IT by Anderson (1977).
Moreover, this relationship was found to be more substantial for
lower levels of intelligence.
Sen and Goswami (1983) examined the relationship between
IT (two levels of complexity, IT, and IT2) and Raven’s Coloured
Progressive Matrices Test (CPMT) and PPVT scores in a group of
48 primary school children in the age range of 6-11 years from low
income families. The correlation coefficients between IT and PPVT
measures were -0.55 (P<0.01) and -0.54 (P<0.01) for IT, and ITZ,
respectively. After controlling for age variable, these correlation
coefficients were -0.56 (P<0.01) and -0.48 (P<0.01), respectively.
The coefficients of correlation between IT and CPMT were -0.34
(P<0.05) and -0.42 (P<0.02) for IT, and IT2 respectively. After
controlling for the age factor, the two correlation coefficients were
almost equal, viz., -0.32 (P<0.05) and -0.33 (P<0.05), respectively.
This study on a relatively small group of subjects revealed a signifi-
cant relationship between the speed of receiving information and

intelligence. This relationship was more pronounced with mental

age as measured by a vocabulary test rather than with CPMT score.
A number of other studies have been conducted by Sen and her
associates on the relationship between intelligence and IT (Sen,
1986). In one experiment, the sample comprised 30 mentally retarded
subjects (17 boys and 13 girls) between 8-22 years from low income
group whose IQs on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale ranged
between 30 to 60. Scores on the Seguin Form Board Test were also
obtained for the subjects. Three levels of task complexity in relation
to IT measures were designed in the visual modality. The results

suggested that IT decreased with increase in mental age. Further,

increase in the complexity of the task had no effect. The correlation
coefficients of mental age, as obtained on the Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Scale, with mean IT under conditions IT,, IT2 and IT3
were -0.54, -0.71 and -0.66, respectively. Furthermore, the relation-

ship of IT measures with general intelligence (as measured by the

Stanford-Binet Scale) was more pronounced as compared with
spatial ability (as measured by the Seguin Form Board Test).
Nettlebeck and Lally (1976) found significant correlations of -0.92
and -0.89 between IQ scores and two separate estimates of IT in a
group of 10 young adults. The IQ scores of these adults varied
between 47 to 119. Subsequently, these authors (Nettlebeck &

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 /211

Lally, 1979)reported a correlation of-0.80 between IQ and IT, using

a sample of 48 subjects. The IQ scores of these subjects ranged from
57 to 138. Brand (1980) reported a study showing the relationship
between IT and IQ in a group of subjects whose IQs ranged from 59
to 135; the correlation coefficients were -0.69 between verbal IQ
and IT, and -0.72 between CPMT scores and IT. Brand (1980)
reported another study on normal school children and obtained
high correlations. These studies suggest that high correlations
between IQ and IT are possible when the IQ range is wide.
In another study, Sen and Joshi (cited in Sen, 1986) compared a
group of 30 mentally retarded children with a group of normal
peers between 8 to 10 years of age on IT measures for scanning of
visual displays at two levels of task complexity. The correlation
coefficients between CPMT raw scores and the two ITs for the
combined group were found to be -0.71 (P<0.01) for IT, and -0.72
(P<0.01) for IT2, respectively, with CPMT percentile scores, the
correlations were -0.72 and -0.82, respectively. The increased
correlation coefficients between intelligence and IT may have been
due to the marked group difference between normal and retarded
children included in this study (Nettlebeck, 1982).
The overall results clearly show that IT is-very significantly and
substantially related to general intelligence, thus indicating that the
performance of individuals on psychometric tests of general mental
ability reflects the basic differences in information processing speed
and efficiency. Reaction time studies in relation to intelligence
(Jensen & Munro, 1979; Sen et al., 1983) revealed higher correlation
coefficients between intelligence and choice RT rather than simple
RT. However, IT measures as defined in these studies did not yield
higher correlation coefficients with increase in the complexity of the
task, although IT invariably increased with task complexity.

Iconic Image and Intelligence

Prasanna (1987) found that intelligence, inspection time and iconic
memory are related to each other in an intricate way. A correlation
coefficient of -0.67 was obtained between IT and IQ in a group of
college students. The correlation coefficient between duration of
iconic image and intelligence was also found to be positive and sub-
stantial (r =
0.67, P<0.01). These results support the view that

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subjects who are low on intelligence retrieve information from

inferior traces (Cohen & Sandberg, 1977). It would also be reasonable
to assume that items in sensory register (SR) decay
relatively more
rapidly in subjects with low intelligence than in high intelligence
subjects.
In another study on iconic memory, Mahesh (1987) observed that
more intelligent subjects made
relatively less number of errors in
partial recall than their counterparts. It was also noted that the time
taken by this group to retrieve the required information from the
iconic storage was much shorter.

Verbal Tasks and Intelligence

In a series of
experimental studies, Hunt and his associates have
explored the
relationship between measured intelligence and such
functions as speed with which information is processed in STM and
conceptual coding used in memory tasks.
Hunt, Lunnenberg, and Lewis (1975) found that highly intelligent
individuals could process relatively simple items of information
more quickly than people of average intelligence.

Hunt, Frost, and Lunnenberg (1973) attempted to relate their

findings in cognitive psychology to intelligence. Using Sternberg’s
method, they demonstrated that on short term memory tasks, high
verbal subjects could search faster than low verbal subjects. They
suggested that high verbal subjects tended to rely on immediate
memory strategies, while other subjects tended to use reconstruction
and other strategies. Hunt et al. (1975) commented that this finding
indicates that one basic parameter of information processing is
intelligence and that short term memory tasks can be suitably used
as intelligence test items.
In a cross-modal shadowing situation, Sen (1984) also observed
that subjects took longer to repeat back the target word presented
either orally or tachistoscopically in the backdrop of a phrase ( a
simple task), in comparison to brighter ones. Elliott and Murray
(1977) observed that mental speed is a major component of ability.
Similarly, Goldberg, Schwartz, and Stewart (1977) found that verbal
ability is related, to the speed of retrieval from long term memory.
Nicolson (1980) related individual processing speed (in the form of
reading rate of words of different lengths) with an index of memory ’

capacity determined from memory span.

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~1Us, it appears that the rudiments of mental abilities of human.

beings can be tapped by measuring information receiving, proces-
sing and retrieval speed that would be relatively free from the scope
of availability of knowledge and other environmental variables.
In the wake of such findings, the possibility of using measures of
the rate of information receiving, processing and retrieval for
predicting the level of intellectual functioning seems to be promising
and such an approach is expected to gather momentum. If
intelligence is viewed in terms of basic mental processes,
information processing capacity, etc., apprehensions about the
measurement of intelligence could be alleviated to a considerable
extent. Culture bias, personality, motivational problems would not
be any major obstacles in making an assessment of intelligence.

Mental Disorder and Memory Processes

To study the functioning of memory processes in psychiatric

patients, Veeraraghavan and Sen (1977) have conducted a series of
experiments. They discussed the possibility of developing a diagnostic
scheme (other than psychological testing) in terms of inaccessibility
of memory traces (the TI phenomenon) for identification of clinical
syndromes. The phenomenon of inaccessibility of memory traces
was first observed by Brown (1964) when he demonstrated the in-

accessibility of certain items in the initial test and accessibility of the

same items in a later test. Following Brown’s (1964) study, Sen and
Sen (1967) demonstrated the TI phenomenon among a group of
subnormals. Veeraraghavan and Sen (1972) observed this phenomenon
among groups of normals, neurotics and psychotics. This study
demonstrated the existence of the TI phenomenon under all experi-
mental conditions including multi-exposure situations. The results
also indicated that T I differed significantly among the functional
groups, with manics (MDP) showing the highest T’I, followed
by schizophrenics, neurotics, normals and depressives (MDP),
respectively. Of the ihree types of stimuli employed, the same
conceptual category stimulus materials were found to be most suitable
for demonstrating the phenomenon of TI; trace inaccessibility was
significantly higher under recognition than under recall condition.
A follow up study of the same patients during the cyclic phases of
manic depressive psychosis revealed that patients during the manic
phase showed higher T I than during the depressive phase.

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By demonstrating the differential trace inaccessibility among the

organismic groups, these experiments suggested the possibility of
developing a diagnostic todl in terms of TI for identification of the
various clinical syndromes.

TSD Parameters and Assessment of Personality

Since the application of the ’theory of signal detection (TSD) in

perception (Tanner & Swets, 1954), there have been several attempts
to apply this theory in a variety of contexts. Several investigations
have suggested the possibility of a relationship between personality
factors and detectability behaviour. Some parameters of signal
detection theory have been used to differentiate between different
dimensions of personality. For example, Leelavathi and Venkatramaiah
(1976) reported that the low anxiety group was significantly higher on
sensitivity over all the trials. Gray (1964, 1967) identified the Soviet
work on personality dimensions in terms of &dquo;strength of the nervous
system&dquo; and &dquo;equilibrium in dynamism&dquo; with the personality variables
of extraversion-introversion and suggested that these dimensions were
related to the level of arousal. Several studies have indicated that
introverts have lower pain threshold (Barnes, 1975), lower auditory
threshold (Stelmack & Campbell, 1974; Shigehisa & Symons, 1973),
lower general stimulations (Hill, 1975), than extraverts. Eysenck’s
theory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1967) of high level of arousal in introverts
revealed that introverts possess a weak nervous system which was
identified by Gray (1967) to be an indication of high sensitivity.
Eysenck (1971) has attempted to link the dimension of personality
to the concepts taken from experimental rather than individual
difference psychology. He also focused on the possibility that
extraverts manifested more reactive inhibition which was different
from that expressed by introverts in the level of arousal, and attempted
to assess personality through laboratory experimentation. With

respect to various measures of signal detection, a number of studies

(Bakan, 1959; Purohit, 1972; Gange, Geen, $z Harkins, 1979; Sen &
Goel, 1981; Sen & Jayesh, 1990) have indicated that introverts have
a significantly higher value of d’, a stricter response criterion and
a higher proportion of total correct responses than extraverts. Also,
the ROC curves for introverts formed a cluster at a much higher
level at the upper end of the ROC space than those for extraverts-the

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 215

ROC curves for the latter group centring around chance performance
level as wasobserved earlier by Sen and Goel (1981). Additionally,
Sen and Jayesh (1990) found that introverts have significantly longer
response latencies than extraverts under all the signal presentation proba-
bility conditions as predicted in the context of ’Random Walk Model’
(Link, 1975). These studies clearly reveal that efficiency in a signal
detection task involving identification of vis al targets is functio-
nally related with personality types of individuals,
because of
their differential arousal levels, and sensitivity (do.). Linked with
the sensitivity measure (d‘), the response criterion is also an important
factor for differentiating between introverts and extraverts. Introverts
did set a higher criterion point for their responses; and their ROC
curves were also located uniformally higher than those for extraverts.
The rate of performance of introverts was also more stable under
different experimental conditions than that of extraverts whose
performances were easily vulnerable under the more stringent
condition.
Thus TSD methodology can be gainfully used in differentiating
between personality types.

Concluding Comments
ts .

These findings suggest that a standard methodology can be evolved

for the measurement of different aspects of cognitive function-
ing and personality. It is possible to tap intelligence, irrespective of
one’s background or special experieiice or training. Such informa-
tion could be painfully used for comparison purposes in counselling,
screening, selection and training of groups of individuals. Brand
(1987) has offered an explanation for the massive increase in IQ
scores across generations observed by Flynn (1987) after using

culture fair tests and third intelligence. Brand remarked (p.110):

increasing permissiveness, liberalism and extraversion of the

&dquo;advanced&dquo; economics which may have given their progeny a
special boost on culture-fair IQ tests. Such tests are often given
under time limits that hardly encourage reflections; and of course,
they were not designed to credit the assiduous application, accu-
racy, attention to detail, organization and feats of memory that

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216/

might once have favoured the educated classes. IQ tests were

designed to penetrate such artificialities, so it is, perhaps, not
surprising if they now record gains as education takes a less
meticulous form in which speed and intelligent guessing receive
encouragement in the class room. Comparison of secular trends
on different types of intelligence tests would allow evaluation of
this possibility.

Elsewhere Phondke (1987, p. 6) also observed: ,

Education these days has taken a less meticulous form in which

reasoning, reflection and attention to detail are relegated to a
secondary place. Instead, speed and calculated guess work are
encouraged both in the, class rooms and examinations. Even the
entrance tests to prestigious institutions of higher learning are no
different. In view of the serious lacunae in the method of testing,
the record scores in these public examinations do not give any
reason to rejoice. Instead they should make us sit up and reflect
with a great deal of concern.

Assessment of IQ by tests, etc., often gets contaminated not only

because of the nature of the tests developed, but also because of
personality and situational variables. Therefore, chronometric
analysis of mental processes using simpler techniques such as RT
and IT measures would yield a more reliable index of intellectual
capacity as they appear to be intimately related with fundamental
mental processes, and are less likely to be affected by cultural bias
and similar other problems.
A sophisticated technology exists today; however, methodological
issues concerning information processing speed and intelligence
need to be thoroughly examined. The nature of the relationship of
RT or IT to more elemental physiological variables, such as average
evoked potentials, critical flicker fusion frequency also needs to be
worked out. Contemporary research linking IQ and mental speed
to a direct measure of the electrophysiological activities of the brain

(Hendrickson & Hendrickson, 1980) is, indeed, promising.

In the field of personality and perception, the TSD framework
allows estimates of the effects of either independently derived
personality variables or stimulus variables on the perceptual system
or the response system of the observer.

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Eysenck (1971) has focused on the possibility that extraverts

exhibited greater reactive inhibition which different from that
was

expressed by introverts in the level of arousal. He also postulated

the physiological mechanisms which underlie the two dimensions of
personality. As defined by Eysenck, the basic difference between
the two is biological, rooted in the reticular activity system of the
brain. The system controls the arousal level of the cortex of the brain.
Extraverts and introverts are supposed to differ in the relative
strength of the opposing processes of excitation and inhibition such
that introverts typically have higher levels of cortical arousal com-
pared to extraverts. Thus, the high level of arousal in introverts
indicated that they possess a weak nervous system which was identi-
fied by Gray to be as indication of high sensitivity.
It is clear that a beginning has been made in the direction of the
possibility of gainfully using relevant constructs and techniques for
the measurement of intelligence and other cognitive functioning and
assessment of personality, as alternatives to psychological testing.

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Anima Sen is Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi. She

has done extensive work in the area of mental retardation.

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