IQ testing’s inventor never intended it to measure fixed innate intelligence

Evidence

From the beginning, Binet insisted that the test was valid only for measuring the weaknesses of pupils who were already performing inadequately, not for predicting who might perform inadequately. He always denied that it could be used for the latter purpose. In fact, writes University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of law and bioethics Pilar Ossario, “[Binet] rejected the notion that his test measured a person’s inborn or fixed cognitive ability. He also declined to use his test to rank individuals according to cognitive ability.”27 — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 147

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 147
• XREF: connects to: Intelligence is malleable and shaped by environment, not fixed by heredity — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 54; Testing policy alone, not genetics, determines who is labeled gifted — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 87