Mental age

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Mental age is a controversial concept in psychometrics. It is an intelligence test score, expressed as the chronological age for which a given level of performance is average or typical.

[edit] How mental age is used to derive an IQ score

After taking a standardized test, an individual's mental age is divided by his chronological age and multiplied by 100, yielding an intelligence quotient (IQ). Thus, a subject whose mental and chronological ages are identical has an IQ of 100, or average intelligence.

Louis Leon Thurstone was among prominent critics, stating "The Mental Age concept is a failure in that it leads to ambiguities and inconsistencies."

[edit] References

• Thurstone LL. The Mental Age Concept. Psychological Review 33 (1926): 268-278.