Kejue and Ability Testing in China

Although the first standardized intelligence test can be credited to the work of Alfred Binet at the start of the 20th century, the earliest forms of ability testing can be traced back to ancient China, around 2200 BCE (Wainer, 1987). These were the kejue examinations, which were civil service assessments of the emperor’s officials to evaluate their suitability for their respective positions (Higgins & Sun, 2002; Wainer, 1987). Over time, the testing procedures developed with the changing assumptions about which skills and abilities constituted intelligence and aptitude. At the start of the Chan dynasty (~1100 BCE), formal testing involved an evaluation of the ‘6 Arts’, which were music, archery, horsemanship, writing, arithmetics, and rites and ceremonies (Higgins & Sun, 2002). During the Han dynasty (202 BCE–200 CE), testing involved written examinations in the ‘5 studies’, which were civil law, military law, agriculture, revenue/taxation, and geography. Under the Sui dynasty (7th century CE), a national testing system was established and involved a variety of methods (e.g., written essay, oral examination) and topics (e.g., Confucian classics, poetry, antonyms & homonyms). This system was used until the end of the Qing Dynasty and was officially terminated in 1905. Interestingly, the system instituted by British reformers for their selection of Indian civil service recruits in 1833 was modelled after China’s civil service examinations (Wainer, 1987). Moreover, US Congressional representative, Thomas Jenckes, referenced both the British and Chinese systems for the development of merit-based hiring systems in the US, which prompted the establishment of the Civil Service Act in 1883.

Another early example of classification through intelligence “measures” is that of Confucius (551–479 BCE), an esteemed Chinese philosopher and educator (Higgins & Sun, 2002). Confucius believed that individuals should receive unique education catered to their intellectual ability and personality characteristics. Thus, he categorized his students by their intelligence levels and identified their key personality traits when formulating the teaching methods that would benefit them most. Another influential thinker, Mencius (327–289 BCE), emphasized the importance of quantitative measurements of psychological traits around the 3rd century BCE, an idea that would become the foundation of psychometric testing in the early 20th century. Shortly thereafter, philosopher Liu Shao published the text Ren Wu Zhi (245 CE), in which he provided his own methods of assessment and appraisal of personality, emphasizing the fundamental role of behavioural observation in psychological assessment. Liu’s assertions about behaviour significantly reflect modern beliefs about psychological testing, and his book was translated into English in 1937 under the title, Research About Human Beings’ Ability.

By the 6th century CE, scholar Liu Xie designed what some Chinese psychologists consider to be the ‘actual’ first psychological test (Higgins & Sun, 2002). Liu’s test consisted of participants drawing different shapes with each hand simultaneously, which demonstrated that people cannot successfully multitask. This measure significantly resembles Binet’s “distraction test”, which was developed toward the end of the 19th century. There is also evidence of developmental testing in young children around the 6th century CE, such as the tradition of testing children at one year of age to inform predictions about their potential intelligence and personality (Zhang, 1988). Zhang (1988) also states that ancient Chinese puzzles provide early evidence of psychological testing. During the Song dynasty (960–1277 CE), one such puzzle was the ‘7 Cleverness Board’, which consisted of 7 geometric shapes that individuals must rearrange to make various designs. This task probed spatial imagination, spatial reasoning ability, integrating ability, divergent thinking, and creativity, all aspects of modern non-verbal intelligence testing.

Modern Psychological Testing in China

Modern psychological testing was first introduced to China in 1915 by Creighton, a British scholar who used an English test translated into Chinese to measure the analytical ability and memory of Chinese children (Zhang, 1988). In 1918, the Chinese scholar Yu Ziyi published the first Chinese text on measurement in education, entitled [Calligraphy Scale for Primary Schools], and in 1921, professors Liao Shicheng and Chen Heqin of the Nanjing Normal College co-authored the text [Methods for measuring intelligence] (Higgings & Sun, 2002; Min & Xiuwen, 2001).

In 1923, the Educational Improvement Association of China carried out a national evaluation of elementary schools, leading to the development of new curricula and the improvement of teaching methods (Higgins & Sun, 2002). In 1924, Lu Zhiwei modified the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale and published a Chinese version of the scale, as educators observed that administering the original test to a Chinese population lead to results influenced by cultural differences (Higgings & Sun, 2002; Zhang, 1988). By the early 1930s, a Society for Psychological Testing and the academic journal [Testing] had been established (Higgings & Sun, 2002). In the following years, Western assessments were being translated into Chinese, and new tests were being developed for a variety of populations, including middle schoolers, college students, and business workers. These involved both intelligence and personality tests, as well as academic achievement tests. Psychological testing in China was flourishing up until the start of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937, which hindered the progressive development of this and many other fields of psychology. Moreover, when the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, the psychological measurement of individual differences was completely abandoned until after the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s. The renewed interest in and acknowledgement of the need for psychological testing has contributed to the regrowth of this field over the past half-century.

References

Higgins, L., & Sun, C. (2002). The development of psychological testing in China. International Journal of Psychology, 37, 246–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590244000025

Min, H., & Xiuwen, Y. (2001). Educational assessment in China: Lessons from history and future prospects. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 8, 5–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/09695940120033216

Wainer, H. (1987). The first four millennia of mental testing: From ancient China to the computer age. ETS Research Report Series, 1987, i–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2330-8516.1987.tb00238.x

Zhang, H. (1988). Psychological measurement in China. International Journal of Psychology, 23, 101–117. doi:10.1080/00207598808247755

Albert Sidney Beckham (1897–1964) (**SC)

Written by: Kowsiga Aravinthan

Although the origins of the field of school psychology have been documented, practitioners of colour have largely been excluded from this narrative. Albert Sidney Beckham is considered the first African American to hold the title of a school psychologist and made significant contributions to the field as a clinician and researcher.

Albert Beckham was born and raised in 1897 in Camden, South Carolina. In his childhood years, Beckham acquired a strong educational background from private Christian schools (Graves, 2009). At the age of 15, Beckham enrolled at Lincoln University as a scholarship student under Francis Sumner, who was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in psychology, Beckham enrolled at Ohio State University, where he not only received a second Bachelor’s degree, but also a Master’s degree in psychology. During his time at Ohio State Beckham applied to serve in the Air Force as the first World War broke out, but his application was rejected as these positions were reserved for white Americans. Instead, he was told to serve his country by becoming a War Professor of Psychology at Wilberforce University, which mainly taught African American students (Howard, 1976, as cited in Graves, 2009). After spending three years teaching at Wilberforce, he later relocated to New York to begin his doctoral study(Graves, 2009). In 1924, during his doctorate pursuit, Beckham was recruited to teach psychology at Howard University as an assistant professor. While there, Beckham taught all the psychology courses, many of them focusing on applied psychology. He also successfully founded the first psychological laboratory at Howard.

From the 1920s onwards, a majority of Beckham’s research focused on two areas: childhood behavioural disorders and intelligence testing (Graves, 2009). Using culturally appropriate procedures, which respond to the norms of the subject’s culture and their language skills, Beckham assessed the intelligence levels of African American children in order to debunk the common eugenics-based belief that African American children were inferior to European American children. Beckham received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from New York University’s School of Education in 1930 and became the third African American to receive a doctorate degree in psychology. Soon after, Beckham was offered a position at the Institute of Juvenile Research in Illinois, which was the first American clinic that focused on childhood disorders. Not only did Beckham administer tests in math and reading for education and employment purposes, but he also administered mental health assessments to children. After 5 years at the Institute, Beckham accepted a position in 1935, working as a school psychologist for the Chicago Public Schools. During his time there as a school psychologist, Beckham published over 20 articles in highly influential journals on various topics, such as the effects of counselling on high school students.

Beckham’s research was immensely relevant to the social issues of his times. Beckham and his colleagues performed intelligence testing and researched behavioural problems in African American children (Graves, 2009). For both of these fields of study, Beckham found that lower IQ scores or higher behavioural problems in African American children had nothing to do with race, but rather with the socio-economic status of the child’s family, the neighbourhood they live in and the schooling available to them.

By shedding light on the prejudiced psychological testing performed on African American children, Albert Sydney Beckham demonstrated the importance of diversity in psychology. His scientific methods of research and contributions laid the foundations for school psychology research today.

References

Intelligence Testing in Japan

Osaka (1961) states that the introduction of intelligence testing in Japan occurred in the early 1900’s, when Japanese psychiatrists translated the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test. Psychiatrists also began to develop their own methods for measuring intellectual ability, yet these methods were not yet well developed, and many still took heavy inspiration from Binet. As applied psychology began to gain popularity in Japan in the 1920s, intelligence testing was integrated into various fields, and perhaps most notably, into secondary school entrance examinations (Azuma, 1984; Osaka, 1961). In addition, many researchers began developing their own tests during this time, including group intelligence tests (Osaka, 1961). For example, the first large-scale group intelligence testing occurred in 1921, and measured the intelligence of middle schoolers. Unfortunately, the start of the Sino-Japanese war slowed the devolvement of intelligence testing in Japan, as objective intelligence tests were considered a Western influence. However, during this time, child and cross-cultural intelligence testing were further developed. For example, psychologist K. Tanaka measured the intelligence differences between Japanese and Manchurian children in a large cross-cultural study (Tanaka, 1936). After WWII, the influence of the Western occupiers in Japan led to the reintegration of intelligence testing into the country’s education system. Many Japanese researchers and scholars once again started developing different intelligence tests, and research on intelligence testing in Japan still prevails today.

References

Azuma, H. (1984). Psychology in a non-Western country. International Journal of Psychology, 19, 45–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207598408247514

Osaka, R. (1961). Intelligence test in Japan. Psychologia, 4(4), 218-234.

Tanaka, K. (1936). A comparative study on the intelligence of various kind of nations in the orient. Annu. Rep. of Tokyo Coli. of Arts and Sci.,12, 179.

Further Reading

Tatsuya, S. (2005). The early 20th century: Shaping the discipline of psychology in Japan. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5884.2005.00273.x.

Sheets, W.J. (2017) Mythology in 21st Century Japan: A Study of Ame no Uzume no Mikoto. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1500615882214031&disposition=inline

Contributors

• Emilia Flores Anaya
• Anmol Thind