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Binet-Simon Scale

Binet-Simon Scale

8.7
A test that measures how smart a person is
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Escala Binet-Simon
  • The Binet-Simon Scale was revolutionary in assessing children's intelligence.

Examples

  • Teachers used the Binet-Simon Scale to identify students in need of special assistance.

  • Understanding the results of the Binet-Simon Scale can help parents support their child's learning.

  • Binet-Simon Scale

    Academic text (1990)

Surface Forms

Morphology

Binet-Simon + scale

The term combines a proper-name label ('Binet-Simon') that carries no lexical meaning for learners with the generic noun 'scale' (size/measure). Knowing the words 'Binet-Simon' and 'scale' would not allow a B1 learner to infer that this is a specific standardized intelligence test; the meaning depends on historical/world knowledge, so it is opaque.

Etymology

Binet-Simon Scale is named after French psychologists Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon, who made a set of simple tasks that worked like a measuring scale for children's thinking. They used these tasks to give each child a 'mental age', so that's why the name means the first test to measure intelligence.