Alfred Binet

1 7.1

A French psychologist who created the first IQ test to measure intelligence

proper noun
/ˈælfrəd bɪˈneɪ/

: Alfred Binet

The pioneering psychologist Alfred Binet developed the first IQ test.

Examples

Many consider Alfred Binet the father of modern intelligence testing.
The research of Alfred Binet greatly influenced educational psychology.
Alfred Binet's methods remain foundational in contemporary psychological assessment.
Did Alfred Binet really create the first intelligence test?
Alfred Binet's methods remain foundational in contemporary psychological assessment.
Many consider Alfred Binet the father of modern intelligence testing.
The research of Alfred Binet greatly influenced educational psychology.

Surface Forms

Alfred Binet main

Morphology

Alfred + Binet

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; knowing the constituent tokens 'Alfred' and 'Binet' (which are names with no descriptive lexical content) does not allow a learner to infer that he was a French psychologist or inventor of the IQ test. The meaning depends on world/encyclopedic knowledge rather than compositional word meaning, so it is not derivable by a B1 learner from the parts.

Etymology

Alfred Binet was a French psychologist who created the first practical 'IQ test' to help teachers see which children needed extra help. Because he built that test, his name is tied to modern 'intelligence testing' and the idea of measuring people's mental skills.