Sarah Bagher 2009
Mental Retardation:
In order to be diagnosed as a person with mental retardation, the person has to have
significantly low IQ (below 70) and significant limitations in two or more areas of
adaptive behavior and evidence that the limitations became apparent before the age
of18.
The adaptive behavior is how well a person can deal with the tasks of everyday life.
They include the ability to speak and understand; home-living skills; use of community
resources; self-care, and social skills; self-direction; basic academic skills (reading,
writing).
The Intelligence levels are usually measured by special tests called intelligence tests.
Which provide a numerical ranking of a person's mental abilities. That ranking is called
an IQ. In general, a person with an IQ score of less than 70 is said to be retarded.
Symptoms:
The symptoms usually appear early in life. Children with the disorder tend to develop
more slowly than normal. Mental retardation is accompanied by other symptoms as well.
These symptoms include aggression, a tendency toward self-injury, and personality
changes.
Learning Disabilities:
Learning disabilities are disorders that affect the ability to understand or use spoken or
written language, do mathematical calculations, coordinate movements, or direct
attention. Although learning disabilities occur in very young children, the disorders are
usually not recognized until the child reaches school age.
The uses of IQ tests have shown that there is no apparent and conclusive proof of a
learning disability.
IQ

In 1904, Alfred Binet designed a method to separate mentally subnormal children
from the normal ones. The system is called “Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale”. He
wanted to measure the mental age (the current level of mental development) of
the subjects to classify them as normal or special children.
He warned: The scale does not permit the measure of intelligence.”

William Stern, German psychologist, agreed with Alfred Binet that IQ test scales
can’t measure human intelligence.
He said if mental age of a child is divided by his chronological age, the result shall
express ratio of his intelligence in his age group.
 Father an American translated and adopted Binet-Simon IQ test scale. He ignored
Binet’s warnings and believed intelligence is a fixed measurable entity which
people get by their birth. He used IQ tests scales to prove validity of his
philosophy. His bias shaped the translation and led people to accept IQ . . . as a
definitive, permanent representation of a person’s quality.
IQ tests only measure "the ability." .Because any test that measures the writing skills,
reading skills, math skills, etc is NOT an intelligence test, but an *ACHIEVEMENT*
test.
There are countless numbers of IQ tests available. The main ones in use include:
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale WISC-IV (children) WAIS-III (by far the most
commonly used)
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
IQ test is broken down into 15 sub tests, comprising the verbal (seven sub tests) and
performance scales (seven sub tests). Does not require reading or writing
FOR CHILDREN, for children without disabilities
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC, 6-16 yrs) and the Wechsler
Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI, 2 1/2-7yrs) are used.
IN CASE OF DISAPILITIES,
In Autism, a comprehensive Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence (TONI).The test looks
more directly at what children know — not at how well children can use language to
communicate what they know. What's more, the test is administered nonverbally.
In blind children, many psychologists are using the Wechsler Verbal Scale; some also
qualitatively describe non-verbal ability by observing braille reading, and other
manipulative tasks.
To scan samples
quickly and make
judgments ( evaluate
mental problem
solving )
Listen to questions and
give spoken answer to
them (evaluate the
understanding to verbal
information, and using
word to express the
thought
To learn and retain
information in memory,
while utilizing the learned
information to complete a
task( evaluate the attention
,concentration, mental
reasoning)
To examine and think
about things like pictures,
and solve problems without
words.( evaluate working
speed, efficiency with no
verbal information)