Copyright
Håkon Aamot Caspersen; Jon Røyne Kyllingstad. Copyright of individual chapters are maintained by the chapter author(s).Published On
2026-03-02ISBN
Language
- English
Print Length
496 pages (xviii+478)Dimensions
Weight
Media
Funding
OCLC Number
1575989435LCCN
2025432285THEMA
- JMA
- JNDH
- MBX
- MKM
- PDX
- NHTB
- 1DNN
BISAC
- PSY042000
- HIS054000
- HIS010000
- EDU030000
- PSY015000
- SOC026000
- LAW041000
LCC
- BF431.5.N8
Keywords
- Intelligence Testing
- IQ History
- Psychological Assessment
- Norwegian Education
- Forensic Psychiatry
- Transnational Psychology
Historicizing IQ Testing
Intelligence Assessments and their Role in Norwegian Society from the 1900s to the Present
- Håkon Aamot Caspersen (editor)
- Jon Røyne Kyllingstad (editor)
Intelligence testing has shaped modern society in profound ways, influencing education, psychology, law, and governance. This volume offers the first comprehensive study of the history of IQ testing in a Nordic country, shedding new light on its development, adaptation, and societal impact in Norway.
By tracing the evolution of intelligence tests—from their role in schools and special education to forensic psychiatry and criminal law—the book uncovers the tensions surrounding their use. Are these tests instruments of empowerment or tools of control? How have they shaped access to education, healthcare, and legal rights?
A key focus of this study is the transnational movement of intelligence tests, particularly between Norway, the USA, and other Nordic nations. It explores how tests have been translated, adapted, standardized, and used, raising questions about their claims to measure universal intelligence.
This volume challenges assumptions about IQ testing, placing practices of testing and the tests themselves at the center of historical analysis. By examining the Norwegian case, it contributes fresh insights to international scholarship, offering a vital perspective on the global history of intelligence measurement. Essential reading for historians, psychologists, and educators, this book redefines our understanding of intelligence testing in a changing world.
Endorsements
Between the turn of the previous century and today, questions about human intelligence in Norway have played out in many of the same ways they have in the rest of the world. IQ has been put to use for good and ill, helping children in school and supporting horrific eugenic programs. This book follows the scientific history of Norwegian intelligence testing in fascinating detail. I learned a great deal.
Prof Eric Turkheimer
Univesity of Virginia
Additional Resources
Contents
- Håkon Aamot Caspersen
- Jon Røyne Kyllingstad
- Ageliki Lefkaditou
- Christian Ydesen
- Brit Marie Hovland
- Emma Vikström
- Linda Gröning
- Svein Atle Skålevåg
IQ Testing and Sterilization in Norway, 1930 to 1960
(pp. 131–158)- Per Haave
- Jon Røyne Kyllingstad
Tools of the Trade: Psychotechnics, IQ Testing and the Making of the Psychological Profession in Norway, 1925–1947
(pp. 159–188)- Isak Lønne Emberland
From Segregation to Integration and the Role of Testing in a Norwegian Educational Psychology Office, 1953–1980
(pp. 189–214)- Kari Ludvigsen
- Håkon Aamot Caspersen
‘Children Got Slightly Smarter with Fish for Lunch’: The WPPSI Test, Randomized Trials, and Optimized Kindergartens
(pp. 243–268)- Susanne Bauer
- Gard Paulsen
- Jon Røyne Kyllingstad
‘A Violation of the Child’s Integrity and of Parental Rights’: The 1959 Controversy on IQ Testing of Norwegian Schoolchildren
(pp. 337–362)- Fredrik W. Thue
- Kim Helsvig
Drawing Boundaries, Building Barriers: Twentieth-Century US and Norwegian Intelligence Testing from a Comparative Perspective
(pp. 401–442)- Jim W. Porter
IQ Testing, Education, Reification, and “Race” in Norway’s Social Democratic Welfare State
(pp. 443–458)- Jon Røyne Kyllingstad
- Håkon Aamot Caspersen
Afterword
(pp. 459–466)- Annette Mülberger
Contributors
Håkon Aamot Caspersen
(editor)Håkon Caspersen is a social anthropologist with a PhD from the University of St Andrews and currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the project Historicizing Intelligence at the Museum of University History/Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
Jon Røyne Kyllingstad
(editor)Jon Røyne Kyllingstad is a historian and associate professor at the University of Oslo, Museum of University History/Museum of Cultural History, where he is the leader of the research project Historicizing Intelligence, which this book is based upon. He is a specialist in the history of science and the history of academic institutions with a focus on Norway. He was previously head conservator at the Norwegian Museum of Technology. His last book Rase: en vitenskapshistorie [Race: a history of a science] sums up two decades of work on changing ideas about race, ethnicity and the nation, within physical anthropology, genetics, and humanities disciplines such as archaeology and history in Norway. Similar topics were also addressed in Measuring the Master Race, published by Open Book Publishers in 2014.