What term refers to a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others using numerical scores?

• A. General intelligence (g)
• B. Intelligence test
• C. Factor analysis
• D. Savant syndrome

Answer: (B)

Measuring mental aptitudes and comparing them to others using numerical scores is done with an intelligence test. This kind of assessment is designed to gauge a range of cognitive abilities—such as memory, verbal skill, reasoning, and processing speed—and to convert performance into standardized numbers. Those numbers place an individual within a reference distribution, letting you see how they compare to a normative group, often expressed as an IQ or other scaled score.

General intelligence (g) is a theoretical idea about overall cognitive ability that underlies performance across many tasks, not the tools used to measure it. Factor analysis is a statistical method used to uncover patterns in test data and identify underlying factors, not the method of assessment itself. Savant syndrome describes a rare condition where someone has extraordinary ability in a narrow area, which is unrelated to how mental abilities are measured on a standardized test. So the best fit for the description is an intelligence test.