The intelligence testing world is being "flattened" - The World is Flat

There is little doubt (IMHO) that the buzz surrounding one of the current top best selling non-fiction books, "The World is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century" by Thomas L. Friedman, is appropriate.

Im only 70+ pages in to the book and I must say that Friedman's thesis regarding the impact of globalization on the world is very interesting. His thoughts on the "ten forces that flattened the world" are very thought provoking. In his discussion of Flattener # 3 (Work Flow Software), he quotes (in the context of the impact of the development of standard internet protocols) Joel Crawley, the head of IBM's strategic planning unit, as stating that:

• "Standards don't eliminate innovation, they just allow you to focus it. They allow you to focus on where the real value lies, which is usually everything you can add above and beyond the standard" (p. 76).

Of course, being of unstill mind, I extrapolated the definition of standards to a much broader level and have tentatively applied it to the increasing recognition (and adoption) of the CHC framework as the leading psychometric taxonomy from which to conceptualize, measure, and interpret intelligence tests (see my prior CHC bandwagon proclamation post). That is, we now have a common standard theoretical framework and nomenclature around which to focus applied intelligence testing and development work.

Thus, if my late night extrapolation/generalization has any merit, and if I'm correct in my conclusion/prediction that most test developers are (or will) jump on some variation of the CHC bandwagon in the near future (if not already), we in the field of applied psychometric intelligence testing now have the CHC standard.

If true, the logical prediction follows that as more-and-more intelligence batteries adopt a CHC framework, the real innovation in intelligence testing will come from those who add "value" and those who produce instruments that "add above and beyond the standard."

You heard it first here...the recognition of the CHC cognitive ability framework may be a key world flattening event in the world of intelligence test development. Value added instruments which provide more than CHC construct valid measures will be what folks will be asking for and what test developers need to focus on.