Exhibition: Inside the box?
Measuring Intelligence for 100 Years.
How did IQ tests originate? What does an IQ test consist of? How have IQ tests and other aptitude tests influenced and been influenced by our perceptions of intelligence, abilities, and personality?
The exhibition INSIDE THE BOX? invites you to reflect on such questions. The exhibition showcases selected aptitude tests from a historical collection that belongs to the Department of Education at the University of Oslo.
These tests have been used in research and education, in the healthcare and judicial systems, in the military, and in the workplace. They are widespread, but their use has been controversial. Throughout their long history, the tests are linked to debates about nature versus nurture, segregation versus integration, categorization versus accommodation.
The tests in the exhibition are products of both scientific and commercial interests. They have borrowed elements from each other and come in new versions. They have traveled between countries and been adapted to local contexts. However, one characteristic remains unchanged: General aptitude tests frame intelligence, abilities, and personality, placing us either inside or outside the box.
The exhibition has been on display at the University of Oslo since January 2023, and is now being moved to new premises at the Faculty of Educational Sciences. An expanded version of the exhibition will also be on display at the Historical Museum in Oslo in the fall of 2025.
