Binet-Kamat Test of Intelligence (BKT)

A clinician's overview of the Binet-Kamat Test of Intelligence (BKT), the classic Indian adaptation of the Stanford-Binet scale. What it measures, how it yields a mental age and IQ, and its place in Indian practice.

What it is

The Binet-Kamat Test is an Indian adaptation of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, developed by V.V. Kamat in the 1930s and 1940s for Indian children. It uses an age-scale format: a graded series of tasks arranged by the age at which most children pass them, yielding a mental age and, from that, an intelligence quotient.

It covers verbal and non-verbal tasks such as vocabulary, memory, comprehension and reasoning, and remains one of the long-established Indian intelligence tests.

Who it is for

It is used with Indian children and young people, for questions about intellectual functioning and developmental level, including assessment of intellectual disability and giftedness.

It is administered individually by a trained psychologist, following the standardised order and stopping rules of an age-scale test.

How it is administered

The examiner establishes a basal age where all tasks are passed, then continues until a ceiling where tasks are consistently failed, deriving a mental age. IQ is calculated from mental age relative to chronological age.

The materials and manual are obtained through the publisher; the specific items are not circulated openly.

Use in India

The BKT was one of the first intelligence tests standardised for Indian children, originally in Kannada and Marathi, and is still used in Indian clinical and educational settings, especially where an Indian-normed, age-scale measure is preferred. Clinicians consider the age of the norms when interpreting results.

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Citation and sources

Kamat, V.V. (1934, 1967). Measuring Intelligence of Indian Children. Oxford University Press.

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (overview) — Wikipedia

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