Personality testing is another area to which traditional behaviorism never connected. That would be expected in the absence of a theory by which to do so. Psychological behaviorism’s theory of personality, however, as composed of basic behavioral repertoires, provides the bridging theory. This can be illustrated by example. In PB what is called the individual’s intelligence is composed of some of the basic behavioral repertoires the individual has learned (see Staats, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1975, 1996, 2002; Staats & Burns, 1981). Analysis of items on intelligence tests show that various basic language repertoires are measured—such as the repertoires necessary if the child is to follow instructions. A child who has learned those language repertoires richly will score better than a child whose learning has been poor in that area, and on many items. Staats & Burns (1981) have directly shown that training preschool children on basic behavioral repertoires—not on intelligence test items themselves—will raise the IQ scores of the children. This theory, the analyses, and the empirical demonstration indicate that what intelligence is could be fully explained and produced in children. Specialized work in this area is called for.

The theory of intelligence testing also indicates why it is that intelligence tests predict school performance. The reason is that the basic behavioral repertoires that result in success on IQ tests are also repertoires that make for success in the classroom. With reference to the above example, the language repertoires that enable the child to follow directions on the IQ test also enable the child to follow the teacher’s instructions and hence to learn. Various other psychological tests are analyzed in terms of the BBRs they measure (see Staats, 1996, chapt. 6).

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