Intelligence is the sum of evolutionary ability. The testing of these capabilities can be limited by the race and culture of the individual under assessment; consequently, debate concerning the viability of IQ tests has persisted continuously. Culture fair tests were initially developed prior to World War I in order to gauge ability levels of immigrants and other individuals who could not speak English; as a result, over the last twenty years, culture-fair tests of mental ability have gained in popularity and ubiquity. In 1968, Taylor maintained "there are "culture free" tests which measure intelligence without putting a premium on education or other cultural factors." Aspects to be analyzed cautiously in consideration of an absolute answer to the question posed include: the workings of current IQ tests and the regional/cultural problems that arise, past research observing cultural differences, methods posed to overcome these cultural biases and the validity of a mixture of current culture fair tests. While assessing an intelligence test's culture fairness, a decision on the validity of Taylor's work must be made. The aforementioned problems with intelligence tests are associated with regional as well as cultural endeavors and both of these factors should be scrutinized carefully to come to a conclusion regarding the culture fair validity of any intelligence test. Initially, however, in order to discern whether current commercially available IQ tests are culture fair, it is imperative to understand their mechanisms. Galton first derived IQ tests (1869) by utilizing an existing theory of intelligence to construct a test that was designed to measure "intelligent behavior." Galton's tests were deemed erroneous however, as they failed to concur with independent speculations that were accurately made regarding intelligence; consequently, a different approach was developed by Binet(1905-1911), an American psychologist.
