Psychologists use ___ to assess individuals' mental aptitudes and compare them with those of others?

The use of intelligence tests is fundamental in psychology for assessing individuals' mental aptitudes. These tests are designed to measure a range of cognitive abilities, including reasoning, problem-solving, and comprehension, providing a quantifiable way to evaluate an individual's intellectual capabilities. By standardizing the assessment process, intelligence tests allow psychologists to compare an individual’s scores against normative data from a broader population, ensuring that the results are meaningful and contextually relevant.

Such tests help identify individual strengths and weaknesses, facilitate educational placements, and sometimes inform treatment decisions in clinical settings. The standardized nature of intelligence tests means that they can yield reliable and valid results, which are critical for practical applications in educational and clinical psychology.