Theories of Intelligence

9 Key excerpts on "Theories of Intelligence"

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  eBook - ePub

  Intelligence and Learning

  • Nick Lund(Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 6

  Theories of Intelligence

  There is no doubt that, as a species, Homo sapiens are intelligent. During the course of our recent evolution we have evolved to have large brains and a very high EQ. Humans are a hugely inventive species that are able to solve complex problems. It is also evident that humans show intelligence in different spheres; some are gifted linguists, some are excellent musicians while others are talented in sport. The term intelligence potentially covers a wide range of possible activities and abilities. This makes it difficult to pinpoint what it is that constitutes intelligence. For example, it could include verbal abilities, numerical abilities, reasoning and social skills or none of these. In a review of the nature of intelligence, Carroll (1993) identified over 70 different abilities that were being assessed by various forms of intelligence tests. The complexity of concept and the question of what is human intelligence were examined briefly in Chapter 1 by exploring the layperson’s view. This chapter is concerned with psychologists’ Theories of Intelligence.

  This chapter will cover:

  Psychometric Theories of Intelligence

  Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences

  Information-processing approach: Anderson’s theory of minimal cognitive architecture

  Information-processing approach: Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

  Emotional intelligence

  Psychometric Theories of Intelligence

  The psychometric approach

  Psychometrics is concerned with the measurement of psychological variables. There are two aspects of the psychometric approach: the construction of tests to measure a variable and the development of theory about the measurements.

  The psychometric approach to intelligence assumes that intelligence can be measured and that there are individual differences in the level of intelligence. The first intelligence tests were developed by Binet and Simon in 1905 to assess which children might need special education. These early tests consisted of items that ranged in difficulty. When given to children of different ages the older children were able to do more of the tasks than the younger children. Binet and Simon were able to establish norms for each age group. These norms represented a ‘mental age’, or what a child should be capable of at a given age. This could be used to assess whether a child was advanced or backward for their age. For example, if a 5-year-old child showed a mental age of 6 then they would be doing better than the norm for their age. However, if a 6-year-old child showed a mental age of 5 then they would be behind the norm for their age.

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  Handbook of Intelligence

  • Robert J. Sternberg(Author)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  PART I THE NATURE OP INTELLIGENCE The Concept of intelligence ROBERT J. STERNBERG Looked at in one way, everyone knows what intelli- gence is; looked at in another way, no one does. Put another way, people all have conceptions - which also are called folk theories or implicit theories - of intelligence, but no one knows for certain what it actually is. This chapter addresses how people con- ceptualize intelligence, whatever it may actually be. WHY CONCEPTIONS OF INTELLIGENCE MATTER Why should we even care what people think intelli- gence is as opposed only to valuing whatever it ac- tually is? There are at least four reasons people's con- ceptions of intelligence matter. First, implicit Theories of Intelligence drive the way in which people perceive and evaluate their own intelligence and that of others. To better un- derstand the judgments people make about their own and others' abilities, it is useful to learn about people's implicit theories. For example, parents' im- plicit theories of their children's language develop- ment will determine at what ages they will be will- ing to make various corrections in their children's speech. More generally, parents' implicit Theories of Intelligence will determine at what ages they believe their children are ready to perform various cognitive tasks. Job interviewers will make hiring decisions on the basis of their implicit Theories of Intelligence. People will decide who to date on the basis of such theories. In sum, knowledge about implicit Theories of Intelligence is important because this knowledge is so often used by people to make judgments in the course of their everyday lives. Second, implicit theories of scientific investigators ultimately give rise to their explicit theories. It thus is useful to find out what these implicit theories are. Implicit theories provide a framework, or lay of the land, that is useful in defining the general scope of a phenomenon - especially a not-well-understood phenomenon.

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  Developmental and Educational Psychology for Teachers

  An applied approach

  • Dennis McInerney, David Putwain(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  In this chapter we consider the psychometric appoach to intelligence. The psychometric approach is quite different from Piagetian and Vygotskian perspectives as the emphasis is one of measuring the intellectual capacity of individuals relative to others of the same age. It seeks to define and quantify dimensions of intelligence, primarily through the collection of data on individual differences and through the construction of reliable and valid mental tests (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2011; Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008; Furnham et al., 2005). There is no attention given to the processes by which children become ‘intelligent’ which is the focus of both Piaget and Vygotsky.

  We also discuss some alternative theories that describe intelligence as multifaceted and finally we consider giftedness and creativity and relate these personal characteristics to conceptions of intellignece and intelligent behaviour. The following website provides further information on key themes covered in this chapter: http://intelltheory.com/index.shtml

  Psychometrics and intelligence

  While the issues of importance to Piaget related to the nature of, when, and how individuals acquired increasingly sophisticated capacities for thinking, and Vygotsky was most interested in the issue of the social construction of learning and the role it plays in individuals developing as thinkers and knowers, the issues of importance in the psychometric approach relate to designing measurements of intellectual capacity and whether such measurements can be used to predict later intellectual performance. The psychometric approach is also concerned with meaningfully comparing the intelligence of individuals, what factors make up intelligence, and whether these factors change with age? (De Ribaupierre & Lecerf, 2006; Shayer, 2008).

  QUESTION POINT

  At this point it is useful to ask yourself to define intelligence. What do you understand by intelligence? How is it demonstrated? How does it develop? What is intelligent behaviour related to?

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  Personality and Individual Differences

  • Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • BPS Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  Most evidence for practical intelligence has derived from lay beliefs about intelligence rather than objective psychometric measures. To some extent these theories are important on their own, as “subjective” beliefs about one’s ability and performance need not be accurate to have a significant impact on one’s intel- lectual performance. Thus differential psychologists have tended to focus on the academic aspects of intellectual ability, such as the prediction of school and uni- versity performance by psychometric tests requiring participants to solve mental problems, whereas laypeople seem solely to highlight the importance of practical abilities. In one of the first sets of studies to examine implicit Theories of Intelligence, Sternberg et al. (1981; see also Sternberg, 1985a) found that lay beliefs about intel- ligence could be classified according to three major clusters; namely, verbal ability (which coincides with one of the abilities identified by most IQ researchers), practical problem solving, and social competence. This pattern of results was also replicated when teachers were asked to identify and evaluate the most important aspects of their stu- dents’ abilities, in both primary and high school. There are also marked cultural dif- ferences in conceptions of intelligence, with Eastern cultures emphasizing spiritual, practical, and interpersonal skills more than their Western counterparts and those aspects of intelligence related to academic performance (typically measured through IQ tests). This probably illustrates the impact of Eastern philosophies and religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, which value not only individual capacity, such as fluid intelligence, but also determination and effort as well as subjective beliefs such as confidence and moral strength.

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  Otto Selz

  His Contribution to Psychology

  • Nico H. Frijda, Adriaan D. de Groot, Nico H. Frijda, Adriaan D. de Groot(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  In this vein psychologists often state, for instance: 'Scientifically, we know hardly anything about intelligence, not even whether it exists'. In my opinion, such statements express a narrow-minded attitude based on scientific overpretentiousness, in the guise of scientific modesty. I counter such remarks by saying: 'We know quite well what intelligence is—if we will only take off our blinkers.' A good theory, then, on subjects like intelligence can only be designed by also taking into account what can be learned by 'looking around'—for instance, at research in such areas as learn-ing in school, creative processes, chess thinking, information processing, and problem solving generally; as well as by looking at what can be derived from general experience: direct, communal observational and introspective evidence, knowledge crystallized in linguistic usage, etc. O f course no one can cover all this ground; but the point is that we must counter a current mode of theorizing that is deliberately 'counterintuitive' and consequently wrong, since already refuted at its first formulation by what we know, or could know, if we would take off our blinkers. Qjf. How are we to define a socially and culturally relevant concept like 'intelligence' as a person attribute? Not by shifting as quickly as possible to its behavioral 278 Adriaan D. de Groot manifestations, that is, to how it is operationalized or measured. We would do better first to stop and think about what we really mean by it—given the broad information provided by 'looking around' (Q3, A3). I call this: the concept-as-intended. This concept-as-intended must be taken seriously in its own right, as a functional theoretical conception—to cover what we have had good reasons to intend it to cover.

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  The Nature of Intelligence and Its Development in Childhood

  • Robert J. Sternberg(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  What they do not offer is a comprehensive account of how intelligence interacts with the environment. Systems conceptions do that. 5 Systems Conceptions of Intelligence Systems conceptions of intelligence and its development deal with intelligence as systems of interaction between the individual and the environment rather than as a fixed set of factors, mental processes, or parts of the brain. Two major theories have been proposed to date: the theory of multiple intelligences, and the theory of successful intelligence. 5.1 Howard Gardner ’ s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Not all Theories of Intelligence have been based exclusively on psychometric data. Howard Gardner (1983, 2011) proposed a different kind of theory, which he referred to as a theory of multiple intelligences (MI theory). 26 Child Development Gardner claimed that the reason why investigators had not successfully targeted what intelligence actually is is because it is not one thing; rather, it is multiple things. There is no one intelligence; rather, there are eight distinct and relatively independent intelligences. These are not like eight factors precisely because, according to MI theory, they are independent systems rather than merely abilities subordinate to general intelligence. Thus, in Gardner ’ s theory, the intelligences are not hierarchical – arrayed under general intelligence – but rather each is an independent system of functioning with its own activated modules in the brain and its own symbol system by which it is represented. Each child has a distinct system of mental functioning for each intelligence. According to Gardner, the eight intelligences are: 1. Linguistic intelligence. This is the intelligence that is used to read, write, listen, and speak. Its symbol system is words. It is one of the eight intelli- gences that is measured, although not fully adequately, by many intelligence tests, in that most of them contain at least some verbal content.

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  Intelligence, Mind, and Reasoning

  Structure and Development

  • A. Demetriou, A. Efklides(Authors)
  • 1994(Publication Date)
  • North Holland

    (Publisher)

  While the information processing approaches undoubtedly revived the study of intelligence and produced fruits of their own, and other approaches may promise some harvest to come, there is no reason to throw away the obtained and obtainable harvest on the old field. In fact, the dishes that have been served to us, even quite recent ones, have always included many ingrediances from the psychometric field - whether the cooks were aware of it or not - and future dishes are likely to need such ingrediances as well. REFERENCES Baron, J. (1978).The word-superiority effect:Perceptual learning from reading. In W.K. Estes (ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes, Vol. 6 (pp. 131-166).Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Cattell, R.B. (1971). Abilities:Their structure, growth, and action. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Ceci, S.J. (1990a). On Intelligence - more or less: A bioecological treatise on intellectual development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Ceci, S.J. (1990b). On the relation between microlevel processing efficiency and macrolevel measures of intelligence: Some arguments against current reductionism. Intelligence, 14,141-150. Eysenck, H.J. (1986). The theory of intelligence and the psychophysiology of cognition. In R.J. Sternberg (ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence, Vol3. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gardner, H. (1983).Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. Gustafsson, J.E. (1984).A unifying model for the structure of intellectual abilities. Intelligence, 8,179-203. Gustafsson, J.E. (1988).Hierarchical models of individual differences in cognitive abilities. In R.J. Sternberg (ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gustafsson, J.E. & Undheim, J.O. (in press). Changes in broad and narrow factors of intelligence:Stability of factors, developmental relations among factors, and changes relative to verbal activities in 12-15year-olds.

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  The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence

  • Robert J. Sternberg(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  In its less common meaning, intelligence has to do with a body of information and knowledge. This second meaning is implicated in the titles of certain government organizations, such as the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States and its British counter- parts MI5 and MI6. Both meanings are invoked by the concept of social intelligence. But, from Thorndike and Guilford to Gardner and Goleman and beyond, social intelligence research and theory have been predicated almost exclusively on what might be called the ability view. Cantor and Kihlstrom offered an alternative knowledge view of social intelligence that refers simply to the individual’ s fund of knowledge about the social world (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1987, 1989; Kihlstrom & Cantor, 1989, 2000, 2011). In contrast to the ability view of social intelligence, the knowledge view does not conceptualize social intelli- gence as a trait, or group of traits, on which individuals can be compared and ranked on a dimension from low to high. Rather, the knowledge view begins with the assumption that social behavior is intelligent – that it is mediated by what the person knows and believes to be the case and by cognitive processes of perception, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving, rather than being mediated by innate reflexes, conditioned responses, evolved genetic programs, and the like. Accordingly, the social intelligence view con- strues individual differences in social behavior – the public manifestations of person- ality – to be the product of individual differences in the knowledge that individuals bring to bear on their social interactions. Differences in social knowledge cause differences in social behavior but it does not make sense to construct measures of social IQ.

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  Learning Psychology NQF4 SB

  TVET FIRST

  • N Horn P Huygen(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person ’ s intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Howard Gardner came up with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. He based his theory on studies that were conducted on normal children and adults, as well as: gifted individuals (including • so-called ‘ savants ’ ) The Multiple Intelligences Theory of Learning Module 5 savant: a person affected with a mental disability (such as autism or mental retardation) who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (such as mathematics or music) Words & Terms 64 persons who have suffered brain damage • experts • individuals from diverse cultures. • Gardner ’ s research led him to break intelligence down into at least eight different categories: visual-spatial 1. verbal-linguistic 2. logical-mathematical 3. musical-rhythmic 4. bodily-kinaesthetic 5. intrapersonal 6. interpersonal 7. naturalist. 8. According to Gardner, traditional psychometric intelligence quotient (IQ) tests address only linguistic and logical components of intelligence, plus some aspects of spatial intelligence, while completely ignoring other forms of intelligence. Gardner also maintains that the paper-and-pencil format of most tests rules out many kinds of intelligent performance that matter in everyday life, such as social intelligence. 5 .2 Multiple intelligences Gardner proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983 to define more accurately the concept of intelligence. He said: I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions.

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