Understanding the Roles of Intelligence

Understanding the Roles of Intelligence

David D Martin

Fort Valley State University

Understanding the Roles of Intelligence

 In current times, intelligence and IQ test has begun to play a major role in society. It has become a large factor in what schools you can attend, which jobs you can have, and perception of populations in society. The matter of intelligence is a very debatable in the field of psychology. The three main topics of dispute are the definition and measurement (2009).

  A common question that is raised about intelligence is “How do we define intelligence?” Defining intelligence is a complex task because it is constantly put into question of whether a test can measure all of the capability of a person. The answer relies solely on what basis the researcher is observing. Defining intelligence can be difficult because intelligence is associated with a broad variety of categories. 

Theories of Intelligence

Three crucial intelligence theories have surfaced within the past century. These theories are Spearman’s Theory of General Intelligence, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory, and Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (2011).

   Spearman’s Theory of General Intelligence

 British psychologist Charles Spearman . (2016) presented intelligence as a general cognitive ability, “g”, consisting of seven factors that could be measured, correlated with one another, and numerically expressed (Cherry, 2011). Using ‘factor analyses, Spearman concluded

 Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

In opposition Spearman’s theory, Gardner contended that a numerical depiction of intelligence was an incomplete and inaccurate depiction of an one’s mental ability and proposed a theory of ‘multiple intelligences’ with seven separate intelligences covering a broad range of culturally-diverse skills and that performance in one factor was highly connected with performance in another (Cherry, 2011).  

            Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

Sternberg (2003) stated intelligence was a "mental activity directed toward purpose adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one's life.” Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory stated that only three essential intelligences exist. They are analytical, academic, and problem solving), creative, and practical intelligences. Howard, Gardner differs in the reference to intelligence. He suggests eight independent intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal and natural.

History

Intelligence testing as it stands today is the result of long and strenuous struggle to devise means and instruments for measuring the depths of intellectual capacity. A large amount of acknowledgement is due to Binet who made a scale of measurement in 1905.Binet created

At the beginning of the World War I, The US army needed to recruit a vast amount of recruits. In 1917, Robert Yerkes created Army Alpha and Beta tests (Goodwin, 2008).The assessments were performed on more than two million soldiers in order to help the army choose which type of rankings each man would receive (Sadeh, Hayden, McGuire & Sachs 1994). After the war ended, IQ tests remained in use in a variety of circumstances. Psychologist even continued to use the use IQ tests to immigrants entering the US. Findings exhibited that a large number of immigrants were scoring low on IQ tests. This consequently resulted in biased view about entire populations, and caused restrictions to be placed on immigrants (Kamin, 1982). Goddard, Terman, and Yerkes believed that intelligence was primarily genetic and the environment had little to do with a person's overall abilities (Goodwin, 2008).

In most cases, intelligence tests used are not culturally unbiased. For example, in order to do well on an IQ test in Spanish, you would have to be able fluently talk in Spanish. In addition, immigrants have had a smaller amount schooling, and they tend to have a reduced amount of developed test skills. Therefore, the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) was constructed by Raymond B. Cattell, PhD, in an attempt to produce a measure of cognitive abilities that accurately estimated intelligence devoid of sociocultural and environmental influences (1978).

Testing and Measurement

Measurement of intelligence has a long history. In this day and age, measuring intelligence most likely involves an Intelligence Quotient test. Intelligence Quotient was coined by William Stern (2003). This psychologist conducted a study the analyzed the intelligence of young children. Intelligence Quotient is the measure of relative intelligence derived by a single or set of standardized tests and method used by psychologists to measure what is generally considered intelligence. However some psychologists have been casting doubt on intelligence testing's reliability.

Aging and Testing

Aging

Many people claim that their intelligence begins to slowly reduce with age. According to research, intelligence begins to go downhill after the stage of adolescence. The Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence suggests that intelligence is composed of different abilities that interact and work together to produce overall individual. Psychologist Raymond Cattell first proposed the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence and further developed the theory with John Horn (2010). Crystallized intelligence involves knowledge that comes from prior learning and past experiences. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. Cattell defined fluid intelligence as the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships (2010).