How Different Psychologists Defined Intelligence

Ever since Spearman proposed the intelligence theory with G factor, there were several other intelligence theories proposed in response or as an alternative to Spearman’s. Among those, Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory would be the most influential ones as they are widely accepted and used in real life. Both of the theories share a critical view towards the unitary perspective which is the traditional definition of intelligence. However, the two theories differ in which they don’t agree with what factors should be the measures of intelligence, as well as the emphasis of the two theories.

Charles Spearman's model of intelligence and Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory are two of the most widely used theories of intelligence. In order to understand how similar the two theories are we must first understand their differences. These two men differed in opinion on how IQ and intelligence should be measured, and they differed in opinion on what made a person "smart". In order to examine these things they first had to understand the human brain and how it works. They had to examine the human study habits and rituals, along with the human test taking habits.

Charles Spearman’s theory (1904) also takes the psychometric approach that there is a general intelligence. Spearman maintains that intelligence is hereditary and an individual is born with their maximum mental ability. This suggests that intelligence cannot be changed or strengthened. The concept of ‘general intelligence’ suggests that an individual has an underlying intelligence, in which their performance in one type of cognitive task is often similar to their performance in another (Boundless 2013). Spearman demonstrated this through the correlations between tests, where individuals who performed well in one test, often performed well in others. This led Spearman to the conclusion that intelligence is defined as a single factor. However, critics refute Spearman’s conclusions, as they argue that one cannot reduce all factors of intelligence to an indefinable “g” (Neisser et al. 1996).

Intelligence as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason.1 There is much debate and controversy on this subject and psychologists do not all agree upon a standard definition. Yet, one of the very first definitions of intelligence was developed by the psychologists responsible for the development of the first intelligence test, Binet and Simon (1905) who argued that the essence of intelligence is: ‘to judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well’.2 Another sample definition was provided later by Heim, in 1970, who argued that ‘intelligent activity consists in grasping the essentials in a situation and responding appropriately to them’.3 There are also arguments surrounding how many different types of intelligence there are, as well as the intelligence theories of psychology. However elusive, we can ascertain that all psychologists have universally agreed upon general intelligence (g), an expression devised by the English psychologist Charles Spearman and defined as ‘a mental attribute called on for virtually any task’.4 This essay will inform the reader of the different methods proposed and used by psychologists to assess ability and discuss their evaluations.

In researching the types of tests that are administered to determine intelligence, it became very clear that there were many differing opinions surrounding the efficacy of intelligence testing. There exists compelling information that suggest there is a lack of ability for any test to clearly identify and measure intelligence. It is very clearly noted that there is a question of the ability for academics based testing to measure a persons intelligence. One of the most noted tests in the United States that is used to measure the potential of students to perform in an educational setting is the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). Through the years this test has undergone many changes in attempts to overcome challenges in correctly

It is notable to mention that the individual’s attainment measured by general intelligence tests are indeed broader and the products of less formal and usually less recent learning experiences compared to the ones measured by standardized achievement tests (Aiken, 2003c). Cohen et al. (2013b) regarded that the primary purpose for this kind of measure is that it focuses on the test taker’s level of comprehension in the different subject matters. These types of tests are commonly structured to include several subject areas divided into subtests and are most typically identified as test batteries. Interestingly, achievement tests often serve as better predictors of school ratings than tests of intelligence or special abilities. This does not connote, however, that test of achievement in a specific subject can entirely replace tests of intelligence and special abilities. The accomplishments or achievements determined by general intelligence tests are usually extensive and formed by less formal and probably less recent learning experiences than those measured by standardized tests of achievement. Moreover, for the reason that achievement tests usually evaluate knowledge of information that has been methodically taught, scores on these tests are more influenced by coaching than scores on intelligence tests.

Intelligence is a hard concept to define. The Oxford dictionary defined intelligence as “the ability to acquire knowledge and skills”. This loosely defined topic has caused great debate in psychological studies. People argue whether intelligence is measured as one general ability or a variety of abilities including aptitudes, skills, and talents. Others may debate over whether a single topic of intelligence actually exists. As a result of this controversy, researchers have proposed definitions of their own called theories. This has created a variety of ___ theories to be evaluated.

Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Intelligences is the ability to learn facts and skills and apply them. Howard Gardner wrote a book called Intelligences Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. He wrote this book to help expand the knowledge of professors and everyday people that no matter your IQ and or test scores that you cannot simply judge someone off of a numerical score. People are smart just in different areas bringing different learning styles and intelligence to the table. Gardner studies led him to propose seven possible intelligences. Intrapersonal

This theory agreed with the multiple intelligence theory on intelligence being a much broader general ability, but the latter’s intelligences were better perceived as individual talents. This theory explains successful intelligence as involving factors including analytical intelligence which is the problem- solving abilities, creative intelligence which involves the capacity of dealing with new arising situations by using current skills and past experience as well as practical intelligence which is the ability of adapting to change in one’s environment. The third theory is that of multiple intelligences by Howard Gardener which proposes that human intelligence’s numerical expressions are not an accurate depiction of the people's abilities. This theory describes several distinct intelligences which are based on the abilities and skills which are valued in the different cultures including visual-spatial intelligence where thinking is in terms of physical space, verbal-linguistic intelligence where words are used effectively, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence where the body is used effectively, logical-mathematical intelligence where abstract, conceptual and calculations are used, interpersonal intelligence which entails one’s understanding of their goals and interests, musical intelligence where sensitivity to sound and rhythm is shown, intrapersonal intelligence which involves interaction and understanding of others as well as naturalistic intelligence. These differences related to strengths of intelligence are said to challenge the educational system which assumes that every individual can learn similar materials in a similar manner and that a universal, uniform measure does suffice in testing student

Whether or not intelligence tests are effective tools to assess intelligence is controversial. Yet, it is important that special educators know about the usefulness and limitations of the practiced intelligence assessments before planning interventions. Since theories can inform practice, Salvia, Ysseldyke, and Bolt (2013) introduce a model for assessing cognitive aspects of students by describing the theoretical underpinnings of the recent assessment of intelligence, which conceptualized intelligence as both a general ability (g) and as multiple abilities. Moreover, factors that can influence test performance as well as behaviors that are commonly sampled on these tests have been discussed. Additionally, the authors review commonly used perceptual – motor tests and shed light on the dilemmas in the current practice.

Overall, Gardner came up with nine types of intelligences. However, this essay will only cover three of them: verbal/linguistic, body-kinesthetic, and logical/mathematical. This essay will also cover several examples of each type of intelligence. Gardner also had some critics criticizing his research which will also be included throughout the essay.

Throughout the years, psychologists have been discussing what exactly is intelligence. Is intelligence your ability to perform well on analytical tests, or is it something more common, like your ability to survive on your own? If one person scores high in english, and another in math are they both still intelligent? This is the debate that had been on going the past few decades, and while we still have no concrete answer, we do have a variety of theories.

The first factor is the general intelligence or g, which refers to the mental capacity that influences performance on cognitive ability measures, and specific abilities or “s” which means that another component different than g, influences abilities on a particular task (notes, 10/24). In contrast to Spearman’s theory, I believe that specific abilities influence different things depending on the task, this being the reason why I think I can’t be good math but I can be good at other things. Another psychologist was Sternberg, who came up with the triarchic theory of intelligence, which include analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. I accept Sternberg’s explicit theory of intelligence, since I consider these three factors to be related. For example, in order for a test to efficiently assess your knowledge, you have to pull on your creative intelligence so you can combine the information you know and use them in different ways to solve problems. Since you are engaging with the information learned, you will be able to apply your practical intelligence to solve issues in everyday life (Arnett, 2016). Finally, Howard Gardner proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, which include eight types of intelligence, these are linguistic, musical, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal,

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed by Dr. Howard Gardner in 1983. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a critique of the standard psychological view of intellect: there is a single intelligence, adequately measured by IQ or other short answer tests. Instead, on the basis of evidence from disparate sources, the theory claims that human beings have a number of relatively discrete intellectual capacities. IQ tests assess linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, and sometimes spatial intelligence; they are a reasonably good predictor of who will do well in school. This is because humans have several other significant intellectual capacities (Harvard University).

When a person utters the word “intelligence,” people tend to think of a genius like Albert Einstein developing some obscure equation that the great majority of the population will never understand. The problem with the definition of intelligence is that people relate intelligence to words like “genius” which require intelligence but do not have the same definition as intelligence. Often, people try to use related words to define intelligence, but these words are unable to define intelligence since many are only different levels of intelligence. While many definitions try to encompass the meaning of intelligence and various definitions describe a small part of intelligence, no definition completely explains intelligence, because