How is intelligence measured? How is it possible to just have one way to measure intelligence? Is there really only one way to measure every individual’s intelligence? According to psychologists Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg there is. Gardner and Sternberg have developed two different theories to do so. Howard Gardner’s theory of intelligence is the way in which one carries out life goals. Gardner chose eight abilities that held to meet criteria: linguistic (speak and write well), logical-mathematical (use logical and mathematical skills to solve problems such as scientific quotations), spatial (think and reason about objects in three dimensional space), musical (preform, understand and enjoy music), bodily-kinesthetic (manipulate …show more content…
Each one of them are different and that’s why we asked ourselves is it really just one way to measure everyone’s intelligence?
Howard Gardner is a psychologist that developed the multiple intelligence theory. He identified three original domains of functioning, each of which has several more specialized functions. :(a) cognitive or thought area which involves verbal-linguistic intelligence (learning and using language); (b) Logical mathematical intelligence is how a person understands and uses logical mathematics and abstract symbol systems; (c) a sensate area, which helps with auditory components. A few other domains include practical intelligence and creative intelligence. With practical intelligence you may ask questions such as: how does a person relate to the world around them? Do they have the ability to adapt to certain situations? With creative intelligence you may ask questions such as: how quickly can this person solve a new problem when presented with it? Can they automatically apply a new skill when they are presented with the problem again?
Robert Sternberg’s theory of intelligence is the triarchic theory of intelligence. The triarchic theory describes three different types of intelligences that a person can possess. The first type of intelligence is practical intelligence which relates to how you react to your ability to adapt to it or change it to suit your needs. Practical intelligence is the ability
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.
Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences stating that each person possesses a blend of at least eight different kinds of intelligence: verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental/naturalistic (Bruno, 2009).
In “A Rounded Version: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences”, Howard Gardner illustrates how there are a variety of intelligences. Gardner starts off with an example how IQ tests may predict achievement in school but may not predict achievement in life. After finding out certain parts of the brain are responsible for certain functions, such as “Broca’s Area” which is responsible for sentence production, Gardner proposes the existence of multiple intelligences. Multiple studies later led him to propose seven distinct intelligences; Musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Each intelligence has certain classifications. According to Gardner’s classifications, I realized my intelligences are bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, and intrapersonal.
Howard Gardner developed the Multiple intelligence theory. Gardner believed that the human mind did not have one general intelligence but many that had independent functions. He believed that the previous measure of intelligence did not accurately measure the capability of the human mind. "While formulating this theory, Gardner placed less emphasis on explaining the results of mental tests than on accounting for the range of human abilities that exist across a vast majority of cultures. (www.associatedcontent.com)
There are a slew of tests that attempt to measure how intelligent human beings are. They all measure different aspects and those factors will be covered here. One of the misconceptions is that the tests measure inborn intelligence. Few of the activities are designed for that purpose. They actually measure a person’s interaction with the environment and what they have learned from that interaction. The most common tested aspect is critical thinking. Instead of straightforward questions, intelligence tests offer questions with a twist. It is assumed that the most intelligent people will see obvious flaws in the obvious answers (Steinberg & Williams, 2015). Some intelligence tests also measure reflexes, both mental and physical. The assumption is quick reaction times reflect an active brain and in the line of thinking, a more intelligent person.
A renowned professor of education and psychology at Harvard University, Howard Gardner has radically changed the way we look at intelligence. In 1983 Gardner published the first of two books that theorize that there are multiple intelligences. Gardner believes “that human cognitive competence is better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills, which we call “intelligence” (378). Gardner’s theory dismisses the idea that intelligence is a single attribute of the mind and suggests that there are different types of intelligences that account for different human
On the contrary, those people who scored low on one kinds of ability test, were more likely to score badly on others as well. Meanwhile, Spearman also concluded that intelligence is a cognitive ability which could be measured and expressed numerically.
Intelligence is an interesting concept and whilst we understand and can agree that it is what differentiates us from other all the other animals it is almost impossible to agree exactly how to measure it.
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 can also be divided into many sub-categories, making it extremely complex and unique for every individual; thus, making it equally as difficult to measure. A Canadian study published in the online journal, Neuron, identified three basic indications of human intelligence: short term memory, reasoning skills, and verbal ability (Dovey par. 3). In light of the latter sentence, the goal of standardized testing is not to determine how well a person can solve general problems or express opinions, but to test how much information an individual is able to memorize throughout their educational life. Tests, specifically the ACT and SAT, ignore a vast amount of electives that could highlight a student’s strengths such as business, art, theology, engineering, music, social studies, and history (Hudlow par. 3). Einstein once said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” (Batt par. 11). For most, human intelligence counts for something and cannot be defined by a single
Intelligence, what exactly is intelligence? To some it might just be a score on a test, for others like myself it goes far beyond tests, but what exactly is it? Intelligence has been defined in many ways including one’s capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving. Other definitions portray intelligence to be less complex and more of a single general ability. Intelligence has been one of the most controversial topics among psychologists and you see why that is. My take on intelligence is very dimensional, meaning how can we really measure intelligence if we’re not even 100% sure of what it really is. I believe all human beings have the audacity and
According to the Sternberg’s “Triarchic theory of intelligence” (1985), there are three facets of intelligence, namely analytical (componential), creative (experiential), and practical (contextual). Analytical intelligence refers to the ability to analyze, appraise, judge, or compare. It involves in resolving problems or making judgments that are abstract in nature.
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
Howard Gardner recognizes that intelligence is more than the single logical-mathematical processing of stored facts that intelligence tests assess. He views intelligence as problem-solving, problem-creating, and problem-finding across a range of situations. There are a total of eight Multiple Intelligences: Logical-Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and lastly, Naturalist Intelligence. These Intelligences allow educators to carefully integrate several content areas within a specific curricula.