What is Intelligence and How
is it Measured?
Intelligence is a term that is difficult to define,
and it can mean many different things to different people. In fact, it has
divided the scientific community for decades and controversies still rage over
its exact definition and form of measurement.
In the popular sense, intelligence is often defined
as the general mental ability to learn and apply knowledge to manipulate your
environment, as well as the ability to reason and have abstract thought. Other
definitions of intelligence include adaptability to a new environment or to
changes in the current environment, the ability to evaluate and judge, the
ability to comprehend complex ideas, the capacity for original and productive
thought, the ability to learn quickly and learn from experience and even the
ability to comprehend relationships.
A superior ability to interact with the environment
and overcome its challenges is often seen as a sign of intelligence. In this
case, the environment does not just refer to the physical landscape (eg.
mountains, forests) or the surroundings (eg. school, home, workplace) but also
to a person’s social contacts, such as colleagues, friends and family – or even
complete strangers.
Researchers asked about the aspects of intelligence
felt that factors like problem-solving ability, mental speed, general
knowledge, creativity, abstract thinking and memory all played important roles
in the measure and standard of intelligence. Most agree that intelligence is an
umbrella term which covers a variety of related mental abilities.
Measuring Intelligence
Like the definitions of
intelligence, the measurement of intelligence is dogged by controversy and
disagreement. While there are a number of different methods for measuring
intelligence, the standard and most widely accepted method is by measuring a
person’s ‘intelligence quotient’ or IQ.
Related on About Intelligence...
- How
Intelligence is Measured
- What is IQ and How it is Measured?
- Psychometric Testing and What it Measures
- Intelligence
and Birth Order
- The
Phenomenon of Genius
- Savant
Syndrome and Intelligence
Based on a series of tests
which assess various types of abilities such a mathematical, spatial, verbal,
logic and memory. The results from such tests done on a group that is
representative of the wider popular shows the classic ‘bell-shape’ distribution,
meaning that most people are of average intelligence with a few at the extreme
ends of the scale.
General Intelligence or ‘g’
The
concept of intelligence as a single entity was first put forth by an English
psychologist named Charles Spearmen in the early 20th century. Spearman coined
the term ‘General Intelligence’ or ‘g’ which was based on measure of people’s
performance across a variety of mental tests.
This single intelligence
was believed to enable humans to undertake common mental tasks and believed to
correspond to a specific region of the brain. Recent research has supported
this with a part of the brain called the ‘lateral prefrontal cortex’ being
shown to the only area which has increased blood flow when test patients tackle
complicated puzzles.
However, many have also
questioned Spearman’s theories, in particular the simplistic nature of the ‘g’
concept and whether intelligence can really be treated as a single entity.
Others have debated the dependence of intelligence on our biological make-up,
citing the importance of socio-economic factors such as education.
Multiple Intelligences
More
recently, scientist dissatisfied with the traditional idea of a single
intelligence have postulated alternate theories of “multiple intelligences” –
that is, intelligence is the result of several independent abilities which
combine to contribute to the total performance of an individual.
Psychologist Howard
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences states that intelligence can be
broken down into 8 distinct components: logical, spatial, linguistic,
interpersonal, naturalist, kinaesthetic, musical and intrapersonal. Thus he
believes that standard IQ tests and psychometric tests focus on certain
components, such as logical and linguistic, while completely ignoring other
components which may be equally important.
Another psychologist,
Robert Sternberg, proposes that there are 3 fundamental aspects to
intelligence: analytical, practical and creative. Like Gardener, he also
believes that traditional intelligence tests only focus one aspect – analytical
– and does not address the necessary balance from the other two aspects.
One alternate type of
intelligence often mentioned in popular media is ‘emotional intelligence’,
developed by Daniel Goleman and several other researchers. This refers to an
individual’s ability to understand and be aware of your own emotions, as well
as those of people around you. This ability enables you to handle social
interactions and relationships better.
Are You Intelligent? Or Just Clever?
In the educational context, a person’s
intelligence is often equated with their academic performance but this is not
necessarily correct. Certainly, a person’s ability to think analytically and
use their knowledge and experience is often more important than their ability
to command a large number of facts. Note also that the word intelligence comes
from the Latin verb, “intellegere” which means “to understand” – however, the
ability to understand could be considered different to being “smart” – the
ability to adapt and “clever” – the ability to adapt creatively!
