Theories of Intelligence in Psychology

How Psychologists Define Intelligence

Intelligence has been an important and controversial topic throughout psychology's history. Despite the
substantial interest in the subject, there is still considerable disagreement about what components make up
intelligence. In addition to questions of exactly how to define intelligence, the debate continues today about
whether accurate measurements are even possible.
1. Gradual Growth of the Concept:
General Intelligence has rightly been assumed to exist and psychologists have gone about the measurement
of an individual’s general intelligence without waiting for the adequate definition.
The earlier attempts of measuring general intelligence, were concerned with the measurement of separate
faculties, processes of abilities. Binet’s efforts were first devoted to measurement of complex processes as
reasoning, imagination and judgment.

2. Definitions of Intelligence:
1. Binet’s definition “Intelligence is judgment or common sense, initiative, the ability to adapt oneself” and again
“to judge, well understand well, reason well —these are the essentials of intelligence.”
His definition emphasized 3 phases of behaviour:
i. The ability to take and maintain a given mental test.
ii. The capacity to make adaptations for the purpose of attaining a desirous end.
iii. The power of auto-criticism.
2. The numerous definitions can be classified into four groups:
I. Biological Definitions.
Here the emphasis is upon adjustment or adaptations of the organism and its environment.
Stern:
‘Intelligence is a general capacity of an individual consciously to adjust his thinking to new requirements’. The
famous writer H.G. Wells defines it as ‘acting in novel situations’.
It is general mental adaptability to new problems and condition of life.
II. Educational:
The emphasis is on learning ability.
Buchingham:
Intelligence is the ability to learn.
Here also learning may be regarded as adjustment or adaptation to various situations.
III. Faculty:
The attempt is generally to delimit or restrict intelligence and set it off from other powers or faculties of the
mind.
Binet’s. Various definitions belong mainly here e.g., Intelligence as common sense.
Huggarty says “It is a practical concept connoting a group of complex mental processes traditionally
defined in systematic psychologies as sensation, perception, association, memory, imagination,
discrimination, judgments and reasoning”.
IV. Empirical:
Here the emphasis is on practical results in intelligence.
Thorndike:
Power of good responses from the point of view of truth.
Ballard:
Relative general efficiency of minds measured under similar conditions of knowledge, interest etc.
Freeman:
Degrees of intelligence seem to depend on the facility with which the subject-matter of experience can be
organised into new patterns.
3. Description of Intelligence:
In describing intelligence we deal with:
(1) Attributes i.e., certain properties or characteristics.
(2) Kinds i.e., intelligence manifested in different situations.
It will be better to describe intelligence than to define it.

Theories of Intelligence

Different researchers have proposed a variety of theories to explain the nature of intelligence. Here are some
of the major theories of intelligence that have emerged during the last 100 years:

Charles Spearman: General Intelligence

British psychologist Charles Spearman (1863–1945) described a concept he referred to as general
intelligence or the g factor. After using a technique known as factor analysis to examine some mental aptitude
tests, Spearman concluded that scores on these tests were remarkably similar. People who performed well on
one cognitive test tended to perform well on other tests, while those who scored badly on one test tended to
score badly on others. He concluded that intelligence is a general cognitive ability that can be measured and
numerically expressed.
--In the early 1900s, the French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857– 1911) and his colleague Theodore Simon
(1872–1961) began working on behalf of the French government to develop a measure that would differentiate
students who were expected to be better learners from students who were expected to be slower learners. The
goal was to help teachers better educate these two groups of students. Binet and Simon developed what most
psychologists today regard as the first intelligence test, which consisted of a wide variety of questions that
included the ability to name objects, define words, draw pictures, complete sentences, compare items, and
construct sentences.
Binet and Simon (Binet, Simon, & Town, 1915; Siegler, 1992) believed that the questions they asked their
students, even though they were on the surface dissimilar, all assessed the basic abilities to understand,
reason, and make judgments. It turned out that the correlations among these different types of measures were
in fact all positive; students who got one item correct were more likely to also get other items correct, even
though the questions themselves were very different.
On the basis of these results, Charles Spearman (1863–1945) hypothesized that there must be a single
underlying construct that all items measure. He called the construct that the different abilities and skills
measured on intelligence tests have in common the general intelligence factor (g). Many psychologists believe
that there is a generalized intelligence factor, “g”, that relates to abstract thinking and includes the abilities to
acquire knowledge, reason abstractly, adapt to novel situations, and benefit from instruction and experience
(Gottfredson, 1997; Sternberg, 2003). According to “g”, people with higher general intelligence learn faster.
Soon after Binet and Simon introduced their test, the American psychologist Lewis Terman at Stanford
University (1877–1956) developed an American version of Binet’s test that became known as the Stanford-
Binet Intelligence Test. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test is a measure of general intelligence made up of a
wide variety of tasks including vocabulary, memory for pictures, naming of familiar objects, repeating
sentences, and following commands.
In addition to “g”, there is also evidence for specific intelligence (s), or measures of specific skills in narrow
domains. One empirical result in support of the idea of “s” comes from intelligence tests themselves. Although
the different types of questions do correlate with each other, some items correlate more highly with each other
than do other items such that they form clusters or clumps of intelligences.
---
This theory has been propounded by Spearman. Intelligence, according to his view consists of two factors —
the general factor and specific factor. The general factor is symbolised by ‘g’ and the specific factor is
symbolised by “s”. The ‘g’ factor is always the same for the same individual and the ‘s’ factor varies from task
to task according to its nature.
But there are differences in the general abilities of different individuals as well as in their special abilities.
Different individuals differ both in their ‘g’ as well as ‘s’ factors. If we consider two persons A and B who make
the same scores in adding figures, we cannot be sure that I hey will also make the same scores in
discriminating pitch. For it may happen that the specific factor assists A’s performance in adding figures and
hinders it in pitch discrimination, while in B’s case the specific factor may work the opposite way.
Different performances require different amount of ‘g’ and ‘s’. In Mathematics and the Classics, for instance,
more of ‘g’ is required, whereas in music and drawing’s’ factor predominates; the latter subjects require a small
amount of ‘g’.
Person having more of ‘g’ and less of ‘s’ fares well in life. Selection of students for civil service based on high
score in classics is safer than their selection for such a job based on a good musical ability. A good test is
always one in which in most of the performances ‘g’ predominates for a high quality of ‘g’ is required
everywhere in life.
Spearman has established his theory of two factors by showing that there is always a positive correlation in the
performance of an individual in any two tasks.
It may be concluded by saying that Spearman’s theory may lose the battle but it is sure to win the war.

Crystalized versus Fluid Intelligence

One distinction in specific intelligences is between fluid intelligence, which refers to the capacity to learn new
ways of solving problems and performing activities quickly and abstractly, and crystallized intelligence, which
refers to the accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives (Salthouse, 2004).
These intelligences must be different because crystallized intelligence increases with age, while fluid
intelligence tends to decrease with age (Horn, Donaldson, & Engstrom, 1981; Salthouse, 2004).
Research demonstrates that older adults have more crystallized intelligence, as reflected in semantic
knowledge, vocabulary, and language. As a result, older adults generally outperform younger people on
measures of history, geography, and even on crossword puzzles, where this information is useful (Salthouse,
2004). This superior knowledge, combined with a slower and more complete processing style and
sophisticated understanding of the workings of the world, gives those older an advantage, despite greater fluid
intelligence in those younger (Baltes, Staudinger, & Lindenberger, 1999; Scheibe, Kunzmann, & Baltes, 2009).
The differential changes in crystallized versus fluid intelligence also explains why those older do not
necessarily show poorer performance on tasks that require experience, although they show poorer memory
overall. A young chess player may think more quickly, but a more experienced chess player has more
knowledge to draw on.

Cattell and Horn describe them as follows:

Fluid intelligence is the ability to develop techniques for solving problems that are new and unusual, from the
perspective of the problem solver.

Crystallized intelligence is the ability to bring previously acquired, often culturally defined, problem-solving
methods to bear on the current problem. Note that this implies both that the problem solver knows the methods
and recognizes that they are relevant in the current situation.

Louis L. Thurstone: Primary Mental Abilities

Psychologist Louis L.Thurstone (1887–1955) offered a differing theory of intelligence. Instead of viewing
intelligence as a single, general ability, Thurstone's theory focused on seven different primary mental abilities.
The abilities that he described include:

 Verbal comprehension
 Reasoning
 Perceptual speed
 Numerical ability
 Word fluency
 Associative memory
 Spatial visualization

No one questions the fact that persons superior on one ‘intelligence’ test are generally superior on others.
Whether we should interpret this as evidence for a basic general intelligence, or ‘g’ is more debatable. Dr. L.L.
Thurstone has argued that ‘g’ can be broken up into a cluster of related abilities, which he calls the primary
mental abilities. Because the methods of factor analysis is basic to his proof that such abilities exist, he refers
to his theory as a multifactor theory of mental organization.
In the Thurstone study, a wide variety of tests, calling for almost every kind of performance we could
describe as intelligence, was administered to a large population of high school and college students. As
Spearman had predicted, all the correlations were positive.
It was however, possible to show that some tests grouped themselves together in clusters, seeming by
having something in common. The correlations within the cluster were higher than wits tests not in the cluster.
Thurstone suggested that each group of test was lapping some primary mental ability.
According to Thurstone the primary mental abilities are:
1. Number Ability (N)
2. Verbal Comprehension (V)
3. Spatial Relations (S)
4. Word Fluency ( W)
5. Reasoning (R)
6. Memory (M)
7. Perceptual Ability (P)
I = N + V + S + W + R + M + P.

Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences

One of the more recent ideas to emerge is Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Instead of
focusing on the analysis of test scores, Gardner proposed that numerical expressions of human intelligence,
such as in the IQ test, are not a full and accurate depiction of people's abilities. His theory describes eight
distinct types of intelligence based on skills and abilities that are valued in different cultures.

The eight kinds of intelligence Gardner described are:

 Visual-spatial intelligence
 Verbal-linguistic intelligence
 Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
 Logical-mathematical intelligence
 Interpersonal intelligence
 Musical intelligence
 Intrapersonal intelligence
 Naturalistic intelligence
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Another champion of the idea of specific types of intelligences is the psychologist Howard Gardner (1983,
1999) who developed a theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner argued that it would be evolutionarily
functional for different people to have different talents and skills, and proposed that there are eight intelligences
that can be differentiated from each other. A potential ninth intelligence; that is, existential still needs empirical
support. See Table 6.2 for a list of Gardner’s eight specific intelligences. Gardner noted that some evidence
for multiple intelligences comes from the abilities of autistic savants, people who score low on intelligence tests
overall, but who nevertheless may have exceptional skills in a given domain, such as math, music, art, or in
being able to recite statistics in a given sport (Treffert & Wallace, 2004).
Table 6.2 Howard Gardner’s Specific Intelligences
Intelligence Description
Linguistic The ability to speak and write well
Logical-Mathematical The ability to use logic and mathematical skills to solve problems
Spatial The ability to think and reason about objects in three dimensions
Musical The ability to perform and enjoy music
Kinesthetic (body) The ability to move the body in sports, dance, or other physical activities
Interpersonal The ability to understand and interact effectively with others
Intrapersonal The ability to have insight into the self
Naturalistic The ability to recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things
Existential (Possible) The ability to identify and ponder the fundamental questions of human existence
Source: Adapted from Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century.
New York, NY: Basic Books.
The idea of multiple intelligences has been influential in the field of education, and teachers have used these
ideas to try to teach differently to different students. For instance, to teach math problems to students who
have particularly good kinesthetic intelligence, a teacher might encourage the students to move their bodies or
hands according to the numbers. On the other hand, some have argued that these intelligences sometimes
seem more like abilities or talents rather than real intelligence. There is no clear conclusion about how many
intelligences there are. Are sense of humor, artistic skills, dramatic skills, and so forth also separate
intelligences? Further, demonstrating the underlying power of a single intelligence, the many different
intelligences show some correlations with each other, and thus represent, in part, “g” (Brody, 2003).
--
Some researchers in the field of intelligence have long argued that people have a variety of different
intelligences. A person may be good at learning languages and terrible at learning music--or vice versa. A
single number (a score on an IQ test) cannot adequately represent the complex and diverse capabilities of a
human being.

Howard Gardner has proposed a theory of multiple intelligences. He originally identified seven components of
intelligence (Gardner, 1983). He argues that these intelligences are relatively distinct from each other and that
each person has some level of each of these seven intelligences. More recently, he has added an eighth
intelligence to his list (Educational Leadership, 1997).

Many PBL-using teachers have studied the work of Howard Gardner and use some of his ideas in their
teaching. For example, in creating a team of students to do a particular project, a teacher may select a team
whose collective "highest" talents encompass most of the eight areas of intelligence identified by Gardner. The
teacher may encourage a team to divide up specific tasks in line with specific high levels of talents found on a
team. Alternatively, a teacher may encourage or require that team members not be allowed to work in their
areas of highest ability in order to encourage their development of knowledge and skills in other areas.

The following table lists the eight intelligences identified by Howard Gardner. It provides some examples of the
types of professionals who exhibit a high level of an intelligence. The eight intelligences are listed in
alphabetical order.
Intelligence Examples Discussion
Bodily- Dancers, athletes, surgeons, crafts
The ability to use one's physical body well.
kinesthetic people
Sales people, teachers, clinicians, The ability to sense other's feelings and be in tune with
Interpersonal
politicians, religious leaders others.
People who have good insight into
Self-awareness. The ability to know your own body and
Intrapersonal themselves and make effective use
mind.
of their other intelligences
Poets, writers, orators, The ability to communicate well, perhaps both orally and in
Linguistic
communicators writing, perhaps in several languages.
Logical- The ability to learn higher mathematics. The ability to
Mathematicians, logicians
mathematical handle complex logical arguments.
Musical Musicians, composers The ability to learn, perform, and compose music.
The ability to understand different species, recognize
Naturalistic Biologists, naturalists
patterns in nature, classify natural objects.
The ability to know where you are relative to fixed
Sailors navigating without modern
locations. The ability to accomplish tasks requiring three-
Spatial navigational aids, surgeons,
dimensional visualization and placement of your hands or
sculptors, painters
other parts of your body.

You might want to do some introspection. For each of the eight intelligences in the Howard Gardner list, think
about your own level of talents and performance. For each intelligence, decide if you have an area of expertise
that makes substantial use of the intelligence. For example, perhaps you are good at music. If so, is music the
basis of your vocation?

Students can also do this type of introspection, and it can become a routine component of PBL lessons.
Students can come to understand that they are more naturally gifted in some areas than in others, but that they
have some talent in all of the eight areas identified by Howard Gardner. Curriculum and instruction can be
developed to help all students make progress in enhancing their talents in each of these eight areas of
intelligence.
Robert Sternberg: Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Psychologist Robert Sternberg defined intelligence as "mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to,
selection, and shaping of real-world environments relevant to one's life." While he agreed with Gardner that
intelligence is much broader than a single, general ability, he instead suggested that some of Gardner's types
of intelligence are better viewed as individual talents. Sternberg proposed what he referred to as "successful
intelligence," which involves three different factors:

 Analytical intelligence: Your problem-solving abilities.

 Creative intelligence: Your capacity to deal with new situations using past experiences and current
skills.
 Practical intelligence: Your ability to adapt to a changing environment.

---Triarchic Theory
Another advocate of specific intelligences, or multiple intelligences, is the psychologist Robert Sternberg.
Sternberg has proposed a triarchic (three-part) theory of intelligence that proposes that people may display
more or less analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. Sternberg (1985, 2003)
defined the three intelligences as:
• Analytical intelligence or the ability to perform academic problem solving
• Creative intelligence or the ability to adapt to new situations and create new ideas
• Practical intelligence or the ability to demonstrate street smarts and common sense
Analytical intelligence is measured on traditional intelligence tests and assesses finding the single
correct answer to a problem. Research has found that creativity is not highly correlated with analytical
intelligence (Furnham & Bachtiar, 2008) and exceptionally creative scientists, artists, mathematicians, and
engineers do not score higher on intelligence tests than do their less creative peers (Simonton, 2000).
Furthermore, the brain areas that are associated with convergent thinking, thinking that is directed toward
finding the correct answer to a given problem, are different from those associated with divergent thinking, the
ability to generate many different ideas for or solutions to a single problem (Tarasova, Volf, & Razoumnikova,
2010). On the other hand, being creative reflects basic abilities measured by “g”, including the abilities to
learn from experience, to remember information, and to think abstractly (Bink & Marsh, 2000). Ericsson
(1998), Weisberg (2006), Hennessey and Amabile (2010) and Simonton (1992) studied creative people and
identified at least five components that are likely to be important for creativity as listed in Table 6.1.
Table 6.1 Important Components for Creativity
Component Description
Expertise Creative people have studied and know a lot about a topic
Imaginative Thinking Creative people view problems in new and different ways
Risk Taking Creative people take on new, but potentially risky approaches
Intrinsic Interest Creative people take on projects for interest not money
Working in Creative Environments The most creative people are supported, aided, and challenged by other
people working on similar projects
The last aspect of the triarchic model, practical intelligence, refers primarily to intelligence that cannot be
gained from books or formal learning. Practical intelligence represents a type of street smarts or common
sense that is learned from life experiences. Although a number of tests have been devised to measure
practical intelligence (Sternberg, Wagner, & Okagaki, 1993; Wagner & Sternberg, 1985), research has not
found much evidence that practical intelligence is distinct from “g” or that it is predictive of success at any
particular tasks (Gottfredson, 2003). Practical intelligence may include, at least in part, certain abilities that
help people perform well at specific jobs, and these abilities may not always be highly correlated with general
intelligence (Sternberg et al., 1993).