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Essays on defining intelligence
Essays on defining intelligence
Difficulties in defining intelligence
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The exact nature of intelligence was discussed more strongly than ever in the past century. As knowledge of psychology has developed one of the first issues, it had to answer the nature of intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been known to the intelligence were the adaptability to its environment. By this definition even a person who is generally regarded as boring can be considered intelligent if he can take care of itself, further definition is like having a tendency to analyze things around. However, it can be argued that such behavior can lead to an analysis of things and not react to its environment and to deal with it intelligently. “All branches of intellectual activity have in common one fundamental function, whereas the …show more content…
It is not only book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader capability and depth to better understand our surroundings- "catching on," "making sense" of things, or "determine" what to do”. Sternberg, Robert J (1996)
Enthusiasm for intelligence goes back a great many years, yet it wasn't until psychologist Alfred Binet was dispatched to distinguish students who required educational help that the first IQ test was conceived. In the mid 1900s, the French government requested Alfred Binet to choose which students were for the most likely to experience trouble in schools. Confronted with this assignment, Binet and his partner Theodore Simon started building up
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Intelligence can be defined as a man's intellectual abilities to learn. It is likewise connected with school performance, IQ, logic, conceptual thought, mindfulness, enthusiastic information, memory, planning, imagination, and critical thinking. Society can be characterized as a lifestyle that impacts our perspectives, encounters, and engagement with our lives and our general surroundings. It is molded by the political, social, and natural settings in which we live. Together these structure a portion of the socio cultural theory, authored by Lev Vygotsky. “how social factors influence cognition and development, and how social and cultural practices shape and define thought”. Siegler, R. S., & Alibali, M. W.
Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.
General intelligence tends to relate to various degrees with each other (Cohen 2012). An example of this is that if an individual is good in math, they may also be good in spelling. In this weeks reading we reviewed several different models of measurement of intelligence. In regard to these theories and general intelligence (g), the theories are various but have commonality and overlap. The Spearman's two-factor theory is if a test has high correlation with other test than the measurement of g is highly saturated (Cohen, 2012). The greater the importance of g on a test, the better the test is believed to predict intelligence
Intelligence tests have been developed by scientists as a tool to categorize army recruits or analyze school children. But still discussing what intelligence is, academics have a difficult time defining what intelligence tests should measure. According to the American researcher Thorndike, intelligence is only that what intelligence tests claim it is (Comer, Gould, & Furnham, 2013). Thus, depending on what is being researched in the test and depending on the scientist’s definition of intelligence the meaning of the word intelligence may vary a lot. This essay will discuss what intelligence is in order to be able to understand the intelligence theories and aims of intelligence tests.
Have you ever wondered how certain individuals have an outrageous IQ score? Do you believe someone’s intelligence comes from their cultural back ground or do you believe that intelligence is inherited? This is a controversial topic that has been going on for years. This issue has been looked upon by philosophers in the past and is currently by scientists today. Some individual’s think that intelligence comes from your parents whereas others think intelligence comes from the environment in which you are surrounded in. Intelligence is a skill that allows you to apply and interpret information. Intelligence is important because you will have good comprehension skills and you will also be able to analyze different things. According to the dictionary, intelligence is the ability of acquiring and applying knowledge and skills. However, it’s not that simple, since intelligence is something that is often misunderstood. Some people believe
In the following essay, we discuss different theoretical perspectives from Nomothetic and Idiographic approach. How they apply to both Personality (pattern of behavior and thinking) and Intelligence (thinking and behavior). Arguments for both sides are base on what psychologists generally use them as, because some might disagrees with the usage of the word nomothetic and idiographic, orientated by Kantian and Wilhelm Windelband.
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
The true nature of intelligence has been debated more intensely then ever over the last century. As the science of psychology has developed one of the biggest questions it had to answer concerned the nature of Intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been given for intelligence have been the ability to adjust to one’s environment. Of course by such a definition even a person who is generally considered to be dull can be regarded as being intelligent if he can take care of himself. Other definition is such as having the tendency to analyze things around yourself. However it can be argued that such behavior can lead to over-analyzing things and not reacting to one’s environment and dealing with it in an intelligent manner.
The social and cultural environment is seen as a pivotal influence on cognitive development because all social interactions are based on the prevailing culture. As the child interacts with its social and cultural environment, carers are subconsciously transmitting the prevalent culture It is up to adults to “socialise” the children into the appropriate skills so they can function appropriately.
In a 1921 symposium entitled “Intelligence and Its Measurement”, psychiatrists were asked to define intelligence and their answers varied greatly. One described intelligence as “equivalent to the capacity to learn.” Other definitions included “the ability to adapt adequately to relatively new situations”, “the capacity to learn or profit from experience”, and “the knowledge that an individual possesses.” And one stated that there was no simple definition to the word because “intelligence involves two factors- the capacity for knowledge and knowledge possessed” (Sternberg & Detterman, 1986, p.39-40).
Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.
Gardner’s theory of MI offers an alternative view of intelligence which has measured intelligence based on the results that would predict success in the current educational system. Furham (2009) sums up Gardner’s definition as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”. This definition suggests that human intelligence is comprised of more than the predictable success in a western school system. Gardner argues that traditional definitions of intelligence and intelligence testing are too narrow and marginalize people who do not fit traditional education system that focuses on visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, and logical–mathematical intelligences. He supports this with unique cases of idiots savant, who are people with low IQs but excel in skills in areas not measured through tradition IQ tests (Arnett, 2013). MI theory proposes that individual’s intelligence can be differentiated on eight different modalities:
It is often difficult to remember that intelligence is purely a social construct, and as such is limited to operational definitions. Binet & Simon (1905, as cited in Mackintosh) defined it purely in terms of mental ability: "the ability to judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well." Wechsler (1944, as cited in Mackintosh) added behavioral factors: "the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with the environment." Sternberg (1985) synthesizes the previous definitions, defining intelligence as "the mental capacity of emitting contextually appropriate behavior at those regions in the experiential continuum that involve response to novelty or automatization of information processing as a function of metacomponents, performance components, and knowledge acquisition components." Gardner (1993) took the definition to a societal level, as "the ability or skill to solve problems or to fashion products which...
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is a standardized test that assesses intelligence and cognitive abilities. Intelligence is "a concept intended to explain why some people perform better than others on cognitive tasks. Intelligence is defined as "the mental abilities needed to select, adapt to, and shape environments. It involves the ability to profit from experience, solve problems, reason, and successfully meet challenges and achievement goals. Intelligence tests began as a psychologist's solution to a problem faced by Paris schools at the beginning of the century.
Social cognition is very important to young child’s development. A child’s key development takes place during the first five years of a child’s life. (Child Encyclopedia) A child’s environmental factors play a huge role in their mental development. Social cognition has produced a knowledge that psychologists now have a better understanding about
The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not