What is Intelligence?

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Throughout history, psychologists have made hundreds of attempts to define intelligence and measure it precisely. However, none of these attempts have been accepted by all because Intelligence is so broad. Intelligence has been defined by many things, by Weschler, who made the most used psychological test today, as “the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.” However, while he may have created the most successful test, his definition is not the only definition of intelligence, for psychologists such as Gardner, believed that there was more than just knowledge to intelligence, and Sternberg, who defined intelligence as “mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life.” Intelligences has been measured in a variety of ways throughout psychologists, however because intelligence is such a broad concept, there is no single definition and method of testing it. The first attempt of testing intelligence was made by Binet in the early 1900’s. Binet was asked to make a test by the French government that could measure the intelligence of children in order to make a distinction between the kids who needed more help in school and those who are naturally inclined to be good learners. Although Binet believed that intelligence was too broad to be measured by a single number, and that intelligence can be influenced by many things and change over time, he agreed to make the test, thus creating the first IQ test. This test, known today as the Stanford-Binet IQ test focuses on things not learned in school, such as attention, memory, and problem solving skills. Binet also came up with the conc... ... middle of paper ... ...es." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "History of Intelligence Testing." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. . The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Lewis Madison Terman (American psychologist)."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "Theories of Intelligence." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .

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