How many types of intelligence are there?

672 Words2 Pages

Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. For a while now there has been a question "are there multiple types of intelligence or just one?" Some people debate that there is only one type of intelligence and everything else is a skill or ability. Others say that there all multiple different intelligences and each effect you differently. Some well-known theories for multiple intelligences are Gardner's theory and Sternberg's theory which explain that each area of skill is categorized under intelligence. Spearman's "model of intelligence theory" is a popular theory that explains why there is only one general intelligence and describes that all intelligence can be put into one big category.

In Spearman's theory he did a bunch of tests in specific areas and after he calculated all the scores he noticed that people who scored well in one topic generally scored well in another topic that was related to the first. He concluded that "there is a very high correlation between IQ and very simple cognitive tasks" he referred to the idea of a single intelligence as the "G-factor." In 1997, Jensen supported the G-factor by saying "the positive correlation between all cognitive test items is a given, an inexorable fact of nature. The all-positive inter item correlation matrix is not an artifact of test construction or item selection, as some test critics mistakenly believe." In 1982, Eysneck said "IQ correlates very highly (.8 and above, without correction for attenuation) with tests which are essentially so simple, or even directly physiological that they can hardly be considered cognitive in the accepted sense." Many other people would agree that all these skills could be put into a single category called intellige...

... middle of paper ...

... both heavily supported and overall both theory's deserve to be recognized, but even though general intelligences are more evidenced based and are probably better for first world countries, multiple intelligences can be applied worldwide where people aren't as "book" smart but rather are more "street" smart and they know how to survive off the resources they have. Multiple intelligences is also a better option because every human is intelligent in their own way and just because a paper saying that you’re not good at one subject doesn't mean you’re not intelligent at another subject that is completely different then the first subject.

Works Cited

http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/p/intelligence.htm http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/courses/intelligence/cache/paik.html http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences-and-education/

Open Document