In the Western culture communication tends to have a logical and linear structure, most proceed right to the point. (Hong, 2008) Countries in the West are mostly industrialized and rely heavily on electronic technology and emphasize written messages over oral or face-to-face communication. The United States especially exemplifies this trend. Most countries in West Africa still rely more on face-to-face communications than on the written mode. (Novinger, 2008)
Having discussed differences in custom, religion and communications between these cultures; I will now explore their conception of intelligence. In recent years, researchers in Africa, Asia and elsewhere have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about intelligence that differ fundamentally from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests. (Benson, 2003) Serpell and others have found that people in some African communities--especially where Western schooling has not yet become common tend to blur the Western distinction between intelligence and social competence. In rural Zambia, for instance, the concept of nzelu includes both cleverness (chenjela) and responsibility (tumikila). (Benson, 2003)
"When rural parents in Africa talk about the intelligence of children, they prefer not to separate the cognitive speed aspect of intelligence from the social responsibility aspect," says Serpell.
Throughout the last several years, Sternberg and Grigorenko have research and investigated aspects conceptual views on intelligence in Africa. Among the Luo people in rural Kenya, Grigorenko and her collaborators have realized that idiologies about intelligence includes four broad concepts: rieko, which relates to the Western idea of academic intelligence, but a...
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...her cultures in west Africa believe that eye contact is regarded as intimidating, perpetrating insolence or being disrespectful. ( Boundless- Gender Roles In the US)
Language influences and sculpts culture, and this determines how relationships within a society will associate. A better explanation of how language really affects culture was postulated stated by Edward Sapir who argued that: Human beings do not live in the objective world alone or alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but very much are at the mercy of the specific language which is the means of expression for their society as a whole.
Benjamin Lee Whorf, who studied under Sapir, extended the idea seen by his analysis of linguistic and social structures in daily life (220-221). Many know this as Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis utilized currently in anthropological linguistics.”
Thesis statement: I agree with Turkle. There has been a negative shift in the way we communicate, we document when inappropriate times, Interpersonal communications have suffered and are too obsessive with their devices.
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
According to Howard Gardner (1991), every individual is born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. It is unfair to teach and/or assess an individual with a standard guideline or benchmark. This is mainly because every individual possess a different intellectual strength and different kinds of mind that learn, perform and understand in a different ways which is difficult to be changed. If an individual cannot understand the way we communicate, we should communicate in the way they can understand. Howard Gardner (1983), in his Multiple Intelligence Theory, proposes that human intelligence has seven dimensions that should be acknowledged and developed by the encouragement of learning and self-development and
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.
In spite of the fact that intelligence quotient tests have been around for decades, many professionals are attempting to determine the factors and causes behind aptitude. Several options exist to explain or disprove the reasons why some attain above average intellect, while others manage varying degrees less. Some of these alternatives, along with arguments in the general and human intelligence topics, will be found inside the following pages of discussion.
Human intelligence is an eel-like subject: slippery, difficult to grasp, and almost impossible to get straight [3]. Many scientist and psychologist have made numerous attempts to come up with an explanation for the development of human intelligence. For many years, there has been much controversy over what intelligence is and whether it is hereditary or nurtured by the environment. Webster's dictionary defines intelligence as "the ability to acquire and apply knowledge; which includes a sensing an environment and reaching conclusions about the state of that environment [7]. In this paper I am going to examine the factors, which make up ones intelligence. I will be investigating whether or not intelligence is fostered by genetic heritance or nurtured by ones environment.
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.
As a State College student who received her high school diploma from an urban school district, I have found that often, students of urban schools have a difficult time becoming fluent writers and speakers of Standard English. According to the book Teaching Strategies for the Culturally Disadvantaged, Intelligence tests are usually linked with how well a student knows Standard English and the culture of the dominant race. Therefore, some students whose cultures vary from that of the ìsocial normî are unlikely to be ìwell readî or have exceptionally high IQ scores. And because it is often assumed that thinking is a product either of a lot of knowledge o...
Furnham, A. 2001. Self-estimates of intelligence: culture and gender difference in self and other estimates of both general (g) and multiple intelligences. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, pp. 1381-1405.
In response to Gerald Graff’s article about “Hidden Intellectualism,” he discusses street smarts and that often people are educated through what they learn in their environment. In many ways people are intelligent but this knowledge rarely goes unacknowledged in formal schooling. In this way, people are intellectual but are more able to apply what they know to what they have picked up about life or topics through various scenarios in their lives rather than through
This is an essay about the different theories of intelligence; it will discuss which theory is best at determining intelligence in my opinion. The information provided will help describe the pros and cons of each of the theories being used to define intelligence, explain why is it important to assess children’s intelligence, and discuss the type of intelligence I possess. The different theories of intelligence are complex and understanding the elements of each can help an individual choose the one that they believe is the best for determining intelligence. Comparing the positive and the negative elements of each theory of intelligence will allow an individual to see both sides of the theory and the flaws that may be twisted
Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.’ (Wechsler, 1944, p. 3)
...tation of an individual to an environment. Meaning that we are all born with a genetically inhertied and evolved mental structure, on which all following learning and knowledge is based. What would be the use of having genes linked to intelligence, but no where to develop them and put them to use? Due to brain plasticity, increased practice and effort can lead to increase in intelligence levels. The poverty crisis Honduras is facing, is mostly due to ignorance and lack of education. Education is key to the development of the country.
Psychologists have differed on the definition for intelligence and how to measure intelligence. In this paper the definition of intelligence and how it is measured will be discussed by comparing and contrasting the two intelligence tests and two achievement tests chosen from the Mental Measurement Yearbook. The intelligence tests chosen were the Primary Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (PTONI) and the Test of Memory and Learning, 2nd ed., (TOMAL-2) and the achievement tests chosen were the Basic Achievement Skills Inventory (BASI) and the Differential Ability Scales, 2nd ed. (DAS-II). The measures of the intelligence tests will be evaluated for reliability, validity, normative procedure, and bias, and then compared with the achievement tests.