The Controversial History of Intelligence By Gabriel Mallare (G11)
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athematicians consider intelligence as the ability to efficiently solve difficult problems. We students see intelligence as getting straight A’s. Athletes think of it as being able to come up with game-winning strategies. But, with the presence of so many ideas, what is the true meaning of intelligence?
intelligence is a singular and general skill. This means that an “intelligent” person is equally capable across all types of cognitive abilities, instead of, say, a virtuoso in music who fails in mathematics.
Opposing Spearman, Dr. Louis L. Thurstone of the L.L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory postulates that intelligence is instead composed of eight separate skills, unlike the Just like us, psychologists do not have previous notion that musical ability is a very clear or consensual idea on what different from mathematical ability. constitutes intelligence. In general, they These eight skills include: visual, agree that intelligence is the ability to verbal, bodily, logical, interpersonal, learn, solve, and recognize problems. musical, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. However, this is where the agreement ends From the top psychologists, we Similar to Thrustone, Dr. Robert have three schools of thought. Sternberg of Cornell University proposes that there are only three factors: Firstly, psychologist Charles Spearman, a analytical, creative, and practical. The Fellow of the Royal Society, believed that analytical factor in intelligence is your
ability to solve problems. The creative factor is the ability to solve new problems using past knowledge and experiences. The practical factor, finally, is your ability to adapt to new circumstances. Perhaps the reason why the definition of intelligence is so controversial is that there are differing cultural perceptions of what, really, is considered “intelligent.” Western-oriented cultures, such as that of the Americans, perceive intelligence as analytical ability. Eastern-oriented cultures like the Chinese, on the other hand, view intelligence as the ability to fulfill your social duties. The demarcation of perceived intelligence has also existed throughout every culture’s evolution. Huntergatherer societies, for instance, view
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