Like more other concepts, intelligence was and still is conceived differently by different people. It is in sense that different scholars made efforts to come up with their own understanding of what intelligence really is and the different forms that it may take. It is this effort by psychologists and other scientists which resulted in various Theories of intelligence.
These theories help us to understand how intelligence operates, what type of behaviour makes an individual intelligent or unintelligent.
Table of Contents
Unitary theory or Monarchic theory
The monarchy theory, the oldest of all theories of intelligence, holds the view that intelligence consists of one factor, namely, fund of intelligence competence, which is universal for all the activities of the individual. If one has a fund of intelligence, s/he can utilise it to cover any area of his/her life and can be as successful in one area as in the other depending upon his/her fund of intelligence.
But in actual life situations, the ideas propagated by this theory may be deceiving. For instance, someone good in science, despite their serious interest and hard work, may not be so good in history. Another example: a student who is good in Mathematics could not find him/herself equally competent in learning languages.
Anarchic theory or Multifactor theory
The main propagator of this theory was E.L. Thorndike. As the name suggests, this theory, also known as atomistic theory of intelligence, considers intelligence as a combination of numerous separate elements of factors, each one being a minute element of the ability. So there is no such thing as general intelligence (a single factor) but there are many highly independent specific abilities which go into different tasks. Anarchic theory poses a challenge as we cannot say specifically which types of abilities that constitute the person’s intellectual capacity for one will be entirely successful in a particular area and completely unsuccessful in another.
Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence
Robert Sternberg (1985) proposed a triarchic theory, or three-part theory, of intelligence. Sternberg proposed that intelligence can be divided into three ways of processing information. The first way is using analytical thinking skills, or the ability to solve problems. These kinds of skills are the ones that are traditionally measured on intelligence tests. The second way is applying creative thinking to solving problems and dealing with new situations. The third is using practical thinking skills to help adjust to and cope with one’s environment. Sternberg’s ideas stress the point that traditional intelligence tests do not measure and assess intelligences found in everyday life.
Spearman’s Two Factor Theory
This theory was advocated by the British psychologist Charles Spearman. He proposed his two-factor theory of intelligence in 1904 which According the theory contribute to a person’s intelligence.
According to Spearman, every different intellectual activity involves a general intelligence factor “G” which is shared with all intellectual activities, This involves a person’s ability to perform complex mental work, such as problem solving.
A second factor, s, represents a person’s specific mental abilities, such as verbal or math skills is shared with none.
In this way, Spearman suggested that there is something which might be called general intelligence, which in his view, is a sort of general mental energy, running through all different tasks. But in addition to this factor, there are specific abilities, which make an individual able to deal with particular situations or situations. Performance in mathematics, for instance, is partly due to some kind of specific ability in mathematics which one might possess, that is G+S1. The ability or intelligence of such an individual symbolises A. G+S1+S2+S3=A.
Critics to Spearman’s theory argue that g does not measure many other kinds of mental abilities such as motor, musical, or creative abilities. These critics argue that intelligence cannot be reduced to just g and expressed by a single IQ score.
In summary, the following are the weaknesses of Spearman’s theory:
1. Spearman said that there are only two factors expressing intelligence but several have been seen.
2. Each job requires some specific ability according to Spearman. This view was not proper as it implies that there was nothing common in the jobs except general factors.
Group Factor Theory
This theory was propagated by L.L. Thurston (1938), an American psychologist. The group factor theory states that there are certain factors not common to all of the intellectual abilities, but to certain activities comprising a group. According to Thurston, there are a number of groups of mental abilities each of which has its own primary factor. He proposes nine primary factors governing our mental abilities.
Factor | Abilities involved |
(i) Verbal factor (V) | comprehension of verbal relations, meaning of words, ideas and concepts |
(ii) Spatial factor (S) | Ability to visualise manipulate patterns or any other forms of space imaginatively. |
(iii) Numerical factor (N) | Ability to do numerical calculations involved in problems very rapidly and accurately. |
(iv) Memory factor (M) | involving the ability to memorise and recall; information quickly. |
(v) Word fluency factor (W) | Ability to think of the isolated words , such as rhyming, solving anagrams and crossword puzzles at a rapid ratio. |
(vi) Inductive reasoning factor (IR): | ability to draw inferences on conclusions on the basis of specific instances. |
(vii) Deductive reason factor (RD): | ability to make use of generalised results. |
(viii) Perceptual factor (P) | ability to perceive objects and determine similarities and differences between stimuli accurately. |
(ix) Problem-solving ability factor (PS): | ability to solve problems with independent efforts. |
Table: Thurston’s nine primary mental abilities
The group factor discarded the concept of common factor. This was due to the fact that after testing a large number of people on more than 50 different ability tests, Thurston found no evidence for the general intelligence that Spearman had identified. He therefore believed that a person’s intelligence needed to be a measurement of all nine mental abilities and not just a measurement of one factor.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Psychologist Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) rejected the traditional idea of intelligence as primarily the ability to think logically. He believes this view is inadequate because it omits many important skills. Gardner argues for a broader perspective that includes eight types of intelligence.
Seven types of intelligence are: (1) verbal ability; (2) logical-mathematical reasoning skills; (3) spatial ability, or the ability to find your way around an environment and to form mental images of it; (4) musical ability, or the ability to create and perceive pitch and rhythm patterns; (5) body kinaesthetic ability, or skill at fine motor movements required for tasks such as gem cutting, surgery, and athletics; (6) interpersonal skills, involving understanding the feelings of others; and (7) intrapersonal skills, or knowledge of oneself.
Gardner later added two types of intelligence, namely, (8) naturalist intelligence, which is a person’s ability to identify and classify patterns in nature. And (9) existential intelligence, concerning the experience of existence.
Gardner’s research on the results of brain disease convinced him that humans possess these nine different and often unrelated intellectual capacities, or intelligences. Moreover, he argues that the biological organisation of the brain affects one’s strength in each of the nine areas. He points out that a person can be outstanding in some intelligences and not in others.
Type of intelligence | Ability involved | Skills and Career Preferences |
Linguistic/Verbal | ability to utilize language skill at learning, using, and understanding languages | Skills– Listening, speaking, writing, teaching. Careers– Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator |
Logical-Mathematical | ability to process and compute logical problems and equations skill at solving algebra problems | Skills– Problem solving (logical & math), performing experiments Careers– Scientists, engineers, accountants, mathematicians |
Spatial Musical | ability to comprehend shapes and images in three dimensions skill at putting puzzles together or moulding sculptures | Skills– puzzle building, painting, constructing, fixing, designing objects Careers– Sculptor, artist, inventor, architect, mechanic, engineer |
Musical | Ability to perform and compose music skills at performing and comprehending music | Skills– Singing, playing instruments, composing music Careers– Musician, disc jockey, singer, composer |
Body-Kinaesthetic | ability to perceive and control movement, balance, agility, grace sense of how one’s body should act and react in a physically demanding situation | Skills– Dancing, sports, hands on experiments, acting Careers– Athlete, PE teacher, dancer, actor, firefighter |
Interpersonal | ability to interact with and understand others and to interpret their behaviour skill at gauging others’ moods and motivations | Skills– Seeing from other perspectives, empathy, counseling, co-operating Careers– Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person, minister |
Intrapersonal | ability to understand and sense oneself skill at using self-esteem, self enhancement, and strength of character to solve internal problems | Skills– Recognize one’s S/W, reflective, aware of inner feelings Careers– Researchers, theorists, philosophers |
Naturalist | ability to identify and classify patterns and relationships in natural surroundings skill at distinguishing differences among large numbers of similar objects | Skills– Recognize one’s connection to nature, apply science theory to life Careers– Scientist, naturalist, landscape architect |
Existential | Ability to comprehend the experience of existence, ability to use collective values and intuition to understand others and the world around them. | Skills– Reflective and deep thinking, design abstract theories Careers– Scientist, philosopher, theologian |
Table: Gardner’s nine types of Intelligence
Critics of Gardner’s theory argue that some of what Gardner called “intelligence” are really skills. For instance, someone with exceptional musical abilities or body-kinaesthetic abilities is really just talented. These critics claim that intelligence and talent (or skill) are two different things.
Emotional Intelligence
Another type of intelligence is called emotional intelligence. It is related to Gardner’s concepts of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences and has been discussed in the popular press. Emotional intelligence has four major aspects (Mayer & Salovey, 1997):
• The ability to perceive and express emotions accurately and appropriately
• The ability to use emotions while thinking
• The ability to understand emotions and use the knowledge effectively
• The ability to regulate one’s emotions to promote personal growth
This view of intelligence has intrigued many psychologists. Major proponents of this view have linked emotional intelligence to success in the workplace. Some psychologists, however, argue that emotional intelligence is simply a measurement of extraversion. More research needs to be done to confirm this theory of intelligence.
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