Definitions Key Terms

What does the term intelligence mean to psychologists? Some experts describe intelligence as the ability to solve problems. Others describe it as the capacity to adapt and learn from experience. Still others argue that intelligence includes characteristics such as creativity and interpersonal skills We can evaluate intelligence only indirectly by studying and comparing the intelligent acts that people perform. How can intelligence be defined? Intelligence is the ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn from experiences. But even this broad definition doesn’t satisfy everyone. In 1904, the French Ministry of Education asked psychologist Alfred Binet to devise a method to determine which students would not profit from typical school instruction. Binet stressed that the core of intelligence consists of complex cognitive processes such as memory, imagery, comprehension, and judgment. In addition, he noted that a developmental approach was crucial for understanding intelligence. He proposed that a child’s intellectual ability increases with age. Therefore, he tested potential items and determined the age at which a typical child could answer them correctly. Thus, Binet developed the concept of mental age (MA), which is an individual’s level of mental development relative to others. For an average child, MA scores correspond to chronological age (CA), which is age from birth. A bright child has an MA considerably above CA; a child with a low level of intelligence has an MA considerably below CA. Many revisions were carried out by Lewis Terman, who developed extensive norms and provided detailed, clear instructions for each problem on the test. Terman also applied a concept introduced by William Stern (1912), who coined the term intelligence quotient (IQ) to refer to an individual’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100: IQ = MA/CA × 100. In 2004, the test, now called the Stanford-Binet 5 (Stanford University is where the revisions have been done), was revised to analyze an individual’s responses in five content areas: fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial reasoning, and working memory. A general composite score also is obtained. Today the test is scored by comparing the test-taker’s performance with the results achieved by other people of the same age. The average score is set at 100. In 1939, David Wechsler introduced the first of his scales, designed for use with adults (Wechsler, 1939); the current edition is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth Edition (WISC-V) is designed for children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 16 (Wechsler, 2014). The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence— Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) is appropriate for children from age 2 years 6 months to 7 years 7 months. Sternberg developed the triarchic theory of intelligence, which states that intelligence comes in three forms: (1) analytical intelligence, which refers to the ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast; (2) creative intelligence, which consists of the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine; and (3) practical intelligence, which involves the ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice. Gardner has proposed eight types of intelligence. They are described here, along with examples of the occupations in which they are regarded as strengths (Campbell, Campbell, & Dickinson, 2004): Verbal. The ability to think in words and use language to express meaning (occupations: authors, journalists, speakers) Mathematical. The ability to carry out mathematical operations (occupations: scientists, engineers, accountants) Spatial. The ability to think three-dimensionally (occupations: architects, artists, sailors) Bodily-kinesthetic. The ability to manipulate objects and be physically adept (occupations: surgeons, craftspeople, dancers, athletes) Musical. A sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone (occupations: composers, musicians, and sensitive listeners) Interpersonal. The ability to understand and effectively interact with others (occupations: successful teachers, mental health professionals) Intrapersonal. The ability to understand oneself (occupations: theologians, psychologists) Naturalist. The ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems (occupations: farmers, botanists, ecologists, landscapers) Recently, Gardner has considered adding a ninth type of intelligence to his list of multiple intelligences —existentialist, which involves exploring and finding meaning in life, especially regarding questions about life, death, and existence. The concept of emotional intelligence was initially developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990), who define it as the ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively (such as taking the perspective of others), to understand emotion and emotional knowledge (such as understanding the roles that emotions play in friendship and marriage), to use feelings to facilitate thought (such as being in a positive mood, which is linked to creative thinking), and to manage emotions in oneself and others (such as being able to control one’s anger). Cognitive mechanics is the “hardware” of the mind and reflects the neurophysiological architecture of the brain developed through evolution. Cognitive mechanics consists of the speed and accuracy of the processes involved in sensory input, attention, visual and motor memory, discrimination, comparison, and categorization. Because of the strong influence of biology, heredity, and health on cognitive mechanics, a decline with aging is likely. Cognitive pragmatics encompasses the culture-based “software programs” of the mind. Cognitive pragmatics includes reading and writing skills, language comprehension, educational qualifications, professional skills, as well as self-knowledge and life skills that help us to master or cope with life. Because of the strong influence of culture on cognitive pragmatics, ongoing improvement can continue to take place. Thus, although cognitive mechanics may decline in old age, cognitive pragmatics may actually improve during this period Baltes and his colleagues (2006) define wisdom as expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgment about important matters. This practical knowledge involves exceptional insight about human development and life matters, good judgment, and understanding of how to cope with difÏcult life problems. Thus, wisdom, more than standard conceptions of intelligence, focuses on life’s pragmatic concerns and human conditions High levels of wisdom are rare. Few people, including older adults, attain a high level of wisdom. That only a small percentage of adults show wisdom supports the contention that it requires experience, practice, or complex skills. Factors other than age are critical for wisdom to develop to a high level. For example, certain life experiences, such as being trained and working in a field concerned with difÏcult life problems and having wisdom-enhancing mentors, contribute to higher levels of wisdom. Also, people higher in wisdom have values that are more likely to consider the welfare of others than to focus exclusively on their own happiness. Personality-related factors, such as openness to experience, generativity, and creativity, are better predictors of wisdom than cognitive factors such as intelligence. Researchers have developed culture-fair tests, which are intelligence tests that are designed to avoid cultural bias. Two types of culture-fair tests have been developed. The first includes questions that are familiar to people from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. For example, a child might be asked how a bird and a dog are different, on the assumption that virtually all children are familiar with birds and dogs. The second type of culture-fair test contains no verbal questions. In the United States, children from African American and Latino families score below children from nonLatino White families on standardized intelligence tests (Yeung, 2012). On average, African American schoolchildren score 10 to 15 points lower on standardized intelligence tests than non-Latino White schoolchildren do (Brody, 2000). These are average scores, however. About 15 to 25 percent of African American schoolchildren score higher than half of non-Latino White schoolchildren do. The reason is that the distribution of scores for African Americans and non-Latino Whites overlap. A recent research review concluded that the IQ gap between African Americans and non-Latino Whites has been reduced considerably in recent years (Nisbett & others, 2012). This gap especially narrows in college, where African American and non-Latino White students often experience more similar environments than during the elementary and high school years (Myerson & others, 1998). Also, when children from disadvantaged African American families are adopted into more advantaged middlesocioeconomic-status families, their scores on intelligence tests more closely resemble national averages for middle-socioeconomic-status children than for lower-socioeconomic-status children Theories of multiple intelligences have their critics (Haier & others, 2014). Some argue that the research base to support these theories has not yet been developed. In particular, some critics say that Gardner’s classification seems arbitrary. For example, if musical skills represent a type of intelligence, why don’t we also refer to chess intelligence, prize-fighter intelligence, and so on? Sternberg’s, Gardner’s, and Salovey/Mayer’s views of intelligence. Notice that Sternberg’s view is unique in emphasizing creative intelligence and that Gardner’s includes a number of types of intelligence that are not addressed by the other views. These theories of multiple intelligences have much to offer. They have stimulated us to think more broadly about what makes up people’s intelligence and competence (Sternberg, 2017a, b; 2018a, b, c), and they have motivated educators to develop programs that instruct students in different domains. Early consensus was that the frontal lobes are the likely location of intelligence. Today, some experts continue to emphasize that high-level thinking skills involved in intelligence are linked to the prefrontal cortex (Santarnecchi, Rossi, & Rossi, 2015; Sternberg & Sternberg, 2017). However, other researchers recently have found that intelligence is distributed more widely across brain regions (Lee & others, 2012; Sepulcre & others, 2012). The most prominent finding from brain-imaging studies is that a distributed neural network involving the frontal and parietal lobes is related to higher intelligence (Colom & others, 2009, 2010; Margolis & others, 2013) (see Figure 4). One study revealed that the frontoparietal network is responsible for cognitive control and connectivity to brain regions outside the network (Cole & others, 2012). Albert Einstein’s total brain size was average, but a region of his brain’s parietal lobe that is very active in processing math and spatial information was 15 percent larger than average (Witelson, Kigar, & Harvey, 1999). Other brain regions that have been linked to higher intelligence (although at a lower level of significance than the frontal/parietal lobe network) include the temporal and occipital lobes, as well as the cerebellum Intellectual disability is a condition of limited mental ability in which the individual (1) has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test; (2) has difÏculty adapting to the demands of everyday life; and (3) first exhibits these characteristics by age 18. The age limit is included in the definition of intellectual disability because, for example, we don’t usually think of a college student who suffers massive brain damage in a car accident, resulting in an IQ of 60, as having an “intellectual disability.” The low IQ and low adaptiveness should be evident in childhood, not after normal functioning is interrupted by damage of some form. About 5 million Americans fit this definition of intellectual disability. Organic intellectual disability describes a genetic disorder or a lower level of intellectual functioning caused by brain damage (Lewanda & others, 2016; Pisani & Spagnoli, 2016). Down syndrome is one form of organic intellectual disability, and it occurs when an extra chromosome is present. When no evidence of organic brain damage can be found, cases are labeled cultural-familial intellectual disability. Individuals with this type of disability have IQs between 55 and 70. Psychologists suspect that this type of disability often stems from growing up in a below-average intellectual environment. Children with this type of disability can be identified in schools, where they often fail, need tangible rewards (candy rather than praise), and are highly sensitive to what others expect of them. There have always been people whose abilities and accomplishments outshine those of others—the whiz kid in class, the star athlete, the natural musician. People who are gifted have high intelligence or superior talent of some kind. An IQ of 130 is often used as the low threshold for giftedness, although this figure is arbitrary. Programs for the gifted in most school systems select children who have intellectual superiority and academic aptitude (Sternberg, 2017c, d; Sternberg & Kaufman, 2018a). They tend to overlook children who are talented in the arts or athletics or who have other special aptitudes, including their passion and sense of destiny (Ambrose & Sternberg, 2016a, b; Sternberg & Kaufman, 2018a). Estimates vary but indicate that approximately 6 percent of U.S. students are classified as gifted. This percentage is likely conservative because it focuses more on children who are gifted intellectually and academically, often failing to include those who are gifted in creative thinking or the visual and performing arts Research supports the conclusion that gifted people tend to be more mature, to have fewer emotional problems than others, and to grow up in a positive family climate