The Theories of Intelligence
Every individual has its own ability to perform a certain task, to reason out, to understand ideas, to adapt to situations and to solve problems. These intellectual abilities can also be called as intelligence; it varies from person to person and depends on different situations. How intelligent a person is also depends on who judge him and on the criteria used to judge. Measures of intelligence involved a lot of theories that present criteria on the measurement of human intelligence. In this paper, two famous theories are discussed, compared and contrasted to determine which model has been the present basis of the measurement of intelligence.
model of intelligence is all about the factor g. g stands for general intelligence, the general factor which had hypothesized to explain all the tests of mental ability such as mathematical skills, vocabulary, verbal, artistic, logical reasoning ability and many other intellectual abilities ( 1904). General intelligence, g, is a single factor that determines the intelligence of the individual. based his theory on his research on the results of different types of test covering different areas of cognitive ability. He conducted his tests on many individuals and the results has led him to the conclusion that there was a positive correlation between the tests for a given individual ( 1904). For example, if a person can perform well on a test of verbal abilities, then that same person can also perform well on another cognitive ability test such as mathematics test. This is because of the positive correlation in a person called general intelligence. In other words, theory generalized the intelligence of an individual, that the intelligence of an individual can be determined using the person’s g and a person’s mathematical ability, verbal skills and other abilities are associated with each other. This means that the ability of a person regardless of what kind of ability it is, whether it is mathematical or linguistic have a commonality called general intelligence.
On the other hand, multiple intelligence theory is the opposite of the general intelligence theorized by theory suggests that there were more than one type of intelligence (1983) independent of each other; each can be combined in multiple ways depending on the weaknesses and strengths of an individual. These are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. The first is the linguistic intelligence or the ability to learn and effectively use language verbally and in written form. Writers, poets and lawyers are considered to possess this intelligence. Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to analyze and solve problems logically and scientifically. According to himself, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. The third intelligence is musical intelligence which involves skill and the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones and rhythms. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence involves the ability to use one’s body to solve problems and the ability to coordinate mental abilities to bodily movements. Spatial intelligence is the ability to recognize and use patterns of wide space and more confined areas. Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to communicate, understand and work with other people effectively. Examples of people with such intelligence are politicians, educators, salespeople and counselors. Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to understand oneself, one’s feelings and being self-motivated to be able to regulate one’s own life ( 2002).
theory has a biological basis (1998): he studied the brains of individuals who had disabilities such as speech impairment, paralysis or disabilities and found out that these individuals’ brains have damage on some parts. found out that the brain has seven different areas each has its own functionality and each is related to the seven different intelligences ( 1996).
Today, psychologists used different factors to measure intelligence. There are tests based on theory such as the Progressive Matrices, which consists of a series of abstract patterns with one piece missing ( 1994) but there are also some which are based on Gardner’s like most of the intelligence tests in school because of the positive response of many educators with this theory. A number of schools in North America have based their school curriculum on the intelligences that developed (2002). Intelligence tests are used in schools and in companies for personality and IQ tests and to be able to determine the right person on the right position.
There are also people who do not believe in IQ tests or intelligence measurement. Anthropologists think of intelligence as the individual’s capacity to adapt to his environment and IQ tests measures only a small part on human intelligence. An individual’s ability to sing, dance, create art, see visions, or fashion tools is as much a part of man’s intelligence as his ability to do geometry or argue philosophy (1988). Therefore, anthropologists’ view of intelligence can be much more of than which takes into account non-IQ abilities which are sometimes called talent.
The two theories both have solid basis and has been an argument for many psychologists themselves. The validity of each theory varies from a person’s understanding and perception. However, since multiple intelligence are appreciated and supported by most educators, it has been the theory that has become basis of many people who are well-educated by schools where most skills are developed and where most knowledge are acquired and then applied in real-life situations whenever outside the school or after one has graduated from school.
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