Sunny's AP Psychology Blog

What makes an intelligent person?

Nobody quite knows exactly what is meant by the term ‘intelligence.’ It is a quality ascribed to those with exceptional mental, conversational, or judgmental abilities, but we still do not know exactly what it is. Consider an idiot savant who cannot feed himself or make conversation but can instantaneously multiply numbers in the millions range or come up with the square root of say, 57686 without a calculator. The average person would be hard put to define whether this savant is intelligent or not.
The generally accepted definition for intelligence is ‘the capacity for goal-directed and adaptive behavior involving the abilities to profit from experience, solve problems, and reason effectively.’ In other words, it is defined as ‘a general mental capability that includes reasoning abilities, planning abilities, ability to think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, and learn from experiences, an ability to comprehend and react to one’s surroundings.’
A Sir Francis Galton came up with the concept of intelligence in the 19th century. He believed that intelligence was mainly inherited, and speculated about eugenics. He thought that if intellectually superior humans were the only ones allowed to breed, eventually the general mental capability of the human race would increase. A fellow called Binet came after him and thought that there should be a way to measure intelligence, so came up with a fairly limited test. Lewis Terman came along and adjusted the test to make the ‘Stanford-Binet Test’ and coined the term ‘IQ’ or ‘Intelligence Quotient.’ Evidently, he thought that intelligence should increase with age, so his intelligence quotient factored in age by dividing the general results by age. Certain discrepancies cropped up because of this.
Charles Spearman came up with factor analysis. He thought that there must be a general component to intelligence, and that if one had a lot of it, then one would be more intelligent than most others in most areas of intelligence. Professor Thurston, in contrast, thought of intelligence as emerging in eight different clusters.
People once used to think of this vague attribute called intelligence as a lump sum, a general quality that you could measure in total. Howard Gardner, an American psychologist, thought differently. He proposed a theory of multiple intelligences. He wasn’t the first, but his was comprehensive and definite. He viewed intelligence as having several components, each independent of the others, and that in order to assess a person’s intelligence you had to assess each part separately. The components, or categories, he proposed were spatial, musical, verbal, logical and mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and bodily; he believed that each form has intrinsic value. Gardner thought that everyone had innate tendencies to excel in certain categories, and that we are all equally intelligent, just in different categories.
Robert Sternberg, came up with a similar idea, but his triarchic theory of intelligence focused mostly on cognitive abilities. His idea of intelligence was of three components that interact with each other; academic problem solving skills, practical intelligence, and creative intelligence. Academic problem solving skills are the skills that require logical thinking and the ability to solve problems that are well-defined and have only one answer. Practical intelligence is one’s aptitude in getting through everyday problems. Creative intelligence is the kind needed to react well to novel situations. His theory differs from Gardner’s because he believed that these categories were only sub-divisions that make up one general intelligence.
A somewhat recently popularized aspect of intelligence is EQ, the emotional quotient. EQ is the ability or the skill to detect, assess, and manage one’s own emotions and those of others. Hence, it is a social ability. As it is a relatively new concept, research is still being conducted on EQ. However, people are gradually accepting this concept as one that is as important as or more important than IQ. After all, what good is an IQ of 198 if one is unable to placate an irate client, get a deal from a company representative, or keep one’s employees happy?
There are many different views on that vague quality called intelligence, ranging from the general to the specific, and from academic to social. Personally, I believe that emotional intelligence is the most relevant aspect of intelligence. The most gifted individual can be defeated by his inability to manage his own emotions. We are social animals, and we live with each other. One’s success in this world hangs on both one’s personal abilities and one’s personal relationships. Emotional management is crucial to both; if one cannot keep oneself focused and motivated enough to acquire skills, or make connections and both give and receive help, one simply cannot live a successful or happy life.

posted by 미카 @ 11:58 AM