Jenson’s theory of intelligence=>

Gave two level-theories of mental abilities

He demonstrated clear-cut genetic differences in the average
intelligence of races and social classes.
Jensen suggested that two genetically based levels of intelligence exist
which consists of two levels of abilities=>
The Level I ability=> associative learning, which consists of
Short-Term Memory (STM), rote learning, attention and simple
associative skills.
The Level II => cognitive learning, which consists of abstract
thinking, symbolic thought, conceptual learning, and use of language
in problem solving.
Level I ability, i.e. associative learning is equally distributed
across all racial and national groups but on the contrary, Level II,
i.e., cognitive learning is concentrated more the middle class
Anglo-American populations than in the lower class black
populations.
According to him, genetic differences in intelligence exist among
people coming from different races, nationalities, and social classes.
Jensen conducted studies of intelligence comparing identical, fraternal
twins=> Studies with identical twins produced an average correlation
of .86, whereas studies of ordinary siblings produced an average
correlation of .47.
Jensen on basis of his studies believed that genetic factors are more
important than environmental factors for one’s intelligence.

Catell’s Theory of intelligence =>

● Proposed that two types of intelligence constitute the g => fluid

intelligence (gf) and crystalized intelligence (gc).
● Fluid intelligence => ability for abstract and logical thinking,
and does not require any prior knowledge. Thus it involves the
ability to think and reason abstractly and solve any new task
or problem independent of any past knowledge or
 experience in it. It helps one to analyze a novel problem,
perceive the relationships and patterns that underlie the problem
and solve it using logic. Though grows rapidly during the
early years of life, fluid intelligence tends to decline during
later years of life. It can be measured by tests of puzzle solving,
block designs and spatial visualization. The Cattell Culture Fair
IQ tests, The Raven’s Progressive Matrices are the measures of
Gf.It is more hereditary
● Crystallized intelligence (gc) => depends on past learning
and experience; it is acquired. Thus, gc increases with age
and experience and gf declines gradually. It is the knowledge
that one gains through learning, past experience, acculturation
and ability to use that acquired knowledge. More the knowledge
and information you gain, more the stronger it becomes. It can
be measured through tests of general knowledge, use of
language (vocabulary) and a wide variety of acquired skills

Thurstone’s theory of intelligence=>

● Intelligence is a composite of seven distinct primary mental

abilities (PMA).
● He did not focus on a single factor of general intelligence as
suggested by Spearman and pointed out that intelligence
consists of a number of primary mental abilities. He developed a
new factor model of intelligence => gave the 7 primary mental
abilities or PMA.
1. Inductive Reasoning: finding rules or principles from given
info, the logical reasoning ability
2. Memory: The ability to memorize and recall.
3. Numerical Ability: The ability to solve arithmetic problems. =>
measures the speed and accuracy of computational skills.
4. Perceptual Speed: visualizing details rapidly. It is the ability to
perceive or grasp perceptual details quickly and accurately, to
see differences and similarities among things.
 5. Spatial Relations: The ability to understand relationship. The
ability to visualise and manipulate different geometric patterns,
forms and imaginary objects in space.
6. Verbal Comprehension
7. Word Fluency: The ability to produce words rapidly.
● Thurstone views each of these mental abilities as independent of
each other. Each of them can be assessed separately and there
cannot be a single score for intelligence. He suggests a cognitive
ability profile for the individual rather than a single IQ score.

Sternberg’s theory of intelligence

Componential subtheory =>

1. Metacomponents=> executive part controlling other two
components and monitoring the cognitive processing, tell the
performance components what to do.
2. Performance components => help in performing a task or
solving a problem. Thus it uses attention, coding , memory etc.
3. Knowledge acquisition components => help in acquiring
knowledge and uses different strategies for it
Experiential Subtheory = >
1. Automation => some aspects of information processing are
automated, they do not require much attention, effort or energy.
They can run parallel to other processes.
2. Novel ideas
Contextual subtheory =>
1. Adaptation => one makes changes within oneself to adjust to a
new environment.
2. Shaping => one changes one’s environment according to his
requirement.
3. Selection=> completely new environment is replaced with the
older ineffective one.

John Carolls three striatum theory=>

● Based on factor analysis

● Three strata correspond to (a) minor group factors at the first
(lowest) level; (b) major group factors at the second level
(fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, general memory
and learning, broad visual perception, broad auditory
perception, broad retrieval ability, broad cognitive
speediness, and processing speed); and (c) the general factor
at the third (highest) level.
CHC THEORY : Cattell- Horn- Carroll Theory=>

It is a combination of the Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized

intelligence and Carroll’s (1993) Three-Stratum Theory. Both the
Cattell-Horn and Carroll models essentially started from the same
point—Spearman’s g-factor theory; though they took different paths,
they ended up with remarkably consistent conclusions about the
spectrum of broad cognitive abilitiesThe CHC model proposes 10
different broad factors of intelligence:
1. Gf (fluid intelligence; the ability to solve novel problems, ones
that do not benefit from past learning or experience),
2. Gq (quantitative knowledge, typically math related),
3. Gc (crystallized intelligence; the breadth and depth of a
person’s accumulated knowledge of a culture and the ability to
use that knowledge to solve problems),
4. Grw (reading and writing),
5. Gsm (short-term memory),
6. Gv (visual processing),
7. Ga (auditory processing),
8. Glr (long-term storage and retrieval),
 9. Gs (processing speed), and
10. Gt (decision speed/reaction time).
Each of these broad domains has various sub-types and there are a
total of approximately 62 subtopics measured under these 10 broad
domains.

Of these 10, only 7 are measured by today’s IQ tests; Gq and Grw are
in the domain of academic achievement,and, therefore, are measured
by individually administered achievement tests, and Gt is not
measured by any standardized test of anything.

PASS theory of intelligence:

● Given by Alexander Luria => based on cognitive psych,

neuropsych theories.
● P: planning
A: attention-arousal
S: simultaneous
S: successive
These are the four processing systems
● Human cognition consists of three separate but interrelated
brain systems that support four cognitive processes
(planning, attention, simultaneous, and successive processing).
● The three brain systems => functional units.
1. First functional unit => Attention-Arousal => responsible for
two cognitive tasks => maintaining general alertness or
orientation to the task , controlling attention and resisting to
distraction.
2. Second functional unit=> storage and integration of information
+ grouping of information into simultaneous arrays or
successive series. Simultaneous processing => integrating
stimuli into groups or the recognition that a number of items
 share a common characteristic. Successive processing =>
organizing separate items in a sequence, for example,
remembering a sequence of words.
3. Third functional unit => Planning system=> decision-making,
evaluation, programming, and regulation of present and future
behavior=> execution of actions.
● All processes => embedded within a knowledge base, which is
often divided into two categories – tacit or experiential and
formal or instructed.

Guildford’s struct for intellect model:

● Did not accept theories of intelligence given by Spearman and

Thurstone.
● Intellect: combination of several mental abilities
● Use a factor analytic technique => isolate the various factors of
thinking, to separate out creativity and other skills from the
factors measured by IQ.
● He organised these various abilities along three dimensions:
content, product, and process.
CONTENT: different people seemed to pay more attention to and
think more effectively about different kinds of information, such as:
1. Visual information,
2. Auditory information,
3. Symbolic items (words and symbols conveying some meaning),
4. Semantic meanings ,
5. Behavioral information
Daniel Goleman has popularized this as “social intelligence”. eg) An
artist => excel at processing visual information, but be poor at
processing words, numbers and other symbolic content. A researcher
=> good at symbolic content and semantic meaning, poor at
processing behavioral data => relate poorly with people.
PRODUCTS: relates to the kinds of information we process from
the content types:
1. Units=> ability to perceive units in a content area. Symbolic
units => words, visual units=> shapes, or behavioral units =>
facial expressions.
2. Classes => ability to organize units into meaningful groups and
to sort units into the right groups.
3. Relations => ability to sense the relationships between pairs of
units.
4. Systems => relationships among more than two units.
5. Transformations => ability to understand changes in
information, such as rotation of visual figures, or jokes and puns
in the semantic area.
6. Implications=> expectation.

OPERATIONS: describes what the brain does with and to these types
of information:
1. Cognition=> ability to perceive the various items. Cognition of
semantic units => ability to recognize words, cognition of
Behavioral Transformations => ability to perceive changes in
the expressions of an individual.
2. Memory => ability to store and retrieve various kinds of
information. Some people who are poor at remembering faces
(behavioral units) may be excellent at remembering puns
(semantic transformations).
3. Divergent production => ability to access memory=> ability to
find large numbers of things which fit certain simple criteria.
Ability to divergently produce visual units => ability to list a
great many images which include a circle. Divergence in
behavioral transformations => ability to revise stories about
people. Divergence in Symbolic Implications => ability to list
various equations which can be deduced from given equations.
4. Convergent Production => search of memory for the single
answer to a question or situation => logic type problem solving.
 5. Evaluation => ability to make judgments about the various kinds
of information,
These three factors combine to identify 150 (5 content * 6
products * 5 operations) different skill areas.