INTELLIGENCE

M M CHIRWA
 OUTLINE

• Intelligence
• Measuring intelligence
• IQ Tests
• Heredity versus environment in determining
intelligence
• Some researchers have suggested that
intelligence is a single, general ability while
others believe that intelligence covers a range
of aptitudes, skills and talents .
 INTRODUCTION

• Intelligence is the ability of an individual to think in

a reasonable way, that is in learning, understanding
the world and use resources effectively.
• Intelligence is partly believed that it belongs to
many important aspects of behaviour such as how
we quickly master new tasks and adapt to new
situations, and how we get a long with others.
• Alfred Binet; Intelligence is judgment or
common sense , initiative, the ability to adapt
oneself; to judge well, understand well and
reason well.
• Howard Gardner; An intelligence is the ability
to solve problems or to create products that
are valued within one or more cultural
settings.
• D Wechsler, A global concept that involves an
individuals ability to act purposefully, think
rationally and deal effectively with the
environment.
• People’s level of intelligence is closely linked to their self
support.
• Intelligence is expressed in many forms and seem to take
different forms as:
 Intelligence can be defined as individuals’ abilities to
understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the
environment, to learn from experience, to engage in
various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by
careful thought.
 Theories of Intelligence

• Charles Spearman (1863–1945) hypothesized

that there must be a single underlying
construct that all of these items measure.
• Spearman called the construct that the
different abilities and skills measured on
intelligence tests have in common the general
intelligence factor (g).
• The G Factor: Charles Spearman proposed a
general intelligence factor, g, which underlies
all intelligent behaviour.

• The general intelligence factor underlies the

specific abilities that intelligence tests
measure.
• Spearman noted that people who certainly
excel in certain areas, tended to do well in
other areas too.
• Other scientists are sceptical, because people
can score high on one specific ability but show
weakness in others.
• In the 1980s and 1990s, psychologist Howard
Gardner proposed the idea of not one kind of
intelligence but eight, which are relatively
independent of one another. These eight types
of intelligence are:
 Linguistic: spoken and written language skills

 Logical–mathematical: number skills

 Musical: performance or composition skills

 Spatial: ability to evaluate and analyse the

visual world.
 Bodily-kinesthetic: dance or athletic abilities.

 Interpersonal: skill in understanding and

relating to others.

 Intrapersonal: skill in understanding the self

 Nature: skill in understanding the natural

world.
• Gardner believed that each of the domains of
intelligence has inherent value but that culture
and context may cause some domains to be
emphasized over others.
• Critics of the idea of multiple intelligences
maintain that these abilities are talents rather
than kinds of intelligence.
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence: in the 1980s
and 1990s, Robert Sternberg proposed a triarchic
theory of intelligence that distinguishes among
three aspects of intelligence:

 Componential intelligence: the ability

assessed by intelligence tests.
 Experiential intelligence: the ability to adapt
to new situations and develop new ideas.
 Contextual intelligence: the ability to
functions effectively in daily situations.
Triarchic /Practical intelligence represents a
type of “street smarts” or “common sense” that
is learned from life experiences.
• Savant syndrome, It is observed in some
individuals diagnosed with autism or mental
retardation, characterized by exceptional talent
in one area of functioning, such as music or
math, and poor mental functioning in all other
areas.
 DESCRIBING INTELLIGENCE
• According to Shiavangi (2018), intelligence
can be described according to attributes and
kinds.
• Attributes
 Level- refers to a degree of difficulty of a task
involved.
 Range- Number of tasks at any given degree
of difficulty that we can solve.
 Speed- The rapidity with which we can solve
a situation.
 Area-Total number of situations at each level
to which the individual is able to respond.
Kinds
a) The Abstract- abstract intelligence is shown in
dealing with symbols.
b) The Mechanical/Concrete- machines and
mechanics.
c) The Social- social relations.
• In describing intelligence; some people tend
to have more of one than the other but these
are positively related.
 ALFRED BINET
• based upon his research, Binet believed that
intellectual development was a process that
occurred over time. in other words intelligence
was not fixed at birth and simply a matter of
genetics but was flexible and could be
influenced by the environment to which a
child was exposed to- a person’s intelligence
increased with age.
• mental age-which is the age at which a person
is performing intellectually
• chronological age
• Weschler criticized the Binet Scale as it did not
consider that intellectual performance could
decline as a person grew older.
• The Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale (1905) was
designed to be tested on children only while
Weschler's Tests of Intelligence (1939) catered
to a wide age range.
 Charles Spearman (1863 – 1945)
• Charles Spearman is an early theorist of
intelligence who exponent the g factor.
• Spearman (1922), proposes that intelligence
consists of two abilities that is the ‘G’ general
ability and ‘S’ special ability .The general factor
or ability works in conjunction with special
ability.
• In all intellectual activities of the human being
along with general ability, there will be also a
special ability which is related to such action.
• Believed intelligence is general / global.
• Spearman also proposed that general
intelligence (g) is linked to many clusters that
can be analyzed by factor analysis.
• People who are bright in one area are usually
bright in other areas as well.
 David Wechsler
• David Wechsler is best known for developing
several widely-used intelligence tests,
including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children (Wechsler, 1949) and the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1955).
• Wechsler even though was a student of
spearman, he concluded that Spearman’s
theory of general intelligence (g) was too
narrow.
• Unlike Spearman, Wechsler viewed
intelligence as an effect rather than a cause,
and asserted that non-intellective factors,
such as personality, contribute to the
development of each person’s intelligence.
• His personal definition, “Intelligence is the
aggregate or global capacity of the individual
to act purposefully, to think rationally and to
deal effectively with his environment”.
 Louis expounded
• Thurstone Thurstone (1887 –as1955)
Intelligence a person’s
“pattern” of mental abilities.
• He was a critic of Spearman, and he analyzed
his subjects NOT on a single scale of general
intelligence, but on seven clusters of primary
mental abilities, including:
• Word Fluency
• Verbal Comprehension
• Spatial Ability
• Perceptual Speed
• Numerical Ability
• Inductive Reasoning
• Memory
• Thurstone has developed a test called primary
mental abilities test to assess these factors .
 Cattel- horn theory

• Raymond Cattell (1905 - 1998) a student of

spearman
• Identified two clusters of mental abilities John
Horn (student of cartell)
• proposes that general intelligence is actually a
collection of perhaps 100 abilities working together
in various ways in different people to bring out
different intelligences.
• The theory separates these abilities broadly into,
first, two different sets of abilities
• Fluid abilities ( Gf ) drive the individual's ability
to think and act quickly, solve novel problems,
and encode short-term memories.
• Fluid intelligence is grounded in physiological
efficiency, and is thus relatively independent of
education and acculturation
• Personality factors, motivation and educational
and cultural opportunity are central to its
development, and it is only indirectly
dependent on the physiological influences that
mainly affect fluid abilities.
• Crystalized intelligence is the learned or
acquired capacity and influenced by
environmental factors like education, training,
culture, knowledge and learned skills.
• It includes abilities such as reasoning and
verbal skills. Generally it continues through
life.
 MEASURING INTELLIGENCE

• Measures of intelligence are related to important

outcomes such as success in school, job
performance, social status and income.
• Intelligence quotient is the ratio expressing the
difference between mental age which is equal to age
and the mental age is equal to the value of Mental
age (MA), divided by the chronological age (CA)
and multiplied by 100.
IQ = MA X 100
CA
• For example.
• IQ = mental age ÷ chronological age × 100.
• Then, a 10-year-old child who does as well as
the average 10-year-old child has an IQ of 100
(10 ÷ 10 × 100),
• Whereas, an 8-year-old child who does as well
as the average 10-year-old child would have
an IQ of 125 (10 ÷ 8 × 100).
• Intelligence quotient (IQ) is a number which;
examiners derive at by dividing an individual’s
mental age by her/his chronological age. Or a
measure of intelligence that is adjusted for age.
• IQ shows an individuals’ level of performance
on an intelligence test which is in relation to
those of other persons’ age.
• Mental age is based on the number of items
an individual has passed well on tests.
• IQ tests are used to measure a person’s ability.
• Some of the IQ tests are:
 Stanford binet test
 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Childrens
(WISC).
 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).
• A persons average intelligence will be
between 90-110
• A 130 or above will be considered as above
average (the gifted ones)
• A score of 70 or below indicates as below
average intelligence (mental retardation.
• Ability tests: are achievement test that show
how well an individual does on the given test
at a particular time.
• A body of research t suggest that cognitive
ability testing is a strong predictor of job
performance and that the validity of this
predictor rises as the complexity of the job
rises.
• main types of ability test used in selection are:
 Tests of General or Global Ability (also called
"g", intelligence, IQ)
 Tests of Specific Cognitive abilities (Abstract
Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Numerical
Reasoning)
 Tests of Psychomotor abilities and specific
aptitudes such as:
• vision, hearing, motor dexterity, artistic
ability, mechanical ability, management,
potential, leadership etc.
• Aptitude tests: intend to predict what a person
may accomplish in future.
• Divided into two groups:
- scholastic tests; tend to predict future
success in academic pursuits.
 -vocational tests; tend to estimate future
success in employment situations.
• General intelligence: Charles Spearman to
believed that performance on any cognitive
task depended on a primary general factor.
• It was termed as ‘g’ for general and on one or
more specific factors relating to that particular
task.
• The ‘g’ belonged to a single Primary factor called the
general intelligence factor.
• General intelligence is in two parts; fluid and crystalised
intelligence.
• Fluid intelligence is the ability to think abstractly, think
creatively or understand relationships.
• Crystalised is what an individual has learnt and retained
from experience.
• Crystalised intelligence increases with age, older adults as
good as or better than the young in solving crossword or
puzzles.
• Fluid intelligence decreases with age.
• Crystalised is what an individual has learnt
and retained from experience.
• In general intelligent, for example; a person
who does well on a verbal test would probably
also do well on other tests.
• General intelligence can be measured and
expressed by a single number, such as
an IQ score.
• The general intelligence influences
performance on all cognitive tasks.
• The Panga Munthu Test is a non –verbal cognitive
test developed in Zambia by Robert Serpall
(psychologist).
• The PMT was developed to provide a more accurate
and culturally appropriate assessment of
intelligence for children in a non western society.
• Cognitive functions assessed in this test include;
visual discrimination, pattern reproduction,
visualisation, mental shuffling/ rotation and
planning.
• Extreme of intelligence: A highly intelligent
person is considered gifted if he or she scores
more than 130 on IQ tests.
• Gifted people tend to be more mature, have
fewer emotional problems, and usually have
grown up in a positive family climate.
• Excel academically, and are often socially
well-adjusted.
• Show signs of high ability in a specific area at
a very young age (even before or at the start of
formal training).
• Learn easily, but prefer to learn things at their
own pace; and they are very passionate about
their chosen area.
• Mental retardation characterizes people who
score less than 70 in IQ tests.
• Intellectual functioning is inadequate.
• They cannot take care of themselves
• Lack adaptive and social skills.
• In terms of IQ score, mental retardation can
be mild (with IQ score 55-70).
• Moderate (40-54),
• Severe (25-39),
• Profound (less than 25)
 Criteria For Intelligence Test
• A good intelligence must be valid, reliable and
standard:
• Validity-refers to how well the test accurately
capture what it attempts to measure. For
intelligence tests that, that is “intelligence”.
• Reliability-refers to the stability and
consistency of scores the intelligence test
produces.
• Standardization-is the process of obtaining a
norm or sample of scores representative of the
population and helps in interpreting a
particular subjects score.
 HEREDITY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT IN
DETERMING INTELLIGENCE
• Intelligence is determined in part by heredity.
• The closer the biological relationship, the
higher the correlation of IQ scores, e.g. the IQ
of identical twins correlates +0.90
• Those of sisters and brothers + 0.50 and cousins
+0.15 (McGue et al., 1993; Neisser et al.,
1996).
• The IQ of identical twins raised separate from
birth is highly correlated in as much as those
Cont.
• raised together and supported by the role of
genetic factors.
• The IQ of biological children are likely to be
similar with those of biological parents based
on evidence of +0.40 to +0.50 than with
adoptive parents, the correlation is +0.10 to
+0.20 (Jencks, 1972; Munsinger,1978).
• There is an increasing hereditability with age
Cont.
as individuals grow increasingly tend to
choose to change their environment as to allow
expression of their genetically determined
tendencies and preferences (Neisser et al.,).
• Environment factors: these also have a
significant role around the world known as the
Flynn effect.
Cont.
• There has been a rapid increase of IQ levels at
all ages in recent decades around the world
(Flynn, 1987).
• The reasons for the increase are:
 Urbanization
 Improvements in nutrition and educational
opportunities.
 Media exposure
cont
• Other roles of environmental factors in
determining intelligence are:
 Environmental enrichment- in the placement
of children from sterile, restricted
environments into favourable ones brings
positive aspects of increasing intellectual
growth.
 Students who stay longer in school enhances
intellectual growth than those who attend
 Cont.
irregularly.
• Both heredity and environmental factors play a
role intelligence.
 REFERENCES

• Baron. R.A (2002). Psychology. Prentice-Hall.

• Coon, D. and Mitter. J. O.(2010).
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to
mind and behaviour with concerpt maps.
Belmont, CA: Wadsorth.
• Witting. A.F (2001). Introduction to
psychology 2nd ed. New York: The McGraw
Hill.