Giere's program for evaluating theoretical hypothesis - Essay Example

Fluid Intelligence According to psychologists Raymond Cattell, fluid intelligence involves the ability of an individual to think and reason conceptually and resolve problems. In the study, the real world focus is the scarcity of money and how it affects the fluid intelligence of a person under different circumstances. From the study conducted by Mullainathan and Shafir, there is a big effect on the fluid intelligence of an individual when faced with hard problems that are financial in nature. The capacities of an individual to solve problems that relate to financial matters differ from one individual to another with regards to their financial background (cattell, 1963).

The theoretical model that best describes the real world at issue is the Raven’s progressive matrices test as suggested by Mullainathan and Shariff. The model is a common component, reliable and most important component in testing the IQ of persons. Mullainathan and Shariff, in their study, indicate that the model requires no knowledge of the real world occasions and little formal study. From the study, results show that when people are faced with hard financial problems and with low sources of income, there fluid intelligence is negatively affected.

This is because the scarcity of finances impairs the flow of their fluid intelligence.In conclusion, the data collected in the study is in agreement to the predictions suggesting that a person’s fluid intelligence is impaired by the scarcity of monetary factors. From the study conducted by Mullainathan and Shariff, the Rave tests performed on people with a lower income level suggested that their fluid intelligence declined when faced with hard financial problems. The findings concur with those of Cattell (1963) who states that fluid intelligence is a predictor of an individual’s capability to work effectively in environments characterized by ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty.

References1. Cattell, Raymond B. (1963). Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence: A Critical Experiment. Journal of Educational psychology.