Numerous Concepts of Understanding Human Intelligence - Essay Example

Intelligence Number: Introduction Numerous concepts have been introduced in attempt to understand human intelligence among them being the Binet’s concept of mental age. Mental age is a theory that relates to intelligence and is articulated as the stage at which children perform intellectually (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010). Under this concept, the conceptual age of kids tested is presumed to be the same with the standard age at which typical children attain a certain score. Nonetheless, results obtained from a mental age intellect test do not mean that progenies function as per their ‘mental age capacity’ in all phases of life. For example, a ten-years-old child may in some ways function like a three-years-old child hence making the mental age theory a controversial concept. Just like Alfred Binet, Lewis Terman and David Wechsler are considered as some of the key contributors in intelligence research and testing who greatly contributed in the field of psychology with respect to human intelligence. Terman revised and expanded Binet’s test to an extent that it was published in 1916 at Stanford. He incorporated new scoring scheme and introduced the concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which referred to child’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100 (IQ = mental age/chronological age x100). Lewis study claimed that the stereotypical view of gifted children is that they are sickly, bookwormish, and socially inept. Initially, the study involved 1500 children who had normal IQ of 150 in comparison to standard subjects and the findings were that the children were above average in height/weight, physical health, emotional adjustment, mental health and social maturity. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV and WISC-IV) refers to an intelligence test that was developed to quantify human intelligence in adults and in adolescents (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010). Wechsler alleged that intelligence comprised of diverse perceptual abilities rather than one broad intelligence factor. His test comprised of many ideas that were initially espoused by Binet but unlike Binet, Wechsler provided a profile of the test taker’s overall weaknesses and strengths. The main strength of this approach is the fact that the patterns of scores may also provide worthwhile information. For instance, scoring high in some areas but low in the rest might depict existence of a particular learning disability. WAIS also gives the overall scores though it calculates the numbers using a different concept. Psychometric approach is among the initial concepts of understanding intelligence that focused on general mental abilities that encompassed elements like ability to understand or to reason, as well as apply the gained knowledge in the context of problem solving. However, the weaknesses of this approach led to development of the concept of multiple intelligences like Spearman’s two factor theory (g-factor and the s-factor). The g-factor is the factor with the highest order that can be obtained from a huge battery of different tests of various cognitive capabilities in a hierarchical factor analysis and is considered as the most crucial psychometric constituent in the research of individual modifications in human cognitive abilities. The g-factor is a general acumen factor and Spearman alleged that all elements of intelligence are regulated by ‘g’ and correlates. The g-factor has been firmly established as a key psychological element with regards to factor analytic and psychometric criteria that further study in these lines are unlikely to disconfirm the constituent validity of g-factor, or to add anything new to human understanding of the concept. The s-factor (specific intelligence factor) is the other element of the two factors theory and the factor is specific to only one activity. The s-factors are combined together by the g-factors and they are all overlapped (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010). The main difference between the two factors is the quantity of correlations with the g-factor having correlation of a minimum of two mental functions with the s-factor on the other hand responding to only one function. S-factors are therefore not regarded as a perfect measure of degree of intelligence. Gf-Gc theory is among the most recent intelligence theory that has played a major role in the sector of intellectual assessment. The theory is grounded on factor analytical studies of the results from IQ tests. The fluid abilities (Gf) determine the individual’s capacity to contemplate and act swiftly in attempt to solve novel problems while encoding short term memories. Gc (crystallized abilities) is the other factor of the theory and it stems from acculturation and learning, and is reproduced in assessments of general information, knowledge, use of language and as well as wide variety of acquired skills. It is developed on factors like motivation, personality, educational, social opportunity and it is only indirectly reliant on physiological determinants that primarily affect fluid abilities (Floreano & Mattiussi, 2008). Information processing theory accounts for mental development with regard to maturational changes in fundamental components of children’s minds. The theory is grounded on the concept that individual’s process information received, rather than responding to stimuli only. This perspective links the human mind to a computer that is accountable for analyzing info from the environment (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010; Floreano& Mattiussi, 2008). Analytical intelligence refers to problem-solving abilities and decision making abilities. This requires identification of the problem and getting the right information on how the problem can be solved. Creative intelligence is an aspect of intelligence that involves the capability to deal with novel situations using current skills and past experiences. Practical intelligence on the other hand is an element that refers to the capability to adapt to altering environments. The Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence is a cognitive methodology and it claims that intelligence is how well a person deals with environmental variations throughout their lifespans (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010). Gardener’s theory of ‘multiple intelligence’ challenges the traditional beliefs of cognitive science and education and claims that individuals are born with an unvarying cognitive ability that can easily be measured by brief-answer tests. There are numerous types of intelligence with some psychologists listing them as seven with others claiming that they are nine. They include the verbal intelligence that refers to the capability to use words, visual intelligence-the capability to imagine things in one’s mind, physical intelligence –ability to use one’s body in different situations, and musical intelligence - the ability to practice and understand music. Other types of intelligence include mathematical intelligence – ability to use logic to numbers and systems, introspective intelligence– the ability to understand one’s inner thoughts, interpersonal intelligence – ability to comprehend other people, and relate with them well, and finally existential intelligence - capacity to sense and tackle indepth questions about human existence like meaning of lifeamong others. Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined as the capacity to perceive, regulate and evaluate one’s ad other person’s emotions thus being able to differentiate various emotions appropriately. Emotional intelligence helps in guiding thinking and behaviors and it comprises of three models namely the ability model, trait model and the mixed model and it can be learned or be an inborn characteristic (Floreano & Mattiussi, 2008). Validity and reliability of intelligence testing is a measure of how effective intelligence test was. If an intelligence test has reliability, an individual would receive almost same scores when tried on different occasions with a valid test being capable of measuring what it was designed to attest. Reliability of an intelligence test is checked using three methods; alternate-form, test-retest, and split-half reliability with a test being considered as reliable if correlation constant between two scores is positive and high. Validity is measured using various measures like criterion validity, content validity, and predictive validity. Researchers have come into a mutual agreement that heredity and environment have a significant interactive effect on intelligence. Majority of them believe that intelligence is influenced by the reaction range to IQ that is limited by heredity. The environment on the other hand influences where a person’s IQ confines will lie (Russell, Norvig & Davis, 2010). Hereditary influence on intelligence is supported by observations made on family studies, adoption studies and twin studies. Family studies depicts that intelligence inclines to run in families with twin studies showing that there exist a higher link between identical twins in IQ than between fraternal twins (Floreano & Mattiussi, 2008). Adoption studies indicate that adopted kids somewhat look like their biological parents with respect to their intelligence (Floreano& Mattiussi, 2008). There exist a few proponent that support the influence of hereditary on intelligence with respect to cultural and race/ethnic differences. In the 1960s, Arthur Jensen developed a controversial study that claimed that ethnic variances in intelligence occur because of heredity. His argument was grounded on his own estimation of roughly 80% heritability for intelligence (Floreano & Mattiussi, 2008). Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein also created a similar controversy in the 1990s by suggesting that intelligence is mainly inherited and that inheritance partly attributes to racial/ethnic and cultural differences. References Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Floreano, D., & Mattiussi, C. (2008). Bio-inspired artificial intelligence: Theories, methods, and technologies. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Russell, S. J., Norvig, P., & Davis, E. (2010). Artificial intelligence: A modern approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More