Intelligence Chapter 8

What Is Intelligence?  Intelligence is the overall capacity of an individual to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment

Theories of Intelligence: One Ability or Many  A key issue is whether there is one intelligence or many

Wechsler’s Theory  Wechsler argued that intelligence tests involving spatial relations and verbal comprehension reveal little about someone’s overall capacity to deal with the world  In his view, intelligence is not mathematical functioning or a problem-solving ability, but rather the broad ability to deal with the world

Factor Theories  Factor theories use factor analysis to explore what makes up intelligence  Factor analysis is a statistical procedure designed to discover the independent elements (factors) in a set of data  With regard to intelligence, factor analysis attempts to find clusters of items that measure common abilities

Jensen’s Two-Level Theory  Jensen suggests that intelligence consists of associative and cognitive abilities  Associative abilities enable people to connect stimuli and events  Cognitive abilities involve reasoning and problem solving

Vygotsky’s View  Vygotsky saw intellectual development as occurring in a social context that includes communication with the self and others

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences  Gardner proposed that there are multiple types of intelligence and traditional intelligence tests do not measure them  Gardner defines intelligence as an ability to solve a problem or create a product within a specific cultural setting

Gardner’s Intelligences  Linguistic  Logical Mathematical  Spatial  Bodily-Kinesthetic  Naturalist (Relational)  Interpersonal (Social)  Intrapersonal (Self/Meta)

Evidence  Neurological studies of parallel processes  Development of independent processes  Talents and deficits

Emotions: A Different Kind of Intelligence?  Golman claims that one’s emotional life can matter much more than one’s intellectual abilities  Emotional intelligence includes self- awareness, impulse control, persistence, ability to recognize emotions in others, and social agility