INTELLIGENCE
In aily life in aily lifece al & social environment we often categorize some individuals as bright, some slow, some can solve problem very easily, some take long time to handle situation etc. All this is possible due to different levels of intelligence in individuals.
Intelligence The word “intelligence” comes from the Latin word Intelligere, which means “to understand”. According to the Oxford dictionary, intelligence means, “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skill”.
Various definitions of intelligence have been given by different psychologists and some of these definitions are as follows.
“Intelligence” means “the ability to adjust to the surrounding environment”.
“A person’s overall or global ability to act purposefully, to think cognitively rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.
Intelligence is “the mental quality of having the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adjust to new situations.”
Intelligence can be defined as the ability to assimilate factual knowledge, to reproduce recent or remote events, to reason logically, to manipulate words,
The formless can be defined as the ability to represent with words and transform the abstract into words in analysis and synthesis.
Francis Galton (1822-1911) was the first scientist to systematically study individual differences. According to him, the level of intelligence varies from person to person.
Differences in intelligence are caused by various factors, some of the main factors are:
GENES are the main factors responsible for changes in INTELLIGENCE TEST scores.
Environmental factors like living condition, social – economic status, socio-economic status, training in school etc. are some of the environmental factors that affect the intelligence level of people.
Any abnormalities in the brain and central nervous system result in low intelligence scores.
“Individual differences are found in all characteristics like – physical mental abilities, knowledge, habits, personality and character.”
There is a difference in the level of INTELLIGENCE in different individuals.
Individuals can be classified based on their intelligence level from super-normal (above 120 IQ) to idiots (from 0 to 50 IQ).
DIFFERENCES DUE TO MOTOR ABILITY Differences due to motor ability:
There is a difference in motor ability. These differences appear at different ages. Some people can do mechanical tasks easily, while others, despite being of the same level, find it very difficult to do these tasks.
DIFFERENCES DUE TO SEX
Gender makes one person different from another.
Women are more skillful in memory while men have more motor ability.
Women are best in hardwork while men are best in math and logic
Women show more skill in making sensory differences like taste, touch and smell etc., while men show more reaction
Men are strong in mental strength.
DIFFERENCES DUE TO AGE Differences due to age
Age is another factor responsible for causing INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.
Learning ability and ability to adjust naturally increases with age. This happens along with maturity and development as the child grows up.
ADVANTAGES Advantages
An intelligence test measures a wide variety of human behavior better than any other measure.
They allow professionals a uniform way of comparison
The test also provides information about cultural and biological differences among people.
Intelligence tests are excellent predictors of educational achievement and provide an outline of an individual’s mental abilities and weaknesses.
These scores indicate talent in many people, leading to improvement in their educational opportunities.
Teachers, parents, and psychologists can design an individual curriculum that matches a person’s developmental level and expectations.
DISADVANTAGES Disadvantages
Many intelligence tests produce a single intelligence score.
This single score is often inadequate in explaining the multidimensional aspects of intelligence.
A single score can vary greatly in expression of their various talents.
Knowing performance on different scales can influence understanding of a person’s abilities and how these abilities are expressed.
For example, two people have the same score on an intelligence test. Even though both people have similar test scores, one person may have scored because of strong verbal skills while the other person may have scored because of strong skills in understanding and organizing various tasks.
Mental ability is knowledge and ability to understand.
Louis Leon Thurstone was the first to discuss this
Thurstone classified Mental ability into two subtypes: Primary & secondary.
Primary Mental Ability
Primary mental abilities can be described as latent core constructs that can explain almost all cognitive variance. The 7 important aspects of primary mental ability (cognitive skills) are:
secondary Mental Ability
It is a framework, which consists of a group of primary abilities and is used to describe one’s intelligence structure.
NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE Nature of intelligence
The nature of intelligence is the ability to learn, adjust and think well.
Ability to learn: Intelligence is the ability to learn more in less time.
Ability to adjust: Intelligence is the ability to adjust with the surrounding or new environment.
Ability to think: Intelligence is the ability to think independently and carry out abstract thinking that helps in problem solving.
Intelligence is the ability to benefit not only from one’s own experiences but also from the experiences of others.
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
According to psychologist, INTELLIGENCE increases till adolescence and decreases in old age. INTELLIGENCE Growth is highest between the ages of 16 and 20, after which INTELLIGENCE stops. Knowledge and skill development can continue until the end of a person’s life, although age plays a major role in the development of intelligence.
Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge or skills.
INTELLIGENCE Following are the ways to increase intelligence.
Read more and make notes.
Determine and formulate goals in life.
Meditate and exercise daily to improve memory and intelligence
Have a good breakfast and drink plenty of water every day. Eat curd which promotes growth of neurons
Eat brain-healthy foods like green vegetables and nuts.
Do mathematical calculations as it will exercise the brain and make the brain stronger and faster.
Make connections between ideas
Getting enough sleep and rest to keep the brain working.
Work on vocabulary.
Practice focusing on tasks and avoid distractions.
Adopt a NEVER GIVE UP approach.
INTELLIGENCE varies from person to person and exists in a certain amount which again is not the same amount in each person.
There are many intelligence tests to measure intelligence
TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TEST Types of intelligence test
INDIVIDUAL TEST Individual tests:
INDIVIDUAL TEST is administered on an individual basis. As this test involves one to one interaction, therefore, serves the diagnostic purpose. For good results, before administering the test, it is important to have a good interaction with the participant.
GROUP TEST Group Tests:
GROUP TEST can be applied to a large number of people at the same time.
This test was developed during World War I to recruit people into the army.
Army Alpha Test (AAT) and Army Beta Test (ABT) were designed.
The AAT was administered to individuals who were literate and knew English, while the ABT was administered to individuals who were foreign-born and could not read English.
Some other examples of GROUP TEST are: cognitive abilities test, scholastic assessment test
Based on language and response, INTELLIGENCE TEST is classified as:
VERBAL TEST Verbal tests:
VERBAL TEST Verbal test is conducted with the help of verbal instructions which should be given according to the language of the participants.
Army Alpha and Stanford-Binet are examples of VERBAL TEST.
NON-VERBAL TEST Non-verbal tests:
NON-VERBAL TEST does not depend on the patient’s language. Therefore, this test does not depend on the literacy of the participants.
RAVEN’S PROGRESSIVE MATRICES AND CULTURE ARE FAIR TEST NON-VERBAL TEST.
PERFORMANCE TEST Performance tests:
PERFORMANCE TEST is based on the performance level of the participants.
This test is completely based on the motor responses of the participants.
Bhatia’s battery of performance tests, Alexander’s test with pass are some of the performance tests.