For more than a century, the topics of intelligence test have raised many strong and weak arguments which presented supporting both the “professional” side of the proposition and the “anti” side of the proposition. Like many anti-IQ tests’ arguments, Isaac Asimov’s “Thinking About Thinking (1976)” is a relatively common argument when he argues that intelligence is not something that can be measured or tested. In this essay, it presents common ideal that intelligence is defined by people who are subject to their own biases and to the ideas of their culture, the prevail definition of intelligence is not reliable. Asimov uses personal experiences, hypothetical situation, and casual/semi-simple language to convince readers of his view. With these …show more content…
Meanwhile, throughout this essay it continues to grow as he inserted his views and sarcastic opinions in the many things that he talks about. He starts out casually, stating his claims while giving his personal experience of taking an IQ test, one that he worked on each question as honestly as he could, answering some questions instantly, some after a bit of thought, some by guessing, and some not at all. He then shared that he a got a score of 160, which were considered to be “very smart” and make fun of those with high IQ using sarcasm. But in the end he, however, then said that after all these testing meant nothing to him except soothing his vanity. And questioned whether intelligence test actually “measure but those skills that are associated with intelligence by the individuals designing the test (par. 6)”, or “the size of one’s vocabulary …show more content…
10). He then argues that once people are labeled “intelligent” based on an IQ test, any demonstration of stupidity no longer counts. Furthermore, he expressed his dislike in the fact that label is the only thing that matters, so he used his two of his own personal examples to explain this. Examples can relate to his audience or readers’ personal experiences which is common to support his or her claim. Gathering from the two examples that Asimov shared, his meaning behind them is that even people like him who is labeled as “intelligent,” does do unintelligently things which he considered as “clear stupidity (par. 11). And that just because those that are labeled as intelligent, it do not mean that person is intelligent in real
I think people who didn’t get much schooling didn’t mean they are not intelligence. Intelligence can’t use to measure a person schooling. In the old generation, parents don’t have much money to support all their child’s go to college because of the tuition fee and they had a lot things need to support. For example, my parents didn’t go to school, doesn’t mean they are not intelligence or not smart, their family can’t give them that much tuition fee and not much money to let them go to college, however now they still have a job to work on and keeping it. However people don’t go to college doesn’t mean they can’t get a job or can’t survive. So I agree with the author, intelligence can’t use to measure a person schooling. Also I believe that can’t go to college doesn’t mean you can’t get success in other way. The god is fair for you close a door at the same time will open another door for you but you need to be confident.
He professes: “We set out to determine what a child knows in order to tailor instruction, but we frequently slot rather than shape, categorize rather than foster. And the poorer the kids are- the less power their parents have- the more likely are their chances of being, as Lillian put it, hurt about their intelligence.” This portion of the passage really stuck out to me for many reasons. In this part of the passage I am brought back to the beginning of the book when Rose, himself, was put on the remedial track because his file was misplaced with another individuals file; Rose’s parents had minimal education themselves, didn’t know what to say or do in the situation. If the test would have been used to tailor and shape, the teachers would have known that he wasn’t supposed to be on the vocational track. Also, this reminded me of the ACT and SAT testing, a common standardized test that is used for college acceptance. The American education system relies on the test to show the intelligence of a person when all the test accomplishes is how well a person can
Before answering the questions let find out what intelligence test is. It is a test consisting of a series of tasks requiring people to use various verbal and non verbal skills to measure the individual’s intellectual ability. Now that we know what an intelligence test is we can now answer the question better. Three important short comings of intelligence test that have nothing to do with intelligence are: having low motivation or high anxiety which can greatly influence the performance on the test, also IQ test may contain cultural biases in their language and or tasks that may place people of one background above people of another back ground, and members of minority groups may have little experience with this kind of test or may be uncomfortable with examiners of a different ethnic back ground than them (Comer, 2013, pp.107).
...est high school students in America” (Gladwell 82). It was shocking to learn that all the Nobel Prize in Medicine winners did not all come from the most prestigious schools. Also, in the third chapter I notices some aspects that were highly relatable to me. My life relates to subjects included in chapter three because I am a student. It is interesting and helpful to learn that one does not need the highest IQ to succeed in today’s world. This is how I relate to chapter three. The third chapter in Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell had striking information that stated that IQs do not always determine who will be successful, and I can relate to the information in the chapter because I am student who has thought about my IQ before.
The author argues that certain decision leads to vast amount of untapped human potential and limits success to few who are selected unjustly. This example supports “Mathews Effect”. The Gladwell’s example of Bill Gates proves the “10,000 Hour Rule”, He explained that the timing and opportunity played a huge role to become an expert at computer programming. Bill Gates had access to computers decades before computers became mainstream. Such a timing helped him capture the opportunity to master the tool of trade and put him in the perfect position to start Microsoft. The Gladwell’s example of experiment by Lewis Terman, He argues about that a person’s IQ have a limited control over success. He claims that there is a minimal difference in the levels of success attained by those with IQs between 125 and 170. The author adds that IQ cannot efficiently measure person’s creativity. A person who has a high IQ does not mean that it has a high chance of winning a Nobel Prize because other kind of intelligence matter too. With the help of these facts, Gladwell proves that the relationship between IQ and success is
Intelligence tests have been developed by scientists as a tool to categorize army recruits or analyze school children. But still discussing what intelligence is, academics have a difficult time defining what intelligence tests should measure. According to the American researcher Thorndike, intelligence is only that what intelligence tests claim it is (Comer, Gould, & Furnham, 2013). Thus, depending on what is being researched in the test and depending on the scientist’s definition of intelligence the meaning of the word intelligence may vary a lot. This essay will discuss what intelligence is in order to be able to understand the intelligence theories and aims of intelligence tests.
Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
One of the most definitive things ever said regarding the nature of intelligence was that intelligence is whatever IQ tests measure. The IQ test has been in use throughout the 20th century and serves as an accepted measure of a person’s intelligence. It is used by institutions such as schools and the army to screen people’s level of intelligence and decisions are made based on that. The IQ test consists of a series of questions regarding certain skills such as vocabulary, mathematics, spatial relations. The scores that a person gets on these tests depend on the amount of questions that a person answers correctly. The actual score that a person gets is dependant on how others in that age group do on those particular questions.
Issac Asimov questions his intellect in the essay “Intelligence”. Asimov explains his realization of more than one form of intelligence. He often feels less intelligent than others when it pertains to nonacademic subjects. A history of exam achievements led Asimov to believe that he is highly intelligent. This feeling drained when his auto repairman fooled him with a joke. His mechanic’s brainteaser explains how a deaf-and-mute man asked the hardware store clerk for nails. He imitates hammering a nail with his hands. The repairman asks how a blind man would request a pair of scissors. Asimov replies with the wrong answer by mimicking scissor motions. The mechanic felt the customer would answer
Can intelligence be measured? Does an IQ test actually measure a person’s intelligence? Does a high score indicate a genius? Does a low score indicate stupidity or merely ignorance? These questions have been asked over and over again by psychiatrists and scientists alike, but to date there are no clear answers. These questions cannot be answered without first defining what is meant by the term intelligence. Once intelligence has been defined then it should be easy to answer these questions; however, multiple definitions of the word tend to lead to further confusion.
Gardner’s theory of MI offers an alternative view of intelligence which has measured intelligence based on the results that would predict success in the current educational system. Furham (2009) sums up Gardner’s definition as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”. This definition suggests that human intelligence is comprised of more than the predictable success in a western school system. Gardner argues that traditional definitions of intelligence and intelligence testing are too narrow and marginalize people who do not fit traditional education system that focuses on visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, and logical–mathematical intelligences. He supports this with unique cases of idiots savant, who are people with low IQs but excel in skills in areas not measured through tradition IQ tests (Arnett, 2013). MI theory proposes that individual’s intelligence can be differentiated on eight different modalities:
The position that computers are intelligent is supported by three points: refusing to say that computers are intelligent is prejudice towards computers, being intelligent does not mean that one must be knowledgable in all fields; being intelligent in a single area also proves to display intelligence, and there is no single qualification for intelligence; intelligence is measure...
Intelligence based functioning is one of the most powerful forces that influences all areas of any given person’s life; driving not only education and professional successes but more importantly the individuals life style and further goal oriented aspirations. Yet, while intelligence within itself is one the most important or influential components reinforcing an individual’s outlook on life and behavior, the ways in which intelligence is measured and develops throughout a person’s life is a little bit more misunderstood and challenging to pinpoint. Intelligence, and furthermore a person’s IQ as defined by various testable measures, has been subject to controversy for decades; raising significant questions about the neurology of the brain to
It is not only book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader capability and depth to better understand our surroundings- "catching on," "making sense" of things, or "determine" what to do”. Sternberg, Robert J (1996) Enthusiasm for intelligence goes back a great many years, yet it wasn't until psychologist Alfred Binet was dispatched to distinguish students who required educational help that the first IQ test was conceived. In the mid 1900s, the French government requested Alfred Binet to choose which students were for the most likely to experience trouble in schools.