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Concept of intelligence
Difficulty in defining intelligence
Intelligence definition essay
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“Intelligence is conventionally defined by a single number-an IQ-representing a cohort specific index comparing the performance of a group of individuals of the same age on a battery of sub-tests designed to assess different intellectual skills” (Brody, 1999). In other words, individuals are born with a comparatively intellectual potential (I.Q.) which is thought to be profoundly influenced by the heredity of the individual and reasonably difficult to change.
Unconventionally speaking however, the generally accepted interpretation in terms of intelligence may be defined by the capacity of an individual in regards to understanding, reasoning (rationality), problem solving, intellectual thought, aware of self, knowledge (i.e. emotional), memory,
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Each modalities comprehensively describes physical development, social development and emotional and intellectual development in some way or another. “What makes the multiple intelligences theory more than a parade of personal preferences is a set of eight criteria. These range from the existence of populations that feature an unusual amount of a certain intelligence (e.g., prodigies); to localization of an intelligence in particular regions of the brain; to susceptibility to encoding in a symbolic system” (Gardner, 1996). In order to meet such stringent criteria, Gardner identifies nine …show more content…
Through breaking down the wide range of human abilities into nine distinct intelligences, educators and others are now able to make sense out of the countless ways in which students and/or children absorb material (i.e. knowledge, information), in addition to an outline for safeguarding their success not only in school but life as
Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words “smart” and “dumb” in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries “skills” or “talents” or gifts” because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word “intelligence,” creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture.
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.
Howard Gardner’s theory contains eight main multiple intelligence. As the years have progressed there have taken one out and is left with the main seven. These seven are: Linguistic, Mathematical, Spatial, bodily, Musical, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. These are found in everyone; however, each person will excel in one or two. Once teachers can determine what intelligence the students will exceed on and teach to their strengths the student will learn much more.
Charles Spearman's model of intelligence and Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory are two of the most widely used theories of intelligence. In order to understand how similar the two theories are we must first understand their differences. These two men differed in opinion on how IQ and intelligence should be measured, and they differed in opinion on what made a person "smart". In order to examine these things they first had to understand the human brain and how it works. They had to examine the human study habits and rituals, along with the human test taking habits.
Intelligence can be defined in many different ways since there are a variety of individual differences. Intelligence to me is the ability to reason and respond quickly yet accurately in all aspects of life, such as physically, emotionally, and mentally. Anyone can define intelligence because it is an open-ended word that has much room for interpretation. Thus my paper is an attempt to find the meaning of human intelligence. There are a couple of scientists who have tried to come up with theories of what makes a human being intelligent.
Verbal Intelligence; Non-verbal Intelligence; Concrete Reasoning; and Abstract Reasoning are several of the mental abilities that have been identified by psychologists (Santrock, 2013). Spearman’s thoughts were that intelligence is general cognitive ability that can be numerically expressed and measured.
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.
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.
Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.
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:
Human intelligence is an enigma that continues to intrigue scientists around the world after its inception with the creation of humanity. Human intelligence is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the “mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts, and use knowledge to manipulate ones environment”. (“Human intelligence”) In order to evaluate human intelligence, we must quantify human intelligence. The intelligence quotient, also known as IQ, is a measure of cognitive ability. The general factor, which is abbreviated as the g factor, is also a measure of cognitive ability. The g factor may be obtained by isolating elements of an IQ test through a sequence of tests to provide a more specific measure of intelligence. Human intelligence is influenced by two factors, nature and nurture. Nature and nurture are both important factors that shape human intelligence. However, one has a more significant effect than the other. It is imperative to recognize the more important factor of the two in order to better understand intelligence and its development. By evaluating the factors in depth, we become closer to identifying what causes individuals to succeed and what causes individuals to fail. We become a step closer to identifying and preventing stimuli causing failure and we become a step closer in identifying and promoting stimuli causing success, whether it be inherited or learned.
In 1983, Howard Gardner a Harvard professor proposed the theory that individual can have multiple ways of learning and processing information. The multiple intelligences consist of 9 different ways and these include: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, existential, musical, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Every individual has a different amount of each intelligence but each intelligence is at a varying level. With the help of a multiple intelligences assessment, I found that my top three multiple intelligences are Intrapersonal, logical, and interpersonal. Within his research Gardner says that “Intrapersonal intelligence refers to people’s ability to recognize and assess those same characteristics
Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard, introduced his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. Multiple intelligence’s is a theory about the brain that says human beings are born with single intelligence that cannot be changed, and is measurable by a psychologist. Gardner believes that there are eight different intelligences in humans. The eight are verbal linguistic, visual spatial, bodily kinesthetic, mathematical logic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist. Understanding these intelligence’s will help us to design our classroom and curriculum in a way that will appeal to all of our students. We might also be able to curve discipline problems by reaching a student in a different way. One that will make more sense to them and more enjoyable. We can include all of the intelligences in lessons to accommodate all of the students’ different learning styles at once. By reaching each students intelligence we can assume that a student will perform better which, could mean students retaining more important information. A students learning style can also help lead them into a more appropriate career direction. As a teacher you can also learn your own personal learning style or intelligence to help improve the way you learn and teach.
The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not