Throughout history, psychologists have made hundreds of attempts to define intelligence and measure it precisely. However, none of these attempts have been accepted by all because Intelligence is so broad. Intelligence has been defined by many things, by Weschler, who made the most used psychological test today, as “the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.” However, while he may have created the most successful test, his definition is not the only definition of intelligence, for psychologists such as Gardner, believed that there was more than just knowledge to intelligence, and Sternberg, who defined intelligence as “mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life.” Intelligences has been measured in a variety of ways throughout psychologists, however because intelligence is such a broad concept, there is no single definition and method of testing it. The first attempt of testing intelligence was made by Binet in the early 1900’s. Binet was asked to make a test by the French government that could measure the intelligence of children in order to make a distinction between the kids who needed more help in school and those who are naturally inclined to be good learners. Although Binet believed that intelligence was too broad to be measured by a single number, and that intelligence can be influenced by many things and change over time, he agreed to make the test, thus creating the first IQ test. This test, known today as the Stanford-Binet IQ test focuses on things not learned in school, such as attention, memory, and problem solving skills. Binet also came up with the conc... ... middle of paper ... ...es." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "History of Intelligence Testing." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. . The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Lewis Madison Terman (American psychologist)."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . "Theories of Intelligence." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .
General intelligence tends to relate to various degrees with each other (Cohen 2012). An example of this is that if an individual is good in math, they may also be good in spelling. In this weeks reading we reviewed several different models of measurement of intelligence. In regard to these theories and general intelligence (g), the theories are various but have commonality and overlap. The Spearman's two-factor theory is if a test has high correlation with other test than the measurement of g is highly saturated (Cohen, 2012). The greater the importance of g on a test, the better the test is believed to predict intelligence
Terman, L. M. (1916). The measurement of intelligence: an explanation of and a complete guide for the use of the Stanford revision and extension of the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. Massachusetts: The Riverside Press.
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.
Alfred Binet was a child psychologist that who created the first Intelligence test. He created a base for more current intelligence tests along with creating standardized testing. The current IQ Test is based off of Alfred Binet first IQ test. Alfred Binet came up with these tests because he was first asked how he could test the differences between those who would fail school and those who would excel. He became interested in Child Psychology when he started to read books written by child psychologist like Charles Darwin and Alexander Bains. He was basically a self-taught psychologist who taught himself by reading books written by past psychologists or about certain parts of psychology.
Law Enforcement intelligence is a development of military and national security intelligence. Over the years, this type of intelligence will go through many names but as of today it is known as Intelligence –led policing. Intelligence- led policing’s main focus is on key criminal activities. This paper will discuss community policing, problem-oriented policing, and CompStat, as they relate to intelligence-led policing.
Standardized tests can trace their beginning to just over a hundred years ago, in 1905, when a French psychologist by the name of Alfred Binet was conducting studies of human intelligence. In order to further his studies, Mr. Binet developed the first standardized test to determine the relative levels of intelligence in his test subjects. A version of the test that he used was then developed to create the current IQ test that is often given to determine a person’s intelligence. (Dan Fletcher)
Psychologists relied on statistical results because it involves vast number of people, making it reliable. Intelligence is a behavior or thinking produced by our personality; some say it is whatever intelligence measures. Intelligent theories also argue if it is a divergent or unity ability, yet some argue about even considering it as a part of personality. Personalities like intelli...
In this world, there are many different individuals who are not only different in demographics but also different neurologically. Due to an immense amount of people it is important to first understand each individual, in order, to better understand them and to help them when it comes to certain areas such as education, the work force, and etc…. For this reason psychologists have aimed to further understand individuals through the use of psychological assessments. This paper aims to examine a particular assessment tool, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Fifth Edition), which measures both intelligence and cognitive abilities (Roid, 2003). This assessment is usually administered by psychologists and the scores are most often used to determine placement in academics and services allotted to children and adolescents (despite their compatibility for adults) (Wilson & Gilmore, 2012). Furthermore before the investigation dives into the particulars of the test, such as its strengths and weakness’, it is best to first learn more about the intelligence scales general characteristics.
Sternberg’s theory defines intelligence as mental activity directed towards purposive adaption to, selection and shaping of, real-world environments relevant to one’s life (Santrock, 2013). According to Sternberg intelligence is more than just a single, general ability, he proposed successful intelligence consist of three factors. The three factors include analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence (Santrock, 2014).
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 ...
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.
Visser, B. A., Ashton, M. C., & Vernon, P. A. (2006). g and the measurement of multiple intelligences: A response to Gardner. Intelligence, 34(5), 507-510.
When a person utters the word “intelligence,” people tend to think of a genius like Albert Einstein developing some obscure equation that the great majority of the population will never understand. The problem with the definition of intelligence is that people relate intelligence to words like “genius” which require intelligence but do not have the same definition as intelligence. Often, people try to use related words to define intelligence, but these words are unable to define intelligence since many are only different levels of intelligence. While many definitions try to encompass the meaning of intelligence and various definitions describe a small part of intelligence, no definition completely explains intelligence, because intelligence is a concept that is understood only after realizing that intelligence is based on three basic concepts: logic, growth, and emotion. Although many people believe that humans are the only creatures capable of intelligence, other animals exhibit intelligence and are capable of further demonstrate the complex concept of intelligence.
Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.’ (Wechsler, 1944, p. 3)