The definition of intelligence has strongly been debated over for many centuries, and many individuals have their arguments for what it is. So what is really the true meaning of intelligence? Some, such as college professor of psychology, Carol S. Dweck, strongly believes that intelligence is something achieved through large amounts effort and having optimistic mindsets as inferred in her article, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”. However, on the other hand, successful author of best selling novel “Steve Jobs”, Walter Isaacson, claims that intelligence is an abstract idea that is derived from ingenuity and applying creativity to life and other material concepts. With almost completely opposite sets of beliefs, it is likely that Dweck will not agree with Isaacson’s nation of intelligence being derived from natural intuition rather than raw intelligence. …show more content…
She states, “...a genius, is typically the result of years of passion and dedication,” (line 369-370). Effort is what leads to academic achievement, not pure brain power. The amount of effort in which a student puts into their schooling determines the lengths they are willing to take to achieve in education. Their persistence leads to their brilliance, which helps perpetuate their ability to challenge oneself and strive for greater. Also, Dweck believes that intelligence is not a fixed trait. It shows in the quote “...a growth mindset, which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life” (lines 43-46). Intelligence is like a spectrum, in which a person is not simply bolted down to a certain point in said spectrum. The idea of being able to grasp that intelligence isn’t predetermined is what Dweck highly focuses on in her concept of a growth mindset and the idea that the lengths a person is willing to go to get smarter is the fulcrum that dictates their
What is intelligence exactly? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills or “the ability to learn and understand things to
The book The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way written by Amanda Ripley, tells about the various types of education systems from several of the countries that are in the lead for the most educated countries in the world. In Ripley’s book she does not just explain the importance of education but also how it affects the countries and how the students that are getting the education experience it. What led to the finding out of which country was the smartest country in the world was the Program for International Student Assessment or the PISA test. The PISA test is a test that was made to test a person 's ability to think critically, their communication skills, the ability to solve problems in math, reading and science, along with the students’ preparedness to do well in and be able to cooperate in society. Education is something that every country needs to move forward and gain powers in more ways than one so obviously in every country education should come first above all else for the young minds of the future. Author of The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley, explains the issues concerning education and how the world is making huge leaps in education through many unbelievable factors that can affect a student 's education. She follows several completely different students that are from America and go off to other countries to go to school through a study abroad program. The American education system needs to follow what the
Intelligence as defined by the Cambridge dictionary is the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason.1 There is much debate and controversy on this subject and psychologists do not all agree upon a standard definition. Yet, one of the very first definitions of intelligence was developed by the psychologists responsible for the development of the first intelligence test, Binet and Simon (1905) who argued that the essence of intelligence is: ‘to judge well, to comprehend well, to reason well’.2 Another sample definition was provided later by Heim, in 1970, who argued that ‘intelligent activity consists in grasping the essentials in a situation and responding appropriately to them’.3 There are also arguments surrounding how many different types of intelligence there are, as well as the intelligence theories of psychology. However elusive, we can ascertain that all psychologists have universally agreed upon general intelligence (g), an expression devised by the English psychologist Charles Spearman and defined as ‘a mental attribute called on for virtually any task’.4 This essay will inform the reader of the different methods proposed and used by psychologists to assess ability and discuss their evaluations.
Society tends to measure and classify people by their intelligence, but what is intelligence? A tropical approach to Lifespan Development describes intelligence as “the ability to solve problems” and “the capacity to adapt and learn from experience.” However, some famous scientists and philosophers gave their own thoughts about intelligence, for example, Albert Einstein proclaimed "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination" and on the other hand, Socrates said, "I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing." I have believed that all concepts are different, but all of them are valid and relevant.
The term intelligence begs an important question. How can something be measured when it is indefinable? Numerous scientists, psychologists, theorists, neurologists, and many more can concur that intelligence does exist. Yet, to date, none of them can agree upon a universal definition. Therefore, intelligence is known only to be a scientific construct. (Floyd & Kranzler, 2013). Over the years, individuals have attempted to delimit intelligence by means of research, assessments, and theories. Beginning as early as the 19th century, Francis Joseph Gall, presented the scientific measuring tool known as phrenology. He believed mental qualities and functions could be evaluated according to specific faculties mapped out in the brain. (CIA textbook)
Carol Dweck’s theory is about fixed mindset and growth mindset. Firstly, in a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. On the other hand, growth-mindset is about achieving mastery and competence; the person believes that superb personal qualities can be learned, developed or cultivated. Therefore, those with a "fixed mindset" believe that abilities are mostly innate and interpret failure as the lack of necessary basic abilities, while those with a "growth mindset" believe that they can acquire any given ability provided they invest effort or study.
Intelligence, what exactly is intelligence? To some it might just be a score on a test, for others like myself it goes far beyond tests, but what exactly is it? Intelligence has been defined in many ways including one’s capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving. Other definitions portray intelligence to be less complex and more of a single general ability. Intelligence has been one of the most controversial topics among psychologists and you see why that is. My take on intelligence is very dimensional, meaning how can we really measure intelligence if we’re not even 100% sure of what it really is. I believe all human beings have the audacity and
In 1983 the researcher and professor at Harvard University named Howard Gardner proposed a new sight of intelligence that has been highly received since its publication, so being incorporated in school curricula all over the country. Gardner suggests his theory of multiple intelligences, a theory that identified the dominant definition of intelligence as restricted to mathematical and linguistic abilities (verbal and computational intelligences). Gardner theorized that instead of just these two intelligences, a grouping of seven intelligences more correctly explains for the diversity of ways in which people receive and utilize knowledge (Sternberg & Lubart, 1991).
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, intelligence is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills,” though, there are many different perspectives regarding intelligence. Some believe the human species is born with a natural intelligence. Others, consider that possessed intelligence is developed by the interactions and experiences of an individual. The ongoing argument of whether a genius born or made is still inconclusive. However, one thing we are certain of is that intelligence plays into one’s financial status. There are no restrictions placed on what type of intelligence, just simply the intelligence one uses to thrive. Founder of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner, would likely agree. The Professor at Harvard University created the Theory of Multiple Intelligences which states that rather than intelligence being considered a single ability, intelligence is viewed by different “modalities.” (Lane et al.) Therefore, whether discussing Kim Kardashian-West who possesses interpersonal intelligence, allowing her to interact with others efficiently, or Albert Einstein, renowned for obtaining logical-mathematical intelligence, granting him the famous the ability to think outside of the box to analyze patterns and relationships, intelligence has an impact on income. Throughout this paperreport, the author will discuss what affects intelligence and how
One might dare to define intelligence as the ability to obtain and apply knowledge and skills, or as the capacity to learn, comprehend, or deal with new or difficult situation in order to adapt to or modify our environment or to process abstract thoughts. However, on a paper defined by Shane and Hutter as "a survey of a large number of informal definitions of “intelligence” that [they] collected over the years (A Collection of Definitions, 2007)," the authors acknowledged that "a complete list would be impossible as many definitions of intelligence are buried deep inside articles and books (idem)." Beyond their own recognition about the limits of their compilation, even after careful analysis carried out by philosophers, psychologists and other scientists throughout human history, still there is not a definite, cover-all definition of intelligence. Maybe we still do not possess sufficient intelligence to reach such achievement at this point of our evolution.
The concept of intelligence has originated innumerous discussions in the field of psychology and pedagogy, and it is also marked by controversy among scholars. One can say that many of these disagreements are generated from the lack of consensus on the definition and conceptualization of intelligence with regard to their nature, source and development. Generally, the theories that defends intelligence as inherently born with the individual, explain differences among people by genetic dispositions. Environmental theorists consider the environment in which individuals were raised and find themselves currently as the main factor determining their level of intelligence. In addition, we have a Factor G theory, which favors the existence of a single factor in the composition of intelligence, and theories which postulate the existence of different types of intelligence, such as the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Emotional Intelligence Theory and Triarchic Theory of Intelligence.
The hypothesis of different intelligences was created in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor from Harvard College. It proposes that the customary idea from claiming intelligence in view of IQ testing, will be far excessively restricted. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes nine separate intelligences that would represent a more extensive extent of mankind's possibility. These intelligences are separated into the following categories: Linguistic intelligence, Logical-mathematical intelligence, Spatial intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence, Musical intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence, and Naturalist intelligence.
The topic that will be discussed in this paper is Culture and Intelligence which were developed by Howard Gardner. In order to test or begin to understand the complexity of measuring intelligence and define it we have to research information on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories. In the theories of Intelligence Gardner argued that to measure intelligence or get a clear understanding, it can be measured in seven areas. The areas are linguistic, logical mathematics, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. (Bruadli, A.C. T., 2016)
What is intelligence? This question has been asked for centuries, however, the general meaning of intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply skills and the tools which was traditionally used to measure intelligence. The IQ test measures a person’s intelligence by calculating the ratio of a person’s mental age to their chronological age and multiplying it by a 100. This test has been historically used to estimate who will succeed in life and who won’t, and in my opinion, the general definition of intelligence goes hand in hand with this, because to achieve traditional success one must have the ability to acquire and apply skills. But why does our definition of intelligence even matter? It’s because along with this one
“Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment” (Wechsler, 1939 p. 3). Wechsler explains that it is global because it characterizes the individual’s behavior as a whole, it is aggregate because it is composed of elements or abilities which are qualitatively differentiable. Wechsler further explains that intelligence is not just a sum of these abilities. Intelligent behavior is a result of the interaction of these abilities. Intelligent behavior can be determined by other factors than intellectual abilities, such as drive and incentive. An excess of any given ability may add relatively little to the effectiveness of a behavior as a whole. Wechsler differentiates between intelligence and intellectual abilities. ‘Although intelligence is no mere sum of intellectual abilities, the only way we can evaluate it quantitatively is by the measurement of the various aspects of these abilities’.(Wechsler,