Intelligence

I very clearly remember bringing a report card home from grade school and being asked by my parents why I didn't get all as like my elder brother had gotten. I thought about it and replied, "He must be smarter than me." From that time on I promised myself that the first chance I had I would take an IQ test and find out exactly how smart I really was. When I did take a group IQ test in high school, the counselor said it was the school's policy not to tell students their exact scores. But trying to be helpful in my case, the counselor added that I might have trouble getting through college.

The point is that someone—you, a parent, teacher, counselor, husband/wife, friend, or boss—will make a judgment about your level of intelligence. However, intelligence can be difficult to define and measure. Recently, the official journal of the American Psychological Association devoted an entire issue to discussing how to define and measure intelligence and the value and usefulness of IQ scores (American Psychologist, October, 1997). Although we all use the term intelligence, in some cases it may be difficult to define.

For example, which of these two people is more intelligent?

Clarence Thomas graduated from highly respected Yale Law School, was a federal judge, and is now a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.

Nancy Lopez is a professional golfer who won 47 tournaments, was in the Hall of Fame by age 30, and has earned almost 5 million dollars.

So who is more intelligent, Justice Clarence Thomas or professional golfer Nancy Lopez? The answer depends primarily on how we define intelligence. If we define intelligence in terms of cognitive abilities, we would say that Justice Thomas is more intelligent. However, if we define intelligence in terms of motor and perceptual skills and financial earnings, we would say that Nancy Lopez is more intelligent.

Some psychologists believe that intelligence is best defined by measuring cognitive abilities. Others argue that a definition of intelligence based entirely on cognitive abilities is much too narrow.

Instead, they believe that there are many kinds of intelligence, such as musical, motor (movement), creative, or practical intelligence. We'll examine three popular theories of intelligence—the two-factor, multiple-factor, and tri-archic theories.