This document discusses definitions and theories of intelligence from several scholars and researchers. It defines intelligence as a combination of mental abilities that help individuals adapt and solve problems. Intelligence is described as having several components or types, including concrete, abstract, and social intelligence. The document also outlines nine types of intelligence identified by Howard Gardner, including naturalist, musical, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, intra-personal, and spatial intelligence. Characteristics of intelligence include the ability to think abstractly, learn from experience, and adapt to new situations.
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Intelligence meaning and types
1. Intelligence
Jammu University
2 Year B.Ed.
Paper 202/3
Sem: II
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License.
2. Intelligence is not a single, unitary ability, but
rather a composite of several functions. The
term denotes that combination of abilities
required for survival and advancement within
a particular culture. -Anastasi
Intelligence is that facet of mind underlying
our capacity to think, to solve novel problems,
to reason and to have knowledge of the world.
M. Anderson
3. Intelligence is a fundamental faculty, the
alteration or the lack of which, is of the utmost
importance for practical life. This faculty is
judgement, otherwise called good sense, practice
al sense, initiative, the faculty of adapting ones
self to circumstances. A. Binet
Intelligence: A: the biological substrate of
mental ability, the brains’ neuro-anatomy and
physiology; Intelligence B: the manifestation of
intelligence A, and everything that influences its
expression in real life behavior; Intelligence C:
the level of performance on psychometric tests of
cognitive ability. H. J. Eysenck
4. Intelligence is the ability to solve problems,
or to create products, that are valued within
one or more cultural settings. H. Gardner
Intelligence is performing an operation on a
specific type of content to produce a
particular product. J. P. Guilford
5. Characteristics of Intelligence
Intelligence is the power or capacity of human
being: Intelligence is the power or capacity of
human being which helps to make reason,
understanding and well-judgment. Intelligence is
the capacity which is innate as well as acquired.
Intelligence means all-round mental
efficiency: All round mental efficiency means
that it includes all the qualities in mental
development of an individual. Through the
process of intelligence the whole general and
abstract thinking, reasoning powers are revealed.
6. Intelligence is a power of good responses from
the point of truth: As a global or aggregate
capacity of an individual, intelligence is a
conglomeration of many powers as a whole in
the structure of truth.
Intelligence is the ability of adaptation and
adjusting to a new situation: Intelligence is the
property of recombining our behavior pattern so
as to act better in a novel situation. It means that
intelligence is the potent factor through which
the adjustment and re-adjustment to any situation
is easily possible.
7. Intelligence is the ability for abstract
thinking as well as the capacity to learn
from the past experience: Intelligence is the
ability to think abstractly. It is also the
capacity to learn from the past experience and
hence, it makes the profitable use of the past.
Intelligence is not knowledge though
acquisition of knowledge depends to a great
extent on intelligence and vice-versa.
Intelligence is not acquired after sustained
labour. It is a gift from nature.
8. Intelligence is not memory. An intelligent
person may have poor memory.
Intelligence is not a skill which a worker
acquires after planned practice.
Intelligence is not a guarantee of a good
behaviour of the individual.
9. Classification intelligence as given by
E.L. Thorndike
1. Concrete Intelligence – It is the ability of
an individual to comprehend actual situations
and to react to them adequately. The concrete
intelligence is evident from various activities
of daily life. This type of intelligence is
applicable when the individual is handling
concrete objects or medicines. Engineers,
mechanics and architects have this type of
intelligence.
10. 2. Abstract Intelligence – It is the ability to
respond to words, numbers and symbols.
Abstract intelligence is required in the
ordinary academic subjects in the school. This
is acquired after an intensive study of books
and literature. Good teachers, lawyers,
doctors, philosophers etc. have this type of
intelligence.
11. 3. Social Intelligence – It means the ability of
an individual to react to social situations of
daily life. Adequate adjustment in social
situations is the index of social intelligence.
Persons having this type of intelligence know
the art of winning friends and influencing
them. Leaders, ministers, members of
diplomatic sources and social workers have it.
12. Characteristics of Intelligence:
Intelligence is an innate natural endowment
of the child.
It helps the child in maximum learning in
minimum period of time.
The child is able to foresee the future and
plan accordingly.
The child is able to take advantage of his
previous experiences.
The child faces the future with compliance.
13. He develops a sense of discrimination between
right or wrong.
The developmental period of intelligence is from
birth to adolescence.
There is a minor difference in the development
of intelligence between boys and girls.
There are individual differences with regard to
the intelligence between boys and girls.
Intelligence is mostly determined by heredity but
a suitable environment necessary to improve it.
14. Intelligence is the ability for adjustment to
environment, ability to perceive relationship
between various objects and methods, ability to
solve problems, ability to think independently,
ability to learn maximum in minimum period of
time, ability to benefit from one’s own
experience and the experience of others.
Intelligence is an inborn ability of an individual,
the distribution of intelligence is not equal
among all human beings.
There is wide individual difference that exists
among individuals with regard to intelligence.
15. Types of Intelligence
Thurstone classifies intelligence in the
following ways, which are –
Spatial
Perceptual
Memory
Number
Verbal
Word-fluency
Reasoning.
16. E.L. Thorndike
(a) Concrete intelligence: Concrete
intelligence is also known as mechanical
intelligence. It is the intelligence that has the
relation with concrete materials. It is the
ability of an individual to comprehend actual
situations and to react to them adequately.
The concrete intelligence is evident from
various activities in our daily life. This kind
of intelligence is measured by performance
tests and picture tests in which an individual
is asked to manipulate concrete materials.
17. (b) Abstract intelligence: Abstract intelligence
indicates the ability to respond to words,
numbers, formulas, diagram and letters etc.
This formula is conspicuously absent in
animals. An abstractly intelligent person is
able to discover relations among symbols and
to solve the various problems with the help of
such aids (symbols, formula, diagram, letter
etc.)
18. (c) Social intelligence: Social intelligence
means the ability of an individual to react to
social situations of his or her daily life. Social
intelligence is possessed by those people who
are able to handle people well and also have
the ability to make friends easily and
understand human relations. Adequate
adjustment in social situations is the index of
social intelligence.
19. The Nine Types of Intelligence: Howard
Gardner
1. Naturalist Intelligence
2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)
3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
(Number/Reasoning Smart)
4. Existential Intelligence
5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”)
6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body
Smart”)
7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)