INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence is the ability to solve problems. It is also commonly referred to as practical sense or the ability to get along well in all sorts of situations. People cannot see, hear, touch, smell, or taste intelligence. On the other hand, the more they have, the better able they are to respond to things around them. Anyone interested in understanding intelligence will find many theories, definitions, and opinions available.

During the late nineteenth century, scientists were interested in the differences in human thinking abilities. Out of these interests evolved the need to distinguish between children who could learn in a school environment and those who could not. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed a set of questions that helped identify children who were having difficulty learning. This set of questions was later used in the United States by Lewis Terman of Stanford University and eventually became the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. The main purpose for looking at intelligence is to be able to measure it; measuring thinking ability helps psychologists predict future learning of children and, if necessary, develop educational programs that will enhance learning.

In addition to general thinking ability, other definitions of intelligence describe the specific ways a child responds to problems. For example, Howard Gardner is interested in how children use different abilities to display intelligence. In particular, he says that children have mathematical, musical, interpersonal, linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligences. He theorizes that children have all these types of intelligence, but have more ability in one than the others. Theorist Daniel Goleman argues that general intelligence, measured by the traditional test, is not as useful in predicting success in life as the measurement of emotional intelligence. He suggests that abilities such as initiative, trustworthiness, self-confidence, and empathy are more important to consider than general intelligence. Therefore, until specific tests of these types of intelligence are developed, determining how much a child has of one type of intelligence is not possible.

Measuring Intelligence as a Comprehensive Process

Although people cannot see intelligence, it can be measured. Psychologists measure intelligence using several methods such as the Stanford-Binet scale, the Wechsler Intelligence scales, and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. These tests measure abilities such as information processing, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. Tasks that measure these abilities include identifying the missing part in a picture, repeating numbers, or defining vocabulary words. These tests also measure a child's ability to respond in an acceptable way to different social situations. The important factor in all established intelligence tests is that the child must be able to see, hear, or speak in order to pass the test. A child who is able to hear and answer questions will score the best.

For children who cannot speak or hear, there are tasks for measuring nonverbal intelligence within each of the tests. Some of these include items such as completing puzzles or reproducing a design using blocks. However, instructions are given verbally, so a child will need to hear and understand questions in order to respond. There are other less frequently administered tests of performance, such as the Test of Non-verbal Intelligence where instructions are given in pantomime. In cases where a child does not speak English, translated intelligence tests that measure the same abilities can be used. In cases where no translation exists, the use of a qualified translator is acceptable.

The method of measuring intelligence of infants and toddlers not old enough to speak is a little different. For example, instead of identifying children who cannot learn, psychologists measure whether the infants or toddlers have developed a common ability by a certain age. One test used with this age group is the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. This test includes tasks such as rolling over, smiling, and imitating sounds. Specifically, psychologists want to know how an infant is developing compared to other infants of the same age.

After psychologists give intelligence tests they can begin to determine a child's level of intelligence by looking at the amount of items the child answered correctly compared to other children of the same age. Correct responses are tallied and referred to as intelligence quotients, or IQ. The scores of the children in the original group are distributed around an average score of 100. Most children have average intelligence and score between 85 and 115. Very few children score in the low range of mental retardation or the high range of gifted.

Several important factors should be considered when discussing an IQ score. If the child was having a bad day or if the examiner made an error in scoring, the results would not be typical. Psychologists must consider these factors in addition to how the child performs on other tests that measure the child's academic achievement and typical behavior at home. In other words, intelligence is not based on one score from one test. In fact, levels of intelligence cannot be determined unless all of these factors are considered.

Typically, psychologists who are highly trained and professionally qualified in giving intelligence tests will determine intelligence. For the most part, intelligence tests are administered to elementary school children because learning difficulties are easier to notice when children begin school. In most cases a teacherwill suspect something different about the performance of a child and will ask the school psychologist about this occurrence. In other cases, parents may want to know if their child is ready for school and will ask about testing services in their community. Nevertheless, assessing a child's level of intelligence helps identify the strengths and weaknesses in the child's learning abilities. This leads to individual learning programs for the child and more useful tasks at school.

Certainly, it is important to consider how individuals think about information in order to predict learning performance. For this reason, intelligence tests are necessary, and in some states required by law. However, it is equally important that educators do not place children in less demanding classrooms only because they think a child may not be able to learn at a faster pace. As previously discussed, intelligence may be increased. Limiting the type of learning opportunities a child should get will prevent learning new problem-solving skills; educators do not want to frustrate a child who needs a different type of program, and will change learning tasks as needed.

Environmental and Genetic Influences on Intelligence

Typically, the way a child thinks and solves problems stays the same from age six on. After beginning school, a child's ability to think appears to develop at a normal rate through grade levels that match the child's age. If a child is given problem-solving tasks, then the child will learn how to solve problems and vice versa. Fortunately, children who are not given the chance to learn how to think about problems before attending school will ultimately catch up. Because of this, psychologists are careful when interpreting low intelligence scores in children younger than age six. This also means that while low intelligence cannot be cured, it can be changed. In fact, educational programs are specifically planned to improve environments in order to increase educational and life skills.

In addition to a child's environment, the intelligence of the child's parents has some influence on the amount of intelligence the child is born with. Questions about the influence of genetics are explained by looking at characteristics children inherit from parents. While studying twins, some scientists have shown that intelligence is largely inherited. Researchers also found that the higher the parents' IQs, the higher their child's IQ tended to be. At the same time, there was less consistency between the IQs of adoptive parents and their adoptive children. Many other factors are related to the development of intelligence. These include parent education, family financial status, family size, and early schooling. Parents who provide a rich learning environment and foster good learning behaviors will have children with better than average IQ scores, barring any medical causes of mental retardation.

Low Intelligence Scores

Psychologists who identify low levels of thinking ability will describe the child as having below average intelligence. A score of sixty-nine or less results in this classification. Unfortunately, this description has potentially negative effects. A child may think the meaning of the low score is a definite sign that they cannot learn and will fail to learn in order to verify the classification. Historically, there is a negative meaning attached to low IQ scores. Therefore, the suggestion that a child has mental retardation can be devastating to the child's family. Due to the nature of errors in testing and the fact that intelligence can be changed, scores that fall at or around seventy, should be interpreted very carefully. Finally, teachers and parents may expect that children with this classification cannot learn, therefore giving them challenging tasks is not necessary. If children are not expected to learn, given a low IQ score or classification, then no one may demand higher performances from them.

It is very difficult to predict outcomes based on the score of an intelligence test, because these tests do not measure other important factors, such as motivation. In addition, intelligence tests are sometimes used inappropriately with minority children who may not understand certain items because of cultural differences. Therefore, any intelligence test score must be fully understood and interpreted with great care.

See also: DEVELOPMENTAL NORMS

Bibliography

Kamphaus, Randy. Clinical Assessment of Children's Intelligence. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1993.

Mackintosh, N. J. IQ and Human Intelligence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Nuthall, Ena, Ivonne Romero, and Joanne Kalesnik. Assessing and Screening Preschoolers: Psychological and Educational Dimensions, 2nd edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999.

Laura A. Webber