The characteristics that we associate with the concept of intelligence, such as the ability to solve problems, to reason, to adapt to the environment, have been highly valued throughout history. From the Greeks until today it has been thought that this set of characteristics that positively distinguishes people gives them a special place in society. This has been considered even before the concept of intelligence and its measurement began to be studied scientifically. Today it is known that intelligence (or intelligences) exists in all people to a greater or lesser degree, and also in non-human animals.
The problems associated with intelligence concern its definition, its characteristics, how to measure it, the factors that constitute intelligence, the relationship between intelligence and other psychological traits, the question of whether there is one or several intelligences, the role of genetics, the environment and their interaction, the origins of intelligence in the human species and in other species, the development of intelligence in children, the usefulness of the concept of intelligence for education and for occupational and social success, the way to develop intelligence, the changes that occur throughout the life cycle, normality, sub normality and supra-normality, the relationship between intelligence and creativity, and other similar problems. These are topics of great importance and relevance to the individual and society.
The first formal attempts to measure intelligence are due to Alfred Binet (1857-1911) who was commissioned by the French government to find a way to select students who had the ability to study in French schools. Binet designed a series of problem situations of gradually increasing difficulty and classified those that could be solved by children of various ages. In this way he proposed a sequence that gave rise to the concept of «mental age» as opposed to «chronological age». The first intelligence test (Binet-Simon) was presented in 1905 in France.
General intelligence (Spearman’s g factor) has been correlated with occupation, gender, ethnicity, culture, social class, success in certain occupations and many other factors. It is a concept that was widely accepted in science several decades ago, but has given rise to numerous criticisms, ideological and political as well as scientific. As intelligence is a very complex field of research, so are the definitions that have been proposed about it.
I invite everyone to read Matias’ post on the topic of the day.
El Arbol de la Vida - Tercer Ciclo 