Intelligence n what does it mean. Types of intelligence

In everyday life, a person uses his mental abilities as an element of knowledge of the world around him. It is difficult to imagine modern reality without intelligence, without the very ability to analyze and compare objects and phenomena. Thanks to his mental activity, a person discovers enormous opportunities for self-development and self-improvement. Without intelligence, a person would not be able to make scientific discoveries, and such an activity as art would not exist at all.

Intelligence(from Latin “mind, mind”) is a highly organized system of thinking of an individual, in which new products of activity appear. Intelligence necessarily affects mental abilities and all cognitive processes.

The concept of intelligence was introduced by the English scientist F. Galton at the end of the 19th century. The basis was taken from the scientific works of Charles Darwin on evolution. The characteristics of intelligence were studied by such scientists as A. Binet, C. Spearman, S. Colvin, E. Thorne-dyke, J. Peterson, J. Piaget. All of them viewed intelligence as a field of limitless human capabilities. The task of each individual is to realize his intelligence competently, for the benefit of himself and others. In fact, only a few understand their true purpose and are ready to invest energy in developing their abilities.

The Essence of Intelligence

Learning ability

Personality cannot be imagined without mental activity. For especially developed people, development becomes an integral part of life: it leads them forward to new achievements and helps them make the necessary discoveries. The desire to learn in this case is dictated by a person’s internal need for self-realization. When the desire to express one's own individuality becomes brighter than the opinions of others, a person is able to use the full power of his mind in order to achieve tangible success.

In fact, the ability to learn is inherent in each of us. It’s just that some people make the most of the resource given to them by nature, while others find reasons to reduce this process to the level necessary for survival.

Ability to operate with abstractions

Scientists, thinkers, philosophers use scientific concepts and definitions in their activities. And not only them: students must also learn to understand the language of abstractions and operate with them freely. The ability to competently express one’s thoughts and share discoveries in a particular area necessarily presupposes mastery of the language at a high level. Intelligence here acts as a necessary link, a tool for scientific activity.

Ability to adapt to environmental conditions

The environment in which modern people live is constantly changing. Unforeseen circumstances arise that negatively affect work, mix up plans and disrupt deals. But a truly intelligent person is always able to analyze the situation that has arisen and see the benefit in it for himself. Thus, intelligence helps an individual to withstand difficult circumstances, fight in the name of a bright idea, predict the desired result and strive to achieve it.

Structure of intelligence

Scientists with different approaches and different views on this problem identify concepts that allow us to determine what intelligence consists of.

Spearman spoke about the presence in each individual of the so-called general intelligence, which helps to adapt to the environment in which he lives, to develop existing inclinations and talents. This scientist considered individual characteristics to be hidden opportunities for achieving certain goals.

Thurstone characterized the facets of general intelligence and identified seven directions through which a person’s mental realization occurs.

1. The ability to easily handle numbers, perform mental calculations and mathematical operations.
2. The ability to coherently express one’s thoughts and put them into verbal form. The scientist explained what the degree of word mastery depends on and highlighted the connection between mental activity and speech development.
3. The ability to assimilate the written and spoken language of another person. As a rule, the more a person reads, the more he learns about the world around him. Self-awareness develops, memory capacity expands, and other (personal) possibilities appear. An individual most often receives information through thoughtful reading. This is how new material is learned, and existing knowledge is analyzed and systematized.
4. The ability to imagine, build artistic images in the head, develop and improve creative activity. It must be admitted that it is in products of a creative orientation that the high potential of an individual is revealed and the essence of his capabilities is revealed.
5. The ability to increase memory capacity and train memory speed. Modern man needs to constantly work on his resource.
6. The ability to build logical chains, reason, analyze the realities of life.
7. The ability to analyze, identify significant and significant differences between objects and phenomena.

Cattell discovered the enormous potential of possibilities that a person possesses. He defined intelligence as the ability for abstract thinking and abstraction.

Types of intelligence

Traditionally, psychology distinguishes several types of mental activity. All of them correspond to one direction or another in life or affect a person’s lifestyle.

Verbal intelligence

With the help of this type, a person always has the opportunity to communicate with other people. Writing activity perfectly develops the intellect, allows you to master foreign languages ​​and study classical literature. Participating in discussions and debates on various topics helps you focus on the essence of the issue, determine your own values, and learn something important and valuable from your opponents.

Verbal intelligence is necessary to acquire basic knowledge about the world, so that a person has the opportunity to accumulate the necessary experience for his development. Communication with successful people who were able to reach a new level of life and achieve a state of complete independence has a positive effect on the individual’s worldview and ability to accept and think about information.

Logical intelligence

Necessary for performing logical operations and solving mathematical problems. To improve the level of logic, it is recommended to solve crossword puzzles, read intellectual, useful books, engage in self-development, and attend thematic seminars and trainings.

Logical intelligence needs constant work. To freely operate with numbers, you need to constantly perform complex calculations in your mind and solve problems.

Spatial intelligence

It is based on the visual perception of any activity with the ability to repeat it in one’s own experience. Thus, playing music and modeling with clay can become wonderful guides to self-development.

• Physical intelligence. The ability to stay in excellent physical shape is the key to good health and longevity. Physical intelligence implies a strong connection with the body and careful attention to one’s well-being. The absence of disease is not yet an indicator of physical health. In order for the body to be strong and vigorous, you need to give it enough strength and attention: if possible, do exercises and any sports. It is important to give yourself daily the degree of stress that a person is able to withstand. Of course, in order to manage this process, you need to have great motivation and a desire to change something for the better.
• Social intelligence. This includes the ability to communicate. Man is a social being and cannot live outside of society. In order to adequately build relationships with other people and learn to understand them correctly, you need to daily train your will and ability to hear others. Understanding between people consists of several components, an important component of which is mutually beneficial cooperation. This is the basis of any business, to understand the needs of the client, to be able to convey the necessary information to the audience.
• Emotional intellect. It assumes the development of a fairly high level of reflection in a person. The ability to think analytically, be aware of your individual needs and strive to achieve your own goals will undoubtedly help you achieve a high level of emotional intelligence. Another important component is the ability to communicate with people, understand their moods and feelings, and build models of effective interaction with them.
• Spiritual intelligence. It assumes a conscious desire of the individual to know himself and engage in self-improvement. An intellectually developed person never lingers for long at one stage of development; he wants to progress and motivate himself to further actions. Individual reflections on life, the essence of being, meditation, and prayer are perfect for developing this type of intelligence.
• Creative intelligence. It assumes that an individual has a certain artistic talent: literary, musical, pictorial. The need to concentrate on the task at hand, concentrate on an artistic image and embody it on paper, canvas or sheet music is inherent in true creators. But you should remember that any abilities need to be developed; they need to be given a lot of effort and attention.

So, in order to develop literary talent, it is necessary to learn to understand the essence and meaning of what is written, study the works of great masters, and master artistic techniques and means of expression.

Peculiarities

The human brain is designed in such a way that the more often we train it, the better it responds to training. In other words, the more attention, time, and effort a person is willing to invest in his own development, the sooner the opportunities for self-realization increase and expand.

For example, if the mind is able to concentrate on certain things, then it needs to be given the opportunity to expand its field of activity for a long period of time, and then visible changes will be noticeable.

Intelligence capabilities

The truth is that the possibilities of the human mind are inexhaustible. We have such potential that if everyone were closely involved in solving individual problems, the results would very soon be very impressive. Unfortunately, throughout his life a person uses no more than 4–5% of his potential and forgets that his possibilities are limitless. How to develop intelligence to a high level? Only the personality itself determines what framework to place itself in, only we govern ourselves.

How to increase intelligence?

Many people walking the path of personal development, one way or another, ask this question. Few people understand that increasing intelligence is associated, first of all, with being an active person, being able to accept new things into your life, and striving to achieve individual goals. Read more books related to self-realization or quality literature. Ironic detective stories or romance novels are not suitable.

Thus, the concept of intelligence is closely related to the personal development of the person himself. It is important to understand that our mind cannot exist separately from us. It is necessary to regularly “feed” him with fresh ideas, allow him to do bold things and make discoveries. And then you will be able to maintain a high level of intelligence for many years, and not just use it in your youth.

Intelligence General mental ability to overcome difficulties in new situations.

Brief explanatory psychological and psychiatric dictionary. Ed. igisheva. 2008.

Intelligence

(from Latin intellectus - understanding, understanding, comprehension) - a relatively stable structure of an individual’s mental abilities. In a number of psychological concepts, intelligence is identified with a system of mental operations, with a style and strategy for solving problems, with the effectiveness of an individual approach to a situation that requires cognitive activity, with cognitive style and others. In modern Western psychology, the most widespread is the understanding of intelligence as a biopsychic adaptation to the current circumstances of life (V. Stern, J. Piaget, etc.). An attempt to study the productive creative components of I. was made by representatives Gestalt psychology(M. Wertheimer, W. Köhler), who developed the concept of insight. At the beginning of the twentieth century. French psychologists A. Binet and T. Simon proposed determining the degree of mental giftedness through special tests (see). Their work laid the foundation for the pragmatist interpretation of intelligence, which is still widespread to this day, as the ability to cope with relevant tasks, effectively integrate into sociocultural life, and successfully adapt. At the same time, the idea of ​​the existence of basic structures of history, regardless of cultural influences, is put forward. In order to improve the diagnostic methods of I. (see), they were carried out (usually with the help factor analysis) various studies of its structure. At the same time, different authors identify different numbers of basic “factors of information”: from 1–2 to 120. Such fragmentation of information into many components hinders the understanding of its integrity. Russian psychology is based on the principle of the unity of personality and its connection with personality. Much attention is paid to the study of the relationship between practical and theoretical I., their dependence on the emotional and volitional characteristics of the individual. The meaningful definition of intelligence itself and the features of the instruments for measuring it depend on the nature of the corresponding socially significant activity in the individual’s sphere (production, politics, etc.). In connection with the successes of the scientific and technological revolution - the development of cybernetics, information theory, computer technology - the term " artificial I." IN comparative psychology Animal I. is being studied.

Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: “PHOENIX”. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .

Intelligence

This concept is defined quite heterogeneously, but in general terms it refers to individual characteristics related to the cognitive sphere, primarily to thinking, memory, perception, attention, etc. It implies a certain level of development of the mental activity of the individual, providing the opportunity to acquire more and more new knowledge and to use them effectively in the course of life, - the ability to carry out the process of cognition and to effectively solve problems, in particular when mastering a new range of life tasks. Intelligence is a relatively stable structure of an individual’s mental abilities. In a number of psychological concepts it is identified:

1 ) with a system of mental operations;

2 ) with a style and strategy for solving problems;

3 ) with the effectiveness of an individual approach to the situation, requiring cognitive activity;

4 ) with a cognitive style, etc.

There are a number of fundamentally different interpretations of intelligence:

1 ) in the structural-genetic approach of J. Piaget, intelligence is interpreted as the highest way of balancing the subject with the environment, characterized by universality;

2 ) with the cognitivist approach, intelligence is considered as a set of cognitive operations;

3 ) with a factor-analytic approach, stable factors of intelligence are found based on a variety of test indicators (C. Spearman, L. Thurstone, H. Eysenck, S. Barth, D. Wexler, F. Vernoy). It is now generally accepted that there is general intelligence as a universal mental ability, which may be based on the genetically determined ability of the nervous system to process information with a certain speed and accuracy (H. Eysenck). In particular, psychogenetic studies have shown that the share of genetic factors calculated from the dispersion of intelligence test results is quite large - this indicator has a value from 0.5 to 0.8. In this case, verbal intelligence is especially genetically dependent. The main criteria by which the development of intelligence is assessed are the depth, generalization and mobility of knowledge, mastery of methods of coding, recoding, integration and generalization of sensory experience at the level of ideas and concepts. In the structure of the intellect, the activity of speech and especially internal speech is of great importance. A special role belongs to observation, operations of abstraction, generalization and comparison, which create internal conditions for combining diverse information about the world of things and phenomena into a single system of views that determine the moral position of the individual, contributing to the formation of his orientation, abilities and character.

In Western psychology, the understanding of intelligence as a biopsychic adaptation to the current circumstances of life is especially widespread. An attempt to study the productive creative components of intelligence was made by representatives of Gestalt psychology, who developed the concept of insight. At the beginning of the 20th century. French psychologists A. Binet and T. Simon proposed determining the degree of mental giftedness through special intelligence tests; This was the beginning of the still widespread pragmatist interpretation of intelligence as the ability to cope with relevant tasks, effectively integrate into sociocultural life, and successfully adapt. At the same time, the idea of ​​the existence of basic structures of intelligence, independent of cultural influences, is put forward. In order to improve the methodology for diagnosing intelligence, various studies of its structure have been carried out (usually using factor analysis). At the same time, different authors identify different numbers of basic “intelligence factors” from one or two to 120. Such fragmentation of intelligence into many components prevents the understanding of its integrity. Russian psychology is based on the principle of the unity of intellect and its connection with personality. Much attention is paid to the study of the relationship between practical and theoretical intelligence, their dependence on the emotional and volitional characteristics of the individual. The inconsistency of statements about the innate determination of differences in the level of intellectual development among representatives of different nations and social groups was shown. At the same time, the dependence of a person’s intellectual abilities on socio-economic living conditions is recognized. The meaningful definition of intelligence itself and the features of the tools for measuring it depend on the nature of the corresponding socially significant activity in the individual’s sphere (intelligence, production, politics, etc.). In connection with the successes of the scientific and technological revolution, the term artificial intelligence has become widespread.

Dictionary of a practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998.

Intelligence Etymology.

Comes from Lat. intellectus - mind.

The ability to learn and effectively solve problems, in particular when mastering a new range of life tasks.

There are a number of fundamentally different interpretations of intelligence.

In the structural-genetic approach of J. Piaget, intelligence is interpreted as the highest way of balancing the subject with the environment, characterized by universality. In the cognitivist approach, intelligence is viewed as a set of cognitive operations. In the factor-analytical approach, stable factors are found based on a variety of test indicators (C. Spearman, L. Thurstone, H. Eysenck, S. Barth, D. Wexler, F. Vernon). Eysenck believed that there is general intelligence as a universal ability, which may be based on the genetically determined property of an unequal system to process information with a certain speed and accuracy. Psychogenetic studies have shown that the share of genetic factors calculated from the dispersion of intelligence test results is quite large, this indicator has a value from 0.5 to 0.8. In this case, verbal intelligence turns out to be the most genetically dependent.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000.

INTELLIGENCE

(English) intelligence; from lat. intellectus- understanding, cognition) - 1) general to knowledge and problem solving, which determines the success of any activities and underlying other ability; 2) the system of all cognitive (cognitive) abilities of an individual: Feel,perception,memory, ,thinking,imagination; 3) the ability to solve problems without trial and error “in the head” (see. ). The concept of intelligence as a general mental ability is used as a generalization of behavioral characteristics associated with successful adaptation to new life challenges.

R. Sternberg identified 3 forms of intellectual behavior: 1) verbal intelligence (vocabulary, erudition, ability to understand what is read); 2) ability to solve problems; 3) practical I. (ability to achieve goals, etc.). In the beginning. XX century I. was considered as the level of mental development achieved by a certain age, which is manifested in the formation of cognitive functions, as well as in the degree of assimilation of mental skills And knowledge. Currently accepted in testing dispositional interpretation of I. as a mental property (): a predisposition to act rationally in a new situation. There is also an operational interpretation of I., going back to A.Binet: I. is “what the tests measure.”

I. is studied in various psychological disciplines: for example, in general, developmental, engineering and differential psychology, pathopsychology and neuropsychology, in psychogenetics, etc. Several theoretical approaches to the study of I. and its development can be identified. Structural genetic approach based on ideas AND.Piaget, who considered I. as the highest universal way of balancing the subject with the environment. Piaget identified 4 types of forms of interaction between subject and environment: 1) forms of the lowest type, formed instinct and directly arising from the anatomical and physiological structure of the body; 2) integral forms formed skill And perception; 3) holistic irreversible forms of operation formed by figurative (intuitive) pre-operational thinking; 4) mobile, reversible forms, capable of grouping into various complex complexes formed by “operational” I. Cognitivist approach is based on the understanding of intelligence as a cognitive structure, the specifics of which are determined by the individual’s experience. Proponents of this direction analyze the main components of the implementation of traditional tests to identify the role of these components in determining test results.

The most widespread factor analytical approach, the founder of which is English. psychologist Charles Spearman (Spearman, 1863-1945). He put forward the concept "general factor", g, considering intelligence as general “mental energy”, the level of which determines the success of any tests. This factor has the greatest influence when performing tests for searching for abstract relationships, and the least when performing sensory tests. C. Spearman also identified “group” factors of intelligence (mechanical, linguistic, mathematical), as well as “special” factors that determine the success of individual tests. Later L. Thurstone developed multifactor model I., according to which there are 7 relatively independent primary intellectual abilities. However, studies by G. Eysenck and others have shown that there are close connections between them and when processing the data obtained by Thurstone himself, a common factor stands out.

Also gained fame hierarchical models S. Barth, D. Wexler and F. Vernon, in which intellectual factors are arranged in a hierarchy according to levels of generality. The concept of Amer is also among the most common. psychologist R. Cattell about 2 types of I. (corresponding to the 2 factors he identified): "fluid"(fluid) And "crystallized"(crystallized). This concept occupies, as it were, an intermediate position between views of intelligence as a single general ability and ideas of it as a set of mental abilities. According to Cattell, “fluid” intelligence appears in tasks whose solution requires adaptation to new situations; it depends on the action of the factor heredity; “crystallized” information appears when solving problems that clearly require recourse to past experience ( knowledge,skills,skills), largely borrowed from the cultural environment. In addition to 2 general factors, Cattell also identified partial factors associated with the activity of individual analyzers (in particular, the visualization factor), as well as operational factors corresponding in content to Spearman’s special factors. Studies of I. in old age confirm Cattell’s model: with age (after 40-50 years), the indicators of “fluid” I. decrease, and the indicators of “crystallized” remain unchanged. normal almost unchanged.

The Amer model is no less popular. psychologist J. Guilford, who identified 3 “dimensions of intelligence”: mental operations; features of the material used in the tests; the resulting intellectual product. The combination of these elements (“Guilford’s cube”) gives 120-150 intellectual “factors,” some of which were identified in empirical studies. Guilford's merit is the identification of “social I.” as a set of intellectual abilities that determine the success of interpersonal assessment, prediction and understanding of people's behavior. In addition, he highlighted the ability to divergent thinking(the ability to generate many original and non-standard solutions) as the basis creativity; this ability is contrasted with the ability to convergent thinking, which is revealed in problems that require an unambiguous solution found using learned algorithms.

Today, despite attempts to identify new “elementary intellectual abilities,” most researchers agree that general intelligence exists as a universal mental ability. According to Eysenck, it is based on the genetically determined property of n. s., determining speed and accuracy information processing. In connection with the successes in the development of cybernetics, systems theory, information theory, artificial AND. etc., there has been a tendency to understand intelligence as the cognitive activity of any complex systems capable of learning, purposeful processing of information and self-regulation (see. ). The results of psychogenetic studies indicate that the proportion of genetically determined variance in the results of intellectual tests usually ranges from 0.5 to 0.8. The greatest genetic conditioning was revealed in verbal I., somewhat less in non-verbal. Non-verbal I. (“I. actions”) are more trainable. The individual level of development is also determined by a number of environmental influences: the “intellectual age and climate” of the family, the profession of the parents, the breadth of social contacts in early childhood, etc.

In Russia psychology of the 20th century I.'s research developed in several directions: the study of psychophysiological inclinations general mental abilities(B.M.Teplov,IN.D.Nebylitsyn, E. A. Golubeva, V. M. Rusalov), emotional and motivational regulation of intellectual activity ( ABOUT. TO.Tikhomirov), cognitive styles (M. A. Kholodnaya), “the ability to act in the mind” ( .A.Ponomarev). In recent years, new areas of research have developed, such as the features "implicit"(or ordinary) theories of I. (R. Sternberg), regulatory structures (A. Pages), I. and creativity (E. Torrens), etc. (V. N. Druzhinin)

Large psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .

Intelligence

   INTELLIGENCE (With. 269)

The scientific development of the problem of intelligence has a very short history and a long prehistory. Why is one person smart, and the other (no matter how sad it is for supporters of universal equality to admit this) - alas, stupid? Is intelligence a natural gift or a product of education? What is true wisdom and how does it manifest itself? From time immemorial, thinkers of all times and peoples have been looking for answers to these questions. However, in their research they relied mainly on their own everyday observations, speculative reasoning, and generalizations of everyday experience. For thousands of years, the task of detailed scientific study of such subtle matter as the human mind was practically not even posed as in principle unsolvable. Only in this century have psychologists dared to approach it. And, it must be admitted, they have succeeded a lot in experimental and theoretical developments, in producing hypotheses, models and definitions. Which, however, allowed them to move very close from the vague philosophical maxims of the past and ingrained everyday ideas. Today there is no single scientific theory of intelligence, but there is a kind of fan of contradictory tendencies, from which the most desperate eclectics find it difficult to deduce a vector. To this day, all attempts to enrich the theory come down to expanding the fan, leaving the practicing psychologist with a difficult choice: which trend to prefer in the absence of a single theoretical platform.

The first real step from speculation about the nature of the mind to its practical research was the creation in 1905 by A. Binet and T. Simon of a set of test tasks to assess the level of mental development. In 1916 L. Theremin modified the Binet-Simon test, using the concept of intelligence quotient - IQ, introduced three years earlier by V. Stern. Having not yet reached a consensus on what intelligence is, psychologists from different countries began to construct their own tools for its quantitative measurement.

But very soon it became obvious that the use of seemingly similar, but partly dissimilar tools gives different results. This stimulated a lively (if somewhat belated) discussion about the very subject of measurement. In 1921, the most complete set of definitions put forward by participants in the correspondence symposium “Intelligence and Its Measurement” was published in the American Journal of Educational Psychology. A quick glance at the various proposed definitions was enough to understand: the theorists approached their subject precisely from the position of measurement, that is, not so much as psychologists, but as testologists. At the same time, wittingly or unwittingly, an important fact was overlooked. An intelligence test is a diagnostic, not a research technique; it is aimed not at identifying the nature of intelligence, but at quantitatively measuring the degree of its expression. The basis for compiling the test is the author’s ideas about the nature of intelligence. And the results of using the test are intended to substantiate the theoretical concept. Thus, a vicious circle of interdependencies arises, completely determined by an arbitrarily formulated subjective idea. It turned out that the methodology, originally created to solve specific narrow practical problems (and, by the way, preserved in almost its original form to this day), outgrew the boundaries of its powers and began to serve as a source of theoretical constructions in the field of the psychology of intelligence. This gave rise to E. Boring, with open sarcasm, to deduce his tautological definition: “Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure.”

Of course, it would be an exaggeration to deny the psychology of intelligence any theoretical basis. For example, E. Thorndike, in an openly behaviorist manner, reduced intelligence to the ability to operate with life experience, that is, an acquired set of stimulus-reactive connections. However, this idea was supported by few. In contrast to his other, later idea of ​​​​the combination of verbal, communicative (social) and mechanical abilities in the intellect, which many followers find confirmation.

Until a certain time, most testological research, to one degree or another, gravitated towards the theory proposed back in 1904 by Charles Spearman. Spearman believed that any mental action, from boiling an egg to memorizing Latin declensions, requires the activation of a certain general ability. If a person is smart, then he is smart in every way. Therefore, it is not even very important with the help of which tasks this general ability, or G-factor, is revealed. This concept was established for many years. For decades, psychologists have called intelligence, or mental ability, precisely Spearman's G-factor, which is essentially an amalgam of logical and verbal abilities measured by IQ tests.

This idea remained dominant until recently, despite individual, often very impressive, attempts to decompose intelligence into so-called basic factors. The most famous such attempts were made by Gilford and L. Thurstone, although their work does not exhaust the opposition to the G-factor. Using factor analysis, different authors identified different numbers of basic factors in the structure of intelligence - from 2 to 120. It is easy to guess that this approach greatly complicated practical diagnostics, making it too cumbersome.

One of the innovative approaches was the study of so-called creativity, or creative abilities. A number of experiments have found that the ability to solve non-standard, creative problems is weakly correlated with intelligence measured by IQ tests. On this basis, it has been suggested that general intelligence (G-factor) and creativity are relatively independent psychological phenomena. To “measure” creativity, a series of original tests were developed, consisting of tasks that required unexpected solutions. However, supporters of the traditional approach continued to insist, and quite convincingly (certain correlations were nevertheless identified), that creativity is nothing more than one of the characteristics of the good old G-factor. To date, it has been reliably established that with a low IQ creativity does not manifest itself, however, a high IQ does not serve as an unambiguous correlate of creative abilities. That is, a certain interdependence exists, but it is very complex. Research in this direction continues.

Research on the correlation of IQ and personal qualities has become a special area. It was found that personality and intelligence cannot be separated when interpreting test scores. An individual’s performance on IQ tests, as well as his studies, work or other activities, is affected by his desire for achievement, perseverance, value system, ability to free himself from emotional difficulties and other characteristics traditionally associated with the concept of “personality”. But not only personality traits influence intellectual development, but also the intellectual level influences personal development. Preliminary data confirming this connection were obtained by V. Plant and E. Minium. Using data from 5 longitudinal studies of college-educated young adults, the authors selected the 25% of students who scored the best on the tests and the 25% who performed the worst on the tests based on their intelligence test scores. The resulting contrast groups were then compared based on the results of personality tests administered to one or more samples and including measures of attitudes, values, motivation and other non-cognitive qualities. Analysis of these data showed that more “capable” groups, compared to less “capable” groups, are significantly more susceptible to “psychologically positive” personality changes.

The development of an individual and his use of his abilities depends on the characteristics of emotional regulation, the nature of interpersonal relationships and the formed image of himself. The mutual influence of abilities and personal qualities is especially clearly manifested in an individual’s ideas about himself. A child's success in school, play, and other situations helps him create an image of himself, and his self-image at a given stage influences his subsequent performance of activities, etc. in a spiral. In this sense, self-image is a kind of individually self-fulfilling prediction.

More theoretical include K. Hayes's hypothesis about the relationship between motives and intelligence. Defining intelligence as a set of learning abilities, K. Hayes argues that the nature of motivation affects the type and volume of perceived knowledge. In particular, the strength of “motives developed in the process of life” affects intellectual development. Examples of such motives include research, manipulative activity, curiosity, play, baby babbling and other internally motivated behaviors. Referring primarily to studies of animal behavior, Hayes argues that “lifelong motives” are genetically determined and provide the sole heritable basis for individual differences in intelligence.

One way or another, the concept of general intellectuality remained the standard of culture and education until its appearance at the turn of the 70-80s. a new generation of theorists who have made attempts to dismember the G-factor or even abandon this concept altogether. R. Sternberg from Yale University developed an original three-component theory of intelligence, which claims to radically revise traditional views. G. Gardner from Harvard University and D. Feldman from Tufts University went even further in this regard.

Although Sternberg believes that IQ tests are "a relatively acceptable way to measure knowledge and analytical and critical thinking abilities," he argues that such tests are still "too narrow." “There are a lot of people with high IQs who make a lot of mistakes in real life,” Sternberg says. “Other people who don’t do so well on the test do well in life.” According to Sternberg, these tests do not address a number of important areas, such as the ability to determine the nature of the problem, the ability to navigate a new situation, and solve old problems in a new way. Moreover, in his opinion, most IQ tests focus on what a person already knows, rather than on how capable he is of learning something new. Sternberg believes that a good benchmark for measuring intelligence would be immersion in a completely different culture, because this experience would reveal both the practical side of intelligence and its ability to perceive new things.

Although Sternberg essentially accepts the traditional view of general mental development, he modifies this concept to include some often overlooked aspects of mental ability. He develops the “theory of three principles”, which according to; posits the existence of three components of intelligence. The first covers purely internal mechanisms of mental activity, in particular a person’s ability to plan and evaluate a situation to solve problems. The second component involves human functioning in the environment, i.e. his capacity for what most people would call simply common sense. The third component concerns the relationship of intelligence with life experience, especially in the case of a person's reaction to new things.

Professor at the University of Pennsylvania J. Baron believes that the disadvantage of existing IQ tests is that they do not assess rational thinking. Rational thinking, i.e. deep and critical examination of problems, as well as self-esteem, are a key component of what Baron calls "the new theory of the components of intelligence." He argues that such thinking could easily be assessed using an individual test: “You give the student a problem and ask him to think out loud. Is he capable of alternatives, of new ideas? How does he react to your advice?

Sternberg doesn't entirely agree with this: "Insight is part of my theory of intelligence, but I don't think insight is a rational process."

Baron, in contrast, believes that thinking almost always goes through the same stages: articulating possibilities, evaluating data, and defining goals. The only difference is what is given more importance, for example, in the artistic field, the definition of goals predominates rather than the evaluation of data.

Although Sternberg and Baron attempt to dissect mental abilities into their component parts, the concept of each of them unequivocally includes the traditional concept of general intelligence.

Gardner and Feldman take a different direction. Both are leaders of Project Spectrum, a collaborative research effort to develop new ways to assess intelligence. They argue that a person does not have one intelligence, but several. In other words, they are not looking for “something”, but for “multiplicity.” In his book Forms of Intelligence, Gardner proposed the idea that there are seven inherent aspects of human intelligence. Among them are linguistic intelligence and logical-mathematical intelligence, assessed by an IQ test. He then lists abilities that traditional scientists would never consider intellectual in the full sense of the word - musical ability, spatial ability, and kinesthetic ability.

To the further indignation of supporters of traditional tests, Gardner adds “intrapersonal” and “interpersonal” forms of intelligence: the first roughly corresponds to a sense of self, and the second to sociability, the ability to communicate with others. One of Gardner's main points is that you can be “smart” in one area and “stupid” in another.

Gardner's ideas developed through his studies of both brain-impaired individuals and child prodigies. The former, as he established, were capable of some mental functions and incapable of others; the latter showed brilliant abilities in a certain area and only mediocre abilities in other areas. Feldman also came to his ideas about multiple intelligences in connection with the study of child prodigies. He puts forward the main criterion: the ability being studied must correspond to a certain role, profession or purpose of a person in the adult world. He says that “this limitation allows us not to increase the number of forms of intelligence to a thousand, ten thousand or a million. One can imagine hundreds of forms of intelligence, but when you are dealing with human activity, this does not seem to be an exaggeration.”

These are just a few of the many diverse approaches that today make up the motley mosaic called “theories of intelligence.” Today we have to recognize that intelligence is more of an abstract concept that combines many factors, rather than a concrete entity that can be measured. In this respect, the concept of “intelligence” is somewhat akin to the concept of “weather”. People have been talking about good and bad weather since time immemorial. Not long ago they learned to measure temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, magnetic background... But they never learned to measure the weather! She remains in our perception as good or bad. Just like intelligence and stupidity.

Such reflections are prompted by acquaintance with one of the recent issues of the American popular science magazine Scientific American, which is entirely devoted to the problem of intelligence. Several policy articles written by leading American experts on this issue attract special attention. R. Sternberg's article is called "How intelligent are intelligence tests?" G. Gardner’s article entitled “Diversity of Intelligence” has a lot in common with it. A striking dissonance sounds in an article by a less eminent specialist, Linda Gottfredson (University of Delaware), in which the author defends traditional testing and, in particular, the much-criticized G-factor (the article is called “General Intelligence Factor”). Staff Writer Scientific American Tim Beardsley reviews the acclaimed book “The Bell Curve” by R. Herrnstein and C. Murray - a somewhat belated review (the book was published in 1994, and one of the authors, R. Herrnstein, has already left this world), but always relevant due to the acute relevance of the topic itself. The journalistic pathos of the review is reflected in its title - “For whom does the bell-shaped curve ring?”

Herrnstein and Murray's book, The Bell Curve, describes the normal statistical distribution curve of IQ measured in a fairly large group of people. In a random sample from the entire population (for example, the US population), the average value (, or the top of the bell) is taken as one hundred, and the extreme five percent on both sides have the lower IQ values ​​- 50-75 (mentally retarded) and the upper ones - 120-150 (highly gifted). If the sample is specially selected, for example, it consists of students from a prestigious university or homeless people, then the entire bell is shifted to the right or left. For example, for those who, for one reason or another, were unable to graduate from school, the average IQ is not 100, but 85, and for theoretical physicists, the top of the curve is 130.

Journalists usually begin their criticism of the book with doubts that IQ really characterizes intelligence, since this concept itself is not strictly defined. The authors understand this well and use a narrower, but more accurate concept - cognitive abilities (cognitivability), which they evaluate by IQ.

Hundreds of studies have been devoted to what is actually measured, in which, in particular, a high correlation was clearly identified between the IQ of schoolchildren and their academic performance and, most importantly, their further success. Children with an IQ above one hundred not only do better academically on average, but they are more likely to continue their studies in college, get into more prestigious universities and graduate successfully. If they then go into science, they receive higher degrees, achieve higher ranks in the army, become managers or owners of larger and more successful companies in business, and have higher incomes. On the contrary, children who had an IQ below average were subsequently more likely to drop out of school without completing their education, a higher percentage of them got divorced, had illegitimate children, became unemployed, and lived on benefits.

Whether someone likes it or not, it should be recognized that IQ testing is a method that allows you to assess mental or cognitive abilities, that is, the ability to learn and do mental work, as well as achieve success in a lifestyle and according to the criteria that are accepted in developed democratic countries - such as modern America. Of course, survival in the Australian desert or the Guinean jungle requires abilities of a different kind and is assessed by different criteria, but we and those like us live, thank God, not in the desert or jungle, hundreds of generations of our ancestors took care to provide us with something more complex than rock scribbles and stone chopper.

It is important to remember that correlations between IQ and social success or failure are statistical, meaning they relate not to individuals but to groups of individuals. A particular boy with an IQ=90 may learn better and achieve more in life than another boy with an IQ=110, but it is certain that a group with an average IQ=90 will do worse on average than a group with an average IQ=110.

The question of whether abilities measured by IQ tests are heritable has been hotly debated for several decades. Nowadays, the discussion has somewhat subsided due to the presence of reliably established patterns confirming the fact of inheritance, as well as due to the obvious unfoundedness of the arguments of the opposite side. Hundreds of serious works have been devoted to the transmission of IQ by inheritance, the results of which sometimes differ significantly from each other. Therefore, it is now customary to rely not on just one, perhaps very thorough, work, but to use the results of each study only as a point on the graph. The dependence of the similarity of IQ in two people on the degree of relationship between them, that is, on the number of common genes, is expressed by correlation and heritability coefficients (this is not the same thing), which can vary from 0 in the absence of any dependence to 1.0 in absolute dependence. This correlation is quite significant (0.4-0.5) between parents and children or between siblings. But in monozygotic twins (MZ), in whom all genes are identical, the correlation is especially high - up to 0.8.

However, with a strict approach, this does not yet allow us to say that IQ is entirely determined by genes. After all, siblings usually live together, that is, in the same conditions, which can influence their IQ, bringing their values ​​closer together. Decisive are observations of separated twins, that is, those rare cases when twins were raised in different conditions from childhood (and not just apart, since conditions in the families of relatives may differ slightly). Such cases are carefully collected and studied. In most scientific studies devoted to them, the correlation coefficient was equal to 0.8. However, Herrnstein and Murray, out of caution, write that IQ depends on genes by 60-80 percent, and on external conditions by the remaining 20-40 percent. Thus, a person's cognitive abilities are predominantly, although not exclusively, determined by his heredity. They also depend on environmental conditions, on upbringing and training, but to a much lesser extent.

I would like to discuss two fundamental issues in more detail. One is about ethnic differences in IQ, which has caused the greatest stir. The second question is about the isolation in American society of two extreme groups with high and low IQ. For some reason, this issue - important and new - is almost not mentioned in reviews, although the book itself is dedicated to it.

The fact that people belonging to different races and nations differ in appearance, frequency of blood groups, national character, etc. is well known and does not give rise to objections. Usually they compare the criteria for the normal distribution of quantitative characteristics, which overlap each other among different peoples, but may differ in the average value, that is, the top of the “bell.” Average cognitive ability, as measured by IQ, while it has been convincingly proven to be predominantly hereditary, can serve as a characteristic of a race or nation, such as skin color, nose shape, or eye shape. Numerous IQ measurements of different ethnic groups, mainly in the United States, have shown that the largest and most reliable differences are found between the black and white populations of America. Representatives of the yellow race - immigrants from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia who have assimilated in America - have a significant, albeit slight, advantage over whites. Among the whites, Ashkenazi Jews stand out somewhat, who, unlike the Palestinian Sephardim, lived for two millennia in dispersion among the European peoples.

If the entire population of America has an average IQ of 100, then for African Americans it is 85, and for whites it is 105. To put an end to the demagogy that often accompanies the publication of these figures, it must be clearly understood that they do not provide any basis for racism, nor to accuse psychologists of bias.

Racism, that is, the assertion that one race is superior to another and as a result they should have different rights, has nothing to do with the scientific discussion about IQ. The Japanese's higher average IQ does not give them an advantage in rights, any more than their rights are diminished by their average shorter height.

Nor are the objections of biased critics who say that the lower IQ of blacks is explained by the “white mentality” of the test writers. This is easily refuted by the fact that, given equal IQ, blacks and whites are the same according to the criteria by which we generally judge what is measured by intelligence tests. A group of African Americans with an average IQ of 110 (their proportion among blacks is noticeably smaller than among whites) does not differ from a group of whites with the same IQ in either school and university success or other manifestations of cognitive ability.

Belonging to a group with a lower average IQ should not make an individual feel doomed. Firstly, his own IQ may be above the average for his group, and secondly, his personal destiny may be more successful, since the correlation between IQ and social success is not absolute. And finally, thirdly, his own efforts, expressed in obtaining a better education, play, although not a decisive, but quite a definite role.

However, being part of a group with a lower average IQ creates serious problems that are difficult to ignore. The proportion of unemployed, low-paid, poorly educated and living on government benefits, as well as drug addicts and criminals is significantly higher among the black population of America. To a large extent this is determined by the vicious circle of social conditions, but cannot help but depend on their lower IQ. To break this vicious circle, as well as compensate for natural “injustices,” the American authorities introduced a program of “affirmative action” that provides a number of benefits to blacks, some Latinos, the disabled and some other minorities who might otherwise be discriminated against. Hernstein and Murray discuss this difficult situation, which is often perceived as racism in reverse, that is, discrimination against whites based on skin color (as well as gender, health status, and non-membership of sexual minorities). A bitter joke is popular among Americans: “Who has the best chance of getting hired now? One-legged black lesbian!” The authors of the book believe that artificially attracting people with insufficiently high IQ to activities that require high intelligence does not so much solve as create problems.

As for the second question, it seems even more significant. Around the beginning of the 60s. In the United States, the stratification of society began, the separation of two slightly intermixing groups - with high and low IQ. Herrnstein and Murray divide modern American society according to cognitive ability (IQ) into five classes: I - very high (IQ = 125-150, there are 5% of them, that is, 12.5 million); II - high (110-125, 20% of them, or 50 million); III - normal (90-110, 50% of them, 125 million); IV - low (75-90, 20%, 50 million) and V - very low (50-75, 5%, 12.5 million). According to the authors, in recent decades, members of the first class have formed a separate intellectual elite, which increasingly occupies the most prestigious and highly paid positions in government, business, science, medicine, and law. In this group, the average IQ is increasingly increasing, and it is increasingly isolated from the rest of society. The preference that carriers of high IQs show to each other when marrying plays a genetic role in this isolation. With a high heritability of intelligence, this creates a kind of self-perpetuating caste of people belonging to the first class.

In the USA, a distorted mirror image of the privileged group is the group of “poor”, consisting of people with low cognitive ability (V and partly IV classes, with IQ = 50-80). They differ from the middle classes, not to mention the upper classes, in a number of respects. First of all, they are poor (by American standards, of course). To a large extent, their poverty is determined by social origin: children of poor parents grow up to be poor 8 times more often than children of rich parents. However, the role of IQ is more significant: children of parents with a low IQ (V class) become poor 15 times (!) more often than those of parents with a high IQ (I class). Children with low IQs are significantly more likely to drop out of school without completing their studies. Among people with low IQ there are significantly more of those who cannot and those who do not want to find a job. Mostly people with low IQ live on government benefits (welfare). The average IQ of those who break the law is 90, but that of repeat criminals is even lower. OQ is also associated with demographic problems: women with high IQ (classes I and II) give birth less and later. In the United States, there is an increasing group of women who, while still at school age, have children out of wedlock, do not look for work, and live on benefits. Their daughters tend to choose the same path, thereby creating a vicious circle, reproducing and increasing the lower caste. It is not surprising that in terms of IQ they belong to the two lowest classes.

The authors of the book draw attention to the negative consequences that result from the increased attention of the government and society to the lower strata of society. In an effort to achieve social justice and reduce differences in levels of education and income, the American administration directs the main attention and taxpayer funds to the strained and hopeless pull of the lower to the higher. The opposite trend exists in the school education system, where programs are aimed not at the best or even at the average, but at the laggards. In the United States, only 0.1% of funds allocated for education goes to training gifted students, while 92% of funds are spent on catching up those who are lagging behind (with low IQ). As a result, the quality of school education in the United States is declining, and mathematical problems that were asked to fifteen-year-old schoolchildren at the beginning of the last century cannot be solved by their peers today.

Thus, the purpose of the Bell Curve is not to show ethnic differences in cognitive ability, nor is it to demonstrate that these differences are largely genetically determined. These objective and repeatedly confirmed data have not been the subject of scientific discussion for a long time. A seriously valid and alarming observation is the separation of two “castes” in American society. Their isolation from each other and the severity of their differences increase over time. In addition, the lower caste has a more pronounced tendency towards active self-reproduction, threatening the entire nation with intellectual degradation (which is something worth thinking about for advocates of increasing the birth rate at any cost).

Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005.

Intelligence

Despite early attempts to define intelligence in so-called general factor terms, most modern definitions emphasize the ability to function effectively in the environment, implying the adaptive nature of intelligence. The concept of intelligence in psychology is inevitably combined with the concept of mental development quotient (IQ), which is calculated based on the results of mental development tests. Because these tests measure adaptive behavior in a specific cultural context, they are almost always influenced by cultural preferences; in other words, it is difficult to measure the degree of adaptability and effectiveness of behavior outside a given culture.

Psychology. AND I. Dictionary reference / Transl. from English K. S. Tkachenko. - M.: FAIR PRESS. Wikipedia

INTELLIGENCE- (from Latin intellectus knowledge, understanding, reason), the ability of thinking, rational knowledge, in contrast to such, for example, mental abilities as feeling, will, intuition, imagination, etc. The term “I.” represents lat... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

INTELLIGENCE- [lat. intellectus] 1) mind, reason, reason; human thinking ability; 2) kib. artificial and. the name of cybernetic systems that model some aspects of human intellectual activity. Dictionary of foreign words. Komlev N.G.,... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

intelligence- a, m. intellect m., German. Intellekt lat. intellectus understanding, understanding. Thinking ability; mind, reason, mind. BAS 1. The article proved in the most enlightened way the urgent need to strengthen the soldier’s intellect (so... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

intelligence- thinking abilities, nous, mental abilities, mind, reason, mind, brains, head Dictionary of Russian synonyms. intelligence see mind Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova ... Synonym dictionary

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Intelligence (from Latin intellectus - understanding, cognition) - general abilities for cognition, understanding and problem solving. The concept of intelligence unites all the cognitive abilities of an individual: sensations, perception, memory, representation, thinking, imagination. The modern definition of intelligence is the ability to carry out the process of cognition and to effectively solve problems, in particular when mastering a new range of life tasks.

Intelligence is not reduced to a set of cognitive processes, which are essentially the “working tools” of intelligence. Modern psychology views intelligence as a stable structure of an individual’s mental abilities, its adaptability to various life situations. Intelligence as the mental potential of an individual can be the object of psychological diagnostics.

Structure of intelligence

What is the structure of intelligence? There are various concepts that have tried to answer this question. Thus, at the beginning of the century, Spearman (1904) identified the general factor of intelligence (G factor) and the S factor, which serves as an indicator of specific abilities. From Spearman's point of view, each person is characterized by a certain level of general intelligence, which determines how that person adapts to the environment. In addition, all people have developed specific abilities to varying degrees, which manifest themselves in solving specific problems.

Thurstone, using statistical methods, investigated various aspects of general intelligence, which he called primary mental potencies. He identified seven such potencies: counting ability, i.e. ability to manipulate numbers and perform arithmetic operations; verbal (verbal) flexibility, i.e. the ease with which a person can explain himself using the most appropriate words; verbal perception, i.e. ability to understand spoken and written language; spatial orientation, or the ability to imagine various objects and shapes in space; memory; reasoning ability; the speed of perception of similarities or differences between objects and images.

American psychologist J. Guilford presents intelligence as a cubic model. He identified 120 factors of intelligence, based on what mental operations they are needed for, what results these operations lead to, and what their content is (the content can be figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavioral). For Binet and Wexler, intelligence is a single-level model with two blocks of indicators of a verbal and nonverbal (effective and figurative) nature. According to Cattell (1967), each of us already has a potential intelligence from birth, which underlies our ability to think, abstract and reason. Around the age of 20, this intelligence reaches its greatest flowering.

B.G. Ananyev viewed intelligence as a multi-level organization of cognitive forces, covering processes, states and personality traits. In turn, this structure is associated with neurodynamic, autonomic and metabolic characteristics. They determine the measure of intellectual tension and the degree of its usefulness or harm to human health. With this approach, intelligence is considered as an integral formation of cognitive processes and functions, accompanied by metabolic support. High intelligence scores predict a person’s success in any type of activity.

The substructures of general intelligence are the formations of nonverbal and verbal intelligence. Verbal intelligence shows the features of the verbal-logical form of general intelligence with a predominant reliance on knowledge, which, in turn, depends on the education, life experience, culture, and social environment of each individual. Nonverbal intelligence depends not so much on knowledge as on the skills of the individual and his psychophysiological characteristics, reflected in sensorimotor indicators. The overall assessment of intelligence is carried out after summing up individual indicators of success in completing each of the tasks, and the resulting sum is correlated with the age of the subject.

It should be noted that if tasks to determine verbal intelligence assess the ability to make logical generalizations, the ability to draw conclusions, independence and social maturity of thinking, then tasks to determine non-verbal intelligence assess the development of other mental processes and properties - attention, perception, hand-eye coordination , speed of skill formation. In general, intelligence appears as a structure of abilities, among which mental ones play the most important role, but not the only one, since the properties of attention, memory, and perception are very important for general intelligence. However, in modern psychological literature, quite often two concepts - intelligence and thinking - are considered synonymous, which causes terminological confusion.

Types of intelligence

The human intellect is perhaps the most flexible part of the entire human being, which everyone makes the way they want. The concept of intelligence has a structure and types, each of which is recommended to be developed in order to be a harmonious person.

Verbal intelligence. This intelligence is responsible for such important processes as writing, reading, speaking and even interpersonal communication. Developing it is quite simple: just study a foreign language, read books of literary value (not detective novels and pulp novels), discuss important topics, etc.

Logical intelligence. This includes computational skills, reasoning, logical thinking, etc. You can develop it by solving various problems and puzzles.

Spatial intelligence. This type of intelligence includes visual perception in general, as well as the ability to create and manipulate visual images. This can be developed through painting, modeling, solving maze-type problems and developing observation skills.

Physical intelligence. This is dexterity, coordination of movements, hand motor skills, etc. This can be developed through sports, dancing, yoga, and any physical activity.

Musical intelligence. These are understanding of music, writing and performing, sense of rhythm, dancing, etc. This can be developed by listening to various compositions, dancing and singing, and playing musical instruments.

Social intelligence. This is the ability to adequately perceive the behavior of other people, adapt to society and build relationships. Develops through group games, discussions, projects and role-playing.

Emotional intellect. This type of intelligence includes understanding and the ability to express emotions and thoughts. To do this, you need intelligence, concept, structure and types, analyze your feelings, needs, identify strengths and weaknesses, learn to understand and characterize yourself.

Spiritual intelligence. This intelligence includes such an important phenomenon as self-improvement and the ability to motivate oneself. This can be developed through reflection and meditation. Prayer is also suitable for believers.

Creative intelligence. This type of intelligence is responsible for the ability to create new things, create, and generate ideas. It is developed by dancing, acting, singing, writing poetry, etc.

Qualities of intelligence

The main qualities of human intelligence are inquisitiveness, depth of mind, flexibility and mobility, logic and evidence.

Inquisitiveness of the mind is the desire to comprehensively understand this or that phenomenon in significant respects. This quality of mind underlies active cognitive activity.

The depth of the mind lies in the ability to separate the important from the secondary, the necessary from the accidental.

Flexibility and agility of mind is a person’s ability to widely use existing experience and knowledge, quickly explore known objects in new relationships, and overcome stereotyped thinking. This quality is especially valuable if we keep in mind that thinking is the application of knowledge, “theoretical measures” to various situations. In a certain sense, thinking tends to be stable and somewhat conventional. This prevents the solution of creative problems that require an unusual, unconventional approach. Inertia of thinking is revealed, for example, when solving the following problem. It is necessary to cross out four dots arranged in a square with three closed lines. Trying to act by connecting these dots does not lead to a solution to the problem. It can only be solved if we go beyond these points.

At the same time, a negative quality of intelligence is rigidity of thinking - an inflexible, biased attitude towards the essence of a phenomenon, exaggeration of sensory impressions, adherence to stereotyped assessments.

Intelligence is the ability of an individual to comprehend a specific situation in a generalized, schematic way, to optimally organize the mind when solving non-standard problems. However, the essence of intelligence cannot be understood only through a description of its individual properties. The carriers of intelligence are the individual’s experience of mental activity, the mental space he has formed, and the ability to present a structural representation of the phenomenon under study in the individual’s mind.

Logical thinking is characterized by a strict sequence of reasoning, taking into account all the essential aspects of the object under study, all its possible relationships with other objects. Evidence-based thinking is characterized by the ability to use at the right moment such facts and patterns that convince of the correctness of judgments and conclusions.

Critical thinking presupposes the ability to strictly evaluate the results of mental activity, discard incorrect decisions, and abandon initiated actions if they contradict the requirements of the task.

Breadth of thinking lies in the ability to cover the issue as a whole, without losing sight of all the data of the corresponding task, as well as the ability to see new problems (creativity of thinking).

An indicator of the development of intelligence is its divergence - the subject’s unboundness by external restrictions (for example, his ability to see the possibilities of new uses of ordinary objects).

An essential quality of an individual's mind is prognostication - foreseeing the possible development of events and the consequences of actions taken. The ability to anticipate, prevent and avoid unnecessary conflicts is a sign of mental development and breadth of intelligence.

Intellectually limited people reflect reality extremely narrowly, locally, and do not carry out the necessary transfer of knowledge to new objects.

The development of individual qualities of an individual's mind is determined both by the genotype of the individual and the breadth of his life experience, the semantic field of his consciousness - an individual system of meanings, the structure of the intellect. In totalitarian social regimes, conformist individuals develop so-called gap thinking, narrowed to extremely limited everyday limits, and intellectual infantilism spreads widely. In groupthink, stereotypes, template orientations, and schematized matrices of behavior begin to predominate. Deformations occur both in the content and structure of the intellect.

Thinking and intelligence

Thinking and intelligence are terms that are similar in content. Their relationship becomes even clearer if we switch to everyday speech. In this case, the word “mind” will correspond to intelligence. We say “smart person”, denoting individual characteristics of intelligence. We can also say that “the child’s mind develops with age” - this conveys the problem of intellectual development. We can associate the term “thinking” with the word “deliberation.” The word “mind” expresses a property, an ability, and “deliberation” expresses a process. Thus, both terms express different aspects of the same phenomenon. A person endowed with intelligence is capable of carrying out thinking processes. Intelligence is the ability to think, and thinking is the process of realizing intelligence.

Thinking and intelligence have long been considered the most important distinguishing features of a person. It is not without reason that the term Homo sapiens is used to define the species of modern man. A person who has lost his sight, hearing or the ability to move, of course, suffers a serious loss, but does not cease to be a person. After all, a deaf Beethoven or a blind Homer did not cease to be great for us. The one who has completely lost his mind seems to us to be defeated in his very human essence.

First of all, thinking is considered as a type of cognition. From a psychological point of view, cognition acts as the creation of representations of the external world, its models, or images. In order to get to work, we need some spatial model of the road between home and work. To understand what we are told in a lecture about the wars of Alexander the Great, we need to create some internal model depicting the victories of the great commander. However, thinking is not just any cognition. Cognition is, for example, perception. A sailor who sees a sailboat on the horizon from the mast of a ship also creates a certain mental model, a representation of what he saw. However, this idea is not the result of thinking, but of perception. Therefore, thinking is defined as indirect and generalized knowledge of objective reality.

For example, looking outside, a person sees that the roof of a neighboring house is wet. It is an act of perception. If a person concludes from the appearance of a wet roof that it has rained, then we are dealing with an act of thinking, albeit a very simple one. Thinking is indirect in the sense that it goes beyond the immediate given. From one fact we draw a conclusion about another. In the case of thinking, we are not simply dealing with the creation of a mental model based on observations of the external world. The thinking process is much more complicated: first, a model of external conditions is created, and then the next model is derived from it. So, in our example, a person first creates the first model related to the sphere of perception - the image of a wet roof, and then derives from it a second model, according to which it recently rained.

Thinking as knowledge that goes beyond the immediate given is a powerful means of biological adaptation. An animal that can infer from indirect signs where its prey is located or where there is more food, whether a predator or a stronger relative is about to attack it, has a significantly better chance of surviving than an animal that does not have such an ability. It was thanks to intelligence that man took a dominant position on Earth and received additional means for biological survival. However, at the same time, human intelligence has also created colossal destructive forces.

From an individual point of view, there is essentially a threshold relationship between intelligence and performance success. For most types of human activity, there is a certain minimum intelligence that ensures the ability to successfully engage in this activity. For some types of activity (for example, mathematics) this minimum is very high, for others (for example, courier work) it is much lower.

However, “woe from mind” is also possible. Excessive intelligence can negatively affect a person's relationships with other people. Thus, data from a number of American researchers show that very high intelligence can harm politicians. For them, there is a certain optimum of intelligence, deviation from which both upward and downward leads to a decrease in success. If the politician's intelligence is below the optimum, then the ability to understand the situation, predict the development of events, etc. is reduced. If the optimum is significantly exceeded, the politician becomes incomprehensible to the group he is supposed to lead. The higher the intellectual level of the group, the higher the optimum intelligence for the leader of this group.

A very high level of intelligence (exceeding 155 points on IQ tests) also negatively affects the adaptation of children who have it. They are more than 4 years ahead of their peers in mental development and become strangers in their groups.

Development of intelligence

Scientists have proven the fact that intelligence can be developed; various empirical studies have been conducted. where the relationship has been established, a person who reads and develops has better indicators of intelligence with age, in contrast to people who, after graduating from universities, cease to saturate their brain intellectually and stop developing. Intelligence is an integral cognitive system, which consists of subsystems: perceptual; mnemonic; thinking. The purpose of these subsystems is information support for human interaction with the environment: Intelligence is the totality of all cognitive functions of an individual; Intelligence is associated with interest in life and developed imagination. You can develop your imagination by doing simple exercises using grotesque and drawing; You can develop intelligence through solving imagination problems; Intelligence is thinking, the highest cognitive process;

It is worth noting that among the factors influencing the development of intelligence are the size and structure of the brain, genes, heredity, social and cultural environment, upbringing and education. We can also say that intelligence is mental abilities, reason, the ability to learn from experience, the ability to adapt, be adequate to external stimuli, apply knowledge to be able to control the environment, think logically and abstractly. But it is also a general ability to cognition and solve problems, to learn new things, which unites all human cognitive abilities: sensation; perception; memory; performance; thinking; imagination;

Therefore, it is possible to develop the level of intelligence, as well as to increase or decrease the efficiency of human intelligence. Often this ability is characterized in relation to tasks encountered in a person’s life. For example, in relation to the task of survival: survival is the main task of a person, the rest for him are only those arising from the main one, or to tasks in any field of activity. Intelligence as an ability is usually realized with the help of other abilities. Such as: the ability to cognize, learn, think logically, systematize information by analyzing it, determine its applicability (classify), find connections, patterns and differences in it, associate it with similar ones, etc.

Intelligence tests

Intelligence tests are psychological testing tests aimed at studying the degree of intelligence development in a person. The tasks of intelligence tests are different. Sometimes they are addressed to verbal-logical thinking; once aimed at assessing the development of visual-figurative and visual-effective thinking; in some cases, they allow us to characterize memory, attention, spatial orientation, verbal development, etc. In any case, it is useful to remember that there are different types of intelligence, and always ask yourself the question: we are testing intelligence - which one? Can intelligence tests be trusted? It is possible, if you take into account some circumstances. Intelligence tests measure the functioning of the intellect in calm, not real-life situations. For many people, especially women, thinking is easily disrupted by emotions. Emotions easily turn off the head, and a woman can be very smart, but she is unreliably smart: until she starts talking to a friend and is not led by emotions.

Secondly, thinking is only a tool that produces results only when it is used. It’s one thing to be smart (smart), it’s another thing to turn on your head and use your mind. You may have a car with the ability to drive up to 250 km/h, but a lover of a quiet ride or, moreover, a lover of walking will move slowly. The highest achievements in the intellectual activity of a particular person say little about his everyday intelligence. A person can have a very high IQ, but if he doesn’t like to use his head or doesn’t think it’s right (“you need to be able to turn off your head!”), then in many situations he will turn out to be simply inadequate. In particular, most women make excellent use of their minds at work when management requires it, and turn off their heads when the working day ends: it is more convenient and pleasant for a woman to live with her feelings.

Mental activity distinguishes man from other living beings. Intelligence is one of these types of activity that has levels and a coefficient of its manifestation. It is necessary to develop intelligence so that it is at a sufficiently high level.

What is intelligence?

Intelligence is understood as cognitive activity, which allows you to accept, comprehend and solve any problems.

Thanks to intelligence, a person can acquire new experience, knowledge, and adapt to new circumstances. Human intellectual activity includes:

• Feeling.
• Perception.
• Memory.
• Performance.

Psychology of intelligence

At all times, people have been studying intelligence. However, the main teaching was the theory of Piaget, who divided the first directions in the child’s adaptation to the environment in the form of assimilation (explaining the situation using existing knowledge) and accommodation (learning new information). In psychology, according to Piaget’s theory, the following stages of intelligence development are distinguished:

1. Sensorimotor. It appears in the first years of life, while the child is exploring the world around him. The scientist called the first intellectual activity the emergence of one’s own judgments.
2. Preceding operations. The world is gradually becoming diverse for the child, but he is still able to solve simple problems and operate with elementary concepts.
3. Specific operations. When a child begins to focus on his own judgments and take specific actions.
4. Formal transactions. A teenager already has certain ideas about the world that enrich his spiritual world.

However, not all people develop intelligence equally. There are tests developed by psychologists that show what level of development a person is at.

Intelligence level

To solve certain problems, a person resorts to such levels of intelligence as concrete and abstract.

1. Specific intelligence allows you to perform everyday tasks using existing knowledge.
2. Abstract intelligence allows you to operate with concepts and words.

The level of intelligence can be measured using a special IQ test developed by G. Eysenck. The test is presented in the form of a scale, which is divided into divisions from 0 to 160. Most people have an average level of intelligence - this is 90-110. If you constantly engage in your development, you can increase your level by 10 points. Only 25% have high intelligence (more than 110 points). Among them, only 0.5% of the population reaches more than 140 points. The remaining 25% have low intelligence - less than 90 points.

Low IQ is characteristic of oligophrenics. The average coefficient is observed among most of the population. A high coefficient is observed among geniuses.

Intelligence, according to psychologists, always remains at the level of its development to which a person has arrived. A. Lazursky identified 3 intellectual activities:

1. Low – absolute inability of the individual.
2. Medium – good adaptation to the environment.
3. High – desire to modify the environment.

IQ tests are very popular. However, their diversity is not always a good indicator. The more diverse the tasks in the test, the better, which allows you to test a person for the development of various types of intelligence.

IQ level is influenced by the following factors:

• Heredity and family. Family wealth, nutrition, education and quality communication between relatives play an important role here.
• Gender and race. It is noted that after the age of 5, boys and girls differ in their development. This is also influenced by race.
• Health.
• Country of Residence.
• Social factors.

Types of intelligence

Intelligence is the flexible part of an individual. It can be developed.

A person becomes harmonious if he develops all types of intelligence:

• Verbal – includes speaking, writing, communicating, reading. For its development it is necessary to study languages, read books, communicate, etc.
• Logical – logical thinking, reasoning, problem solving.
• Spatial – operating with visual images. Development occurs through drawing, modeling, and finding exits from labyrinths.
• Physical – coordination of movements. Develops through dancing, sports, yoga, etc.
• Musical – feeling rhythm, understanding music, writing, singing, dancing.
• Social – understanding the actions of other people, establishing relationships with them, adapting to society.
• Emotional – understanding one’s own and others’ emotions, the ability to manage and recognize them.
• Spiritual – self-improvement and self-motivation.
• Creative – creating new things, producing ideas.

Diagnosis of intelligence

The issue of intelligence worried many psychologists, which allowed them to develop various tests to identify the levels and quality of intelligence development. The following are often used to diagnose intelligence:

1. Raven's progressive matrices. It is necessary to establish a connection between the figures and select the missing one among those proposed.
2. Amthauer Intelligence Test.
3. Goodenough-Harris test. It is suggested to draw a person. After that, obscure elements are discussed.
4. Free Cattell test

Thinking and intelligence

One of the types of intellectual activity is thinking. Here a person operates with concepts and judgments. He thinks, which allows him to see the solution to the tasks in the future.

Thinking is a continuous process that constantly changes, depending on available knowledge. It is purposeful and expedient. A person learns something new through what he already knows. Thus, thinking is indirect.

Intelligence allows you to solve problems in your head, using existing knowledge and skills. The connection between these concepts is often merging. However, intelligence refers to a person’s mind, and thinking refers to his ability to think. If intelligence is often understood as a person’s knowledge, then thinking is his ability to use this knowledge and come to certain conclusions and judgments.

How to develop intelligence?

Intelligence must be developed because it is a flexible part, its intellectual activity. Development is influenced by genetic and hereditary factors, as well as the conditions in which a person lives.

From birth, certain inclinations are given, which a person then uses. If certain diseases are passed on to the child during fetal development or at the genetic level, then a low level of intelligence may develop. However, the birth of a healthy child allows him to have an average or high level of intelligence in the future.

Without the environment, a person will not be able to develop effectively. Without the participation of society, intelligence will remain at a low level, no matter what intellectual inclinations a person is endowed with. The family plays an important role in this: its material wealth, social status, atmosphere, attitude towards the child, quality of food, home arrangement, etc. If parents do not work with the child, then he cannot develop high intellectual abilities.

Also, the formation of intelligence is influenced by the personality of the person himself, which determines the direction of his mental development.

Typically, various games for logic, memory, thinking, etc. are used to develop intelligence. These are backgammon, puzzles, puzzles, riddles, chess, etc. Computer games with these areas are becoming popular today.

At school, the child learns mathematics and exact sciences. This allows you to structure your thinking, make it consistent and orderly. Learning something new can be added to this process. When a person gains new knowledge, then his intellect expands, becomes richer and more multifaceted.

By maintaining curiosity and the desire to improve oneself, a person contributes to his constant development. Although, according to some scientists, intelligence always remains at the same level, no matter how you develop it.

What is emotional intelligence?

Today, emotional intelligence has become a popular concept, which, according to some psychologists, plays a larger role than IQ. What it is? This is a person’s ability to recognize and understand their own emotions, manage them and direct them in the right direction. This also includes a person’s ability to understand the feelings of others, manage them and influence people’s moods. Developed emotional intelligence allows you to eliminate.

Almost all people have some level of emotional intelligence. You can go through all stages of development, or you can get stuck at one of them:

1. Understanding and expressing emotions.
2. Using emotions as intellectual motivation.
3. Awareness of one's own and others' emotions.
4. Managing emotions.

What is social intelligence?

Social intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to understand and manage other people’s emotions, feel their state and influence it. The development of this skill depends on a person’s social adaptation.

J. Guilford identified 6 factors that enable the development of social intelligence:

1. Perception of behavioral signals.
2. Isolating the main behavioral signals from the general flow.
3. Understanding relationships.
4. Understanding the motivation to engage in specific behavior.
5. Understanding how behavior changes depending on the situation.
6. Anticipating another person's behavior.

The formation of social intelligence involves a person’s life experience, cultural knowledge and learning, existing knowledge and erudition.

Child's intelligence

Even in the womb, the development of intelligence begins, which depends on the woman’s lifestyle and the information she perceives. A child’s intellectual activity depends on many factors: genes, nutrition, environment, family situation, and others.

The main emphasis is on how parents communicate with the child, what exercises they offer to develop their intelligence, how often they explain certain phenomena, how often they visit various places, etc. Intelligence itself does not develop. At first, a lot depends on what and how the parents do with the child.

Bottom line

Intelligence allows a person to become educated and socially adjusted. Every year he begins to increasingly use his intellectual abilities, which affect memory, thinking, attention and even speech. Their development is influenced by their parents and environment. The result depends on how favorable circumstances a person was surrounded by from an early age.

Today, many people watch educational videos and TV shows, and the “fashion” for reading has returned again. Men and women try with all their might to improve themselves, to be a little smarter, wiser, more experienced than others. Everyone invariably associates the phrase “high intelligence” with something good, which is why the idea of ​​possessing it is so tempting.

Concept

From Latin this word is translated as understanding, knowledge. Intelligence is the ability of our brain to understand and solve certain problems.

Plato was the first to raise the idea of ​​the cult of intellect. In all his texts he attached great importance to thinking. He wrote that life without curiosity, the desire to learn new things, is impossible. Plato was fully supported by his student Aristotle, who developed the concept of the primacy of reason. He said that the one who has the inclination to rule should rule, and others should obey.

The level of mental abilities can be developed and increased, or it can be decreased. Academician Moiseev states that intelligence is the creation of a successful strategy, planning your steps, which will help you achieve your desired goal. This is the organization of one’s life and activities with the help of other abilities, which include: learning, thinking, the ability to classify, integrate, isolate unnecessary things, find connections and patterns.

The main properties of intelligence are:

• curiosity - the desire to learn something new, to explore phenomena;
• depth of mind - the ability to find the main and important things in a pile of information, and weed out the unnecessary;
• logic - consistency of reasoning, the ability to build reasonable and correct chains, taking into account relationships and details;
• mental flexibility - a person’s ability to use his capabilities, experience, knowledge, without using templates, but creating his own solutions to problems;
• breadth of thinking - the ability to fully study data, not lose information, see several solutions to a problem;
• criticality of thinking - the ability to evaluate the result of work, find the right ones and weed out the false ones, also the ability to change the path if it is not the true one;
• the evidence of the mind is to find facts and use them at the right moment to make sure that the goal is correct.

In ordinary life, an individual always uses his thinking abilities to understand the world around him, take next steps and find the optimal solution. It is quite difficult to imagine even a day of life without the ability to analyze the situation and compare facts and objects.

Only through the thought process is there the possibility of self-development and personal improvement. Without intelligence, a person would not be able to make scientific breakthroughs, create cures for dangerous diseases, create music, or paint pictures.

What does it take to become an intellectual?

So what marks out a smart person with high intelligence? There are several important facts that are key to the concept of such a question.

Constant development

The concept of “high intelligence” implies the ability to learn, the ability to adapt to different situations. The mind constantly requires development, it cannot be “pumped up” once and for all, because no rarely used information can constantly circulate in the brain, it is forgotten.

All people have almost the same inclinations (potential), but they have to develop their personality independently by receiving and processing information. But what is important is not the quantity of information remembered, but its quality and processing algorithm. An intellectual will not swallow information for the sake of information; he is able to isolate what he needs and sift out the “garbage”.

Awareness and erudition

There are many television programs where people compete in erudition and prove their uniqueness and intelligence. So in life, every person tries to stand out, know more than others, share their own knowledge and experience.

Erudition indicates a good memory, but for high intelligence this may not be enough. You need to not only know certain information, but also be able to manage it. After all, being well-read is also a positive trait of a person; it speaks of his intelligence. But a large number of books read is not as important as the information gleaned from them and the meaning understood. A person with high intelligence can grasp the second semantic series of a work; he understands that it is better to read one “smart” book than a dozen “about nothing.”

Rational thinking

Life does not stand still, it is constantly changing; in order to keep up with the times, you need to be able to adapt to new conditions. A smart person will not invent something new if there is no reason for it. He is able to show flexibility of thinking and rationality, and find another, simpler and more optimal way to solve a problem.

You need to be able to look at a problem from different angles, look for more than one solution, but have several backup options. A highly intelligent person can be critical of his decisions and thoughts, and be able to admit his own imperfections and mistakes.

He does not consider himself superior or smarter than others; he is able to adequately assess his own knowledge. Self-improvement and a thirst for knowledge will help you make yourself better. A person with high intelligence never stops there; he always strives for improvement.

How to recognize a person with high intelligence

How is high intelligence expressed in a girl or guy? What makes a smart person?

Several signs of high intelligence.

1. The ability not to be distracted by extraneous stimuli. Smart people are able to focus on what is important for long periods of time.
2. Goes to bed late and gets up late. It is believed that night owls are smarter than early birds. Two studies were conducted in which more than 1000 people participated. During testing, it was proven that it is “owls” who have high intelligence.
3. The ability to quickly adapt to new things. This is connected not only with a new job, but also with finding the optimal path that can more effectively change the situation.
4. A person with high intelligence knows how to admit that he does not know much. He is not afraid to say that he does not have an answer to a question; he understands that the more you know, the more often you encounter the unknown.
5. Smart people are incredibly curious. Curiosity is one of the main signs of high intelligence.
6. The ability to seek and accept new ideas and opportunities. Such people do not think in a standard way; they are always looking for an alternative that can lead to the goal with the least loss.
7. They feel comfortable being alone. They do not need anyone's company to feel needed; they are self-sufficient individuals.
8. They know how to take control of their own emotions in difficult situations. Intellectuals can plan their own time, know how to build strategies and evaluate results. They are not impulsive and always make decisions after carefully considering the possible consequences.
9. Good sense of humour. It has been proven that smart people have a great sense of humor, this is confirmed by tests that comedians have undergone.
10. Empathy. An intelligent person can put himself in someone else's shoes and look at the situation from the outside. He will be able to calculate the reaction and turn the situation at an angle favorable to himself.
11. The ability to find connections that are not visible at first glance. Intellectuals can find differences and common characteristics of any subject because they think on a larger scale and never use patterns.
12. Think about global issues. They often think about the meaning of life, their own destiny, about the existence of parallel universes. They think about why it happened this way and not differently, and what could have been changed to prevent this resolution of the situation.

Such signs are not an axiom, because people are different, they cannot be lumped together with the same brush. There are completely unique individuals who do not fit into any created frame, and at the same time are considered geniuses.

There are several unexpected signs of high intelligence that are viewed with skepticism, but they are actually true:

• untidiness and a tendency to disorder are signs of high intelligence;
• smart people have a large vocabulary, so they use foul language more;
• slim people have a higher IQ than fat people;
• modesty, because they are not able to brag or overestimate their own strengths;
• love cats more than dogs;
• maintaining virginity during adolescence is one of the indicators of an intelligent person.

What is the difference between low intelligence and high intelligence?

If you don't want to take tests to find out your IQ, there are several factors that will show that a person is not smart enough. Signs of low intelligence in adults:

• any material is difficult to assimilate and remember;
• lack of social skills;
• there is no control over one’s own emotions, the person is not restrained, is aggressive, first he does and then thinks about what it will lead to;
• do not learn from their mistakes;
• are unable to feel and understand the emotions of other people;
• they spend more than they can afford, do not know how to properly manage their finances, do not think about the future, so they spend money on trifles, and cannot save;
• think only about themselves;
• do not know how to accept criticism;
• they blame other people for their own failures;
• constantly argue without reason, even if they know they are wrong;
• do not know how to properly manage their own time;
• They don’t stay in one job for long.