Nature of Intelligence

Meaning

        The word "Intelligence" has been derived from the Latin word ‘intelligentia or intellēctus’, which has been derived from ‘intelligere’ means ‘to comprehend or perceive’.

            Intelligence is the general cognitive competence to deal effectively with life challenges through following means such as understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional awareness, reasoning, planning, creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving.

Definition

            Intelligence as the ability to judge well, understand well, and reason well (Binet, 1916). It is the global and aggregate capacity of an individual to think rationally, act purposefully, and to deal effectively with her/his environment (Weschler, 1944). Goal-directed adaptive behaviour (Sternberg and Salter, 1982).

Characteristics of Intelligence

1.      It’s a psychological construct that can be proved just as gravitational force.

2.      Intelligence act as a guide and regulator for the rational & logical thinking.

3.      Instrumental in adaptation with environment.

4.      It is a major problem solving tool.

5.      It effectively manages cognitive resources.

6.      It is expressed through novel creations.

7.      Intelligence provides platform for storage and recalling the information.

8.      The formation of concepts is the function of intelligence.

9.       It is determined by the interplay of heredity and environment.

Nature of Intelligence

     The intelligence develops under the influence of environmental factors within the limits prescribed by the heredity. It is the cognitive function of human mind that can be expressed and manifested through specific behavioural responses such as

            - processing of information and generating   understandable output.

            - fast computation

            - creation of memories and

            - decision making.

       It is found humans, animals and plants and used for adaptation with environment to ensure survival.

      Intelligence is unseen qualitative force helps in learning from past experiences consequently modifying the behaviour. It is a natural power of appropriate response and cognitive faculty that operates at subjective level. It is neither skill nor a necessary condition but it is a natural cognitive capacity which cannot be enhanced. Various studies and theories suggests that its development ends with the termination of adolescence. It has its unique presence in each human being by virtue of gender, culture, heredity and stimulating environment.

        Gardener (1992) said that “To my mind, a human intellectual competence must entail a set of skills of problem solving — enabling the individual to resolve genuine problems or difficulties that he or she encounters and, when appropriate, to create an effective product — and must also entail the potential for finding or creating problems — and thereby laying the groundwork for the acquisition of new knowledge”.

References:

1.        NCERT (2013). XII, Book

2.    Binet, Alfred (1916) [1905]. "New methods for the diagnosis of the intellectual level of subnormals". The development of intelligence in children: The Binet-Simon Scale. E.S. Kite (Trans.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. pp. 37–90. originally published as Méthodes nouvelles pour le diagnostic du niveau intellectuel des anormaux. L'Année Psychologique, 11, 191–244

3.    Wechsler, D (1944). The measurement of adult intelligence. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-0-19-502296-4. OCLC 219871557. ASIN = B000UG9J7E.

4.    Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books. 1993. ISBN 978-0-465-02510-7. OCLC 221932479.

5.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence.

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