5 things you didnt know about human intelligence
Several curiosities related to human intelligence, a very important psychological concept.
The concept of human intelligence remains, even today, the subject of controversy within science. within science. Theorists and researchers cannot agree on what it is and how it can be measured.
However, there is some consensus that intelligence is related to the ability to seek and use to our benefit the information we need to solve the problems we face.
Curiosities about human intelligence
Let's now look at five things you probably didn't know about human intelligence.
1: Tests do not measure intelligence in absolute terms.
Throughout history, many tests have been developed to measure the cognitive abilities inherent in intelligence.. Two of these instruments are the Weschler Intelligence Test and the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test. Both have the particularity that they have a large scientific literature to support them and they also have a good correlation between them. The latter means that whether we take one test or the other, both will show very similar results.
On the contrary, those tests that are often offered by current magazines or that circulate on Facebook or some websites to check how intelligent we are, have not been scientifically studied, and therefore have no value.
However, no test serves to measure our intelligence in absolute terms, but in relative terms.but in relative terms. This means that what the result shows is how intelligent we are in relation to the rest of the population of the same age group; that is, it compares us with others and positions us within a hierarchical scale.
2: Intelligence is associated with working memory
At the beginning of the 20th century, the English psychologist Charles Spearman proposed through an exhaustive factorial analysis that people's intellectual capacity is subject to what he called the G factor of intelligence.
According to his hypothesis the G factor would represent a basic and specific component for general intelligence, dependent on brain integrity and dependent on brain integrity.The G factor, according to his hypothesis, would represent a basic and specific component for general intelligence, dependent on brain integrity and susceptible of being measured by means of tests.
More recent research has also found a correlation between Spearman's G factor and the working memory index.
Working memory can be defined as the set of mental processes that allow us to temporarily manipulate the information we need for the correct performance of cognitive tasks such as reading, mathematical skills and even language comprehension. A classic example is when we go to the supermarket and decide to keep a mental estimate of what we are spending as we add products to the shopping cart.
In other words, the greater the amount of items or information that a person can keep circulating in his or her working memory, the greater his or her intellectual capacity, the greater his or her intellectual capacity. This makes sense, since in order to effectively solve any problem, we will need to be able to contemplate and mentally manipulate as many variables involved in it as possible.
3. There are scientists who propose that intelligence is not a unidimensional concept.
I am aware that this statement contradicts the previous point, but what is certain is that the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, proposed by psychologist Howard Gardner, basically holds that whoever is intelligent in one sense may be a complete fool in another.basically argues that whoever is intelligent in one sense may be a complete fool in another.
This researcher defends the idea that there is no specific thing called "intelligence", and that, on the contrary, people's intelligence can manifest itself in many different ways. can manifest itself in many different ways.
According to the definition we gave at the beginning, someone who makes a living playing the piano expertly or playing basketball cannot be said to be unintelligent precisely because he lacks mathematical skills or is not very good at solving logical problems.
"If someone like Lionel Messi makes millions because of his ball skills, the last thing we could say about him is that he's stupid," Gardner might tell us nonchalantly.
This concept has gained a lot of popularity among people because it essentially proposes that we are all potentially intelligent at something. However, there are scientists who criticize it on the grounds that certain personal qualities cannot be considered to be synonymous with intelligence, but rather "areas" of good performance.
Some researchers have even concluded that at the base of the different disciplines that make up the "multiple intelligences" is the G factor we talked about earlier, as a kind of foundation or hard core on which multiple intelligences are built according to individual differences. That is to say, the G factor would be in this case the common denominator to the different types of intelligence proposed by Gardner.
4: Intelligence tends to be stable over time.
We all know that when we exercise a particular skill a lot, such as playing chess or solving crossword puzzles, we eventually end up becoming experts in that skill. end up becoming experts in that particular skill.. It is true that practice makes perfect, but we should not confuse being very good at a particular discipline with general intelligence.
Of course, the quantity and quality of information we acquire throughout our lives will ultimately shape our knowledge base. But regardless of how much we study, how many languages we learn, how many sports we play, the G-factor of intelligence tends to be the most important factor in our intelligence, the G factor of intelligence tends to remain more or less immutable.whether we are 20 or 60 years old.
In other words, specific learning is restricted to their particular area of action. They are not extrapolated or generalized.
It is precisely this characteristic that makes some intelligence assessment instruments, such as those mentioned at the beginning, reliable.
5: There is no intelligence gene
To date no gene has been detected that is entirely responsible for human intelligence as we know it. as we know it. And this makes sense, since intellectual capacity seems to be the result of many different interacting processes, which in turn require the involvement of very many genes.
Just as when we listen to a symphony we cannot affirm that the quality of the music that reaches our ears is the result of a particular instrument, it does not make sense to think that intelligence is the result of a single factor.
Nor can we separate intelligence from the culture in which we are immersed.. We do not live isolated in a glass bell, but in a complex world configured by infinite variables. From the moment we are born, or even before, we are exposed to an environment that interacts with and permanently shapes our genetic predisposition.
(Updated at Apr 12 / 2024)