By going through these Maharashtra State Board Class 12 Psychology Notes Chapter 2 Intelligence students can recall all the concepts quickly.

## Maharashtra State Board Class 12 Psychology Notes Chapter 2 Intelligence

Meaning And Perspectives On Intelligence:

• Intelligence is the highest attribute of human beings. Different psychologists have defined intelligence differently.
• Lewis Terman explains intelligence as, “an ability to think on an abstract level.”
• David Wechsler defines intelligence as, “the aggregate or global capacity of an individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.”

The two main perspectives on intelligence are –

Intelligence as a single, general ability – The classical notion of intelligence explains it as an unitary ability and only the functions of intelligence may take different forms. Psychologists like Alfred Binet, David Wechsler, William Stern and Lewis Terman believed that intelligence is a single index of cognitive abilities.

Intelligence as a set of multiple abilities – The modern view of intelligence as explained by psychologists like Charles Spearman, E.L. Thorndike, Howard Gardner, etc., states that multiple abilities are involved in intelligence. They believe that distinct types of intelligences exist.

• E. L. Thorndike – explained that intelligence consists of three independent abilities viz. Abstract intelligence, Social intelligence and Concrete intelligence.
• Louis Thurstone – explained that intelligence consists of seven Primary Mental Abilities viz. verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility, spatial visualization, associative memory, reasoning and perceptual speed.
• Charles Spearman – proposed the Two Factor Theory of Intelligence i.e. General factor (g) minimum competence and Specific factor (s) specific abilities which are required to solve problems.
• Raymond Cattell and John Horn – The two types of intelligence are 1) fluid intelligence – dependent on neurological development, 2) crystallized intelligence – function of knowledge, experience.
• Howard Gardner – Theory of Multiple Intelligence (1983) – There are nine independent types of intelligence viz. linguistic,logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential intelligence.

Measurement Of Intelligence:
Sir Francis Galton thought that he could determine intelligence by measuring the size of the human skull. He administered a battery of tests to measure variables such as head size, reaction time, visual acuity, etc. However, these tests did not prove useful to measure intelligence.

Raymond Cattell used the term ‘mental test’ for the first time. Like his mentor, Sir Galton, Cattell also believed that intelligence is best measured by sensory tasks. However, be emphasized that test administration must be standardized.

In 1905, Alfred Binet in collaboration with Theodore Simon published the First Scale of Intelligence. This scale was revised in 1908 and 1911. In 1916, Lewis Terman revised the scale, i.e., adapted few items, established new age norms etc. This came to be called ‘Stanford Binet Test’.

In 1917, Robert Yerkes and his colleagues developed the Army Alpha (verbal test) and Army Beta (performance test) intelligence tests. These two tests were used to recruit soldiers during the First World War. In 1939, during Second World War II also, to recruit army personnel, the Army General Classification Test was used.

In 1939, David Wechsler published the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Test. In 1955, the test was revised and then called Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). It has a verbal scale and performance scale.

Wechsler also developed a test to measure the intelligence of children, i.e., Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). In 2008, Pearson released the WAIS-IV.

Mental Age – Alfred Binet introduced the concept of Mental Age. It is defined as the age at which the person successfully performs on all items of the test prepared for that age level. Mental Age need not correspond to Chronological Age. If Mental Age (MA) is the same as Chronological Age (CA), the person has average intelligence.

Intelligence Quotient – In 1912, William Stern introduced the concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Terman refined the formula for calculating IQ which is as stated below –
IQ = $$\frac{\mathrm{MA}}{\mathrm{CA}}$$ × 100

Types Of Intelligence Tests

Individual tests of intelligence – Individual tests of intelligence are tests which can be administered to a single person at a time, for e.g., Stanford Binet Scales, WAIS, Koh’s Block Design Test, etc. They require a trained, skilled psychologist to administer, score and interpret the test. Individual tests are more capable of measuring productive thinking.

Group tests of intelligence – Group tests of intelligence are tests that can be administered to more than one person at a time, i.e., for mass testing, for e.g., Army Alpha and Army Beta Test, Otis self-administration tests, etc. Group tests require less time consuming and more economical. However, they are less capable of measuring the creative aspect of intelligence.

Verbal tests of intelligence – Verbal tests of intelligence make use of words and numbers to measure intelligence. Subjects respond verbally to the test items, for e.g., WAIS, Army Alpha Test, etc. These tests are culture-bound but are useful to measure higher mental abilities.

Non-verbal tests of intelligence – Non-verbal tests of intelligence do not use language to measure intelligence.

They make use of pictures, designs, objects, etc. Such tests maybe

• Performance tests, e.g., Koh’s Block Design Test or
• Paper-pencil test e.g., Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices.

Non-verbal tests are culture-free and are also suitable for use with illiterate persons, children, etc. However, they are less suitable to measure higher mental abilities.

Application Of Intelligence Testing:

• Effective Schooling – On the basis of intelligence test scores, teachers can classify students into intellectual categories and devise special instructional programmes suited to their mental development.
• Aids Mental Health Personnel – Intelligence tests are helpful to Mental Health personnel such as psychologists etc., for diagnosis purposes and therapy.
• Effective Parenting – Parents can provide appropriate educational facilities to their children based on their IQ scores.
• Career Counselling – Scores obtained on intelligence tests help the student to select the right educational options/ courses.
• Vocational Counselling – Individuals can choose a suitable career and achieve job satisfaction when they make a realistic choice of vocation based on IQ scores.

New Trends In Intelligence:
Social Intelligence:
E.L. Thorndike proposed the term social intelligence. Howard Gardner included interpersonal intelligence in the Multiple Intelligences Theory. According to Karl Albrecht, “Social intelligence is the ability to get along well with others and to get them to cooperate with oneself’.

A continued pattern of nourishing behaviour indicates a high level of social intelligence. Such persons are skilled at interacting with and understanding people around them. They respect and encourage others. They effectively comprehend social dynamics.

Emotional Intelligence (El):
The term emotional intelligence was used for the first time by John Mayer and Peter Salovey. The concept of emotional intelligence was popularized by Daniel Goleman. It is defined as ‘the ability to perceive and monitor one’s own and others emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.

Emotional intelligence refers to a set of cognitive abilities such as perceiving emotions, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotions and managing (regulating) emotions. Persons with high emotional intelligence tend to be emotionally stable, patient, optimistic, enthusiastic and calm.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):
The term artificial intelligence was suggested by John McCarthy. Artificial intelligence is an innovation created by human intelligence. It is a field of study that combines computer science, algorithms, psychology, etc. It refers to enabling software programmes and computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, weather forecasting, language translations, etc.

Artificial intelligence can take decisions only on the basis of stored information and so it cannot be an alternative to human intelligence. Artificial intelligence has immense applications in daily life as well as to solve critical problems such as drones, Robotic Process Automation, medical diagnosis, etc.

Glossary:

→ Artificial Intelligence – A subfield computer science enabling software programs to run machines just like human intelligence

→ Emotional Intelligence – An individual’s ability to perceive. assess, evaluate and regulate one’s own and other’s emotions accurately.

→ Intelligence Quotient – The standard score of an individual’s intelligence based on an intelligence test, It is also known as IQ.

→ Mental age – Is a measure of a child’s performance on an intelligence test and relative to the performance of other children of the same age on the same test.

→ Performance tests – Any test that requires the individual to perform or do something such as completing a task or manipulating abjects rather than respond using language.

→ Social Intelligence – An individual’s ability Lo effectively relate to others.

→ Verbal tests – They make use of words and numbers to measure intelligence and subjects respond verbally to the test items.

→ Individual tests – They are tests which can be administered to a single person at a time.

→ Group tests – They are Lists that can be administered to more than one person at a time.

→ Intelligence – The aggregate or global capacity of an individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.