INTELLIGENCE THEORIES.

The information processing theory

The information processing theory is an approach to the cognitive development of a
human being, which deals with the study and the analysis of the sequence of events that
occur in a persons mind while receiving some new piece of information. In short, it is the
analysis of the way a human being learns something new. There is a fixed pattern of
events that take place in such a situation, and by knowing this pattern we can enable
children and people with special abilities to learn new things faster.

The information processing theory laid down by experts in psychology claims that the
human mind is very similar to that of computers, as far as information processing and
analysis is concerned. They also say that any new piece of information that enters the
brain is first analyzed and then put through the test of several benchmarks before being
stored in some vestibules of the memory. Since these actions occur at a very fast speed,
we are unable to notice them in action.

The sensory perceptors of a human being function in the same way as the hardware of a
computer does, and the mindset and the rules and strategies adopted by the person while
learning is equivalent to the software used by computers. The information processing
system of a person can thus be enhanced if these perceptors and rules are altered. Read
more about cognitive development theory.

Information Processing Model

There is a fixed structure that the information processing theory follows, and it is divided
into the following four parts.

• The store model - This is a breakdown of the model which states that the
information that has been received can be stored in any of the processing units, or
the channels through which it passes. These channels are the sensory register,
short-term memory and long-term memory.
• The sensory register - This is that part of the mental processing unit that receives
all information and then stores it temporarily or permanently.
• Short-term memory - That part of the sensory register where the information is
stored temporarily. Once the decision has been made regarding the information,
the information will either be discarded or transferred to the long-term memory.
• Long-term memory - The part where all the information is permanently stored. It
can be retrieved later as and when the need arises.
Information Processing Theory

Now let us see what this theory is in a little bit more detail, and how the information
processing approach pans out. The following sequence of events should explain what the
information processing cycle looks like.

• At any time, if an individual is perceiving information, storing information,

encoding information, representing information or retrieving information to or
from his mind, he is said to be thinking.
• When a problem or a dilemma presents itself, the individual must encode the
critical information about this problem, and then use information that has been
stored beforehand to solve this problem. The 4 steps that make up this process are
encoding, strategy construction, automatization and generalization.
• By modifying and adjusting responses to previous problems, a person develops
newer ways to deal with similar problems in the future without making the same
mistakes. This is known as self-modification.

Sternberg’s triarchic theory

Overview of Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence (1977, 1985, 1995) subsumes

both Spearman�s g and underlying information processing components. His triarchic
theory includes three facets or subtheories:

• Analytical (componential)
• Creative (experiential)
• Practical (contextual)

Sternberg's theory builds on his earlier componential approach to reasoning. His

theory is mostly based on observing Yale graduate students. Sternberg believes that
if intelligence is properly defined & measured it will translate to real-life success.

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory is an important effort to synthesize the various theories

of intelligence.
Analytical (componential) Facet (or Subtheory)

Analytical Intelligence similar to the standard psychometric definition of intelligence

e.g. as measured by Academic problem solving: analogies and puzzles, and
corresponds to his earlier componential intelligence. Sternberg considers this reflects
how an individual relates to his internal world.

Sternberg believes that Analytical Intelligence (Academic problem-solving skills) is

based on the joint operations of metacomponents and performance components and
knowledge acquisition components of intelligence

Metacomponents: control, monitor and evaluate cognitive processing. These are the
executive functions to order and organise performance and knowledge acquisition
components. They are the higher-order processes that order and organise the
performance components. Used to analyze problems and pick a strategy for solving
them. They decide what to do and the performance components actually do it.

Performance Components: execute strategies assembled by the metacomponents.

They are the basic operations involved in any cognitive act. They are the cognitive
processes that enable us to encode stimuli, hold information in short-term memory,
make calculations, perform mental calculations, mentally compare different stimuli,
retrieve information from long-term memory.

Knowledge acquisition components: are the processes used in gaining and storing
new knowledge - i.e. capacity for learning. The strategies you use to help memorize
things exemplify the processes that fall into this category.

Sternberg feels that IDs in intelligence are related to IDs in the use of these
cognitive processes. He feels that people with better reasoning ability generally
spend more time understanding the problem but reach their solution faster than
those who are less skilled at the task.

Creative (experiential) Facet (or Subtheory)

Creative Intelligence: this involves insights, synthesis and the ability to react to
novel situations and stimuli. This he considers the Experiential aspect of intelligence
and reflects how an individual connects the internal world to external reality.

Sternberg considers the Creative facet to consist of the ability which allows people to
think creatively and that which allows people to adjust creatively and effectively to
new situations.

Sternberg believes that more intelligent individuals will also move from consciously
learning in a novel situation to automating the new learning so that they can attend
to other tasks.

Two-Facet Subtheory (Novelty & Automatization)

Basic assumption: That there are two broad classes of abilities associated with
intelligence: novelty skills and automatization skills. A task measures intelligence if
it requires the ability to deal with novel demands or the ability to automatize
information processing (two ends of a continuum).

Novel tasks or situations are good measures of intellectual ability because they
assess an individual's ability to apply existing knowledge to new problems.

Practical (contextual) Facet (or Subtheory)

Practical Intelligence: this involves the ability to grasp, understand and deal with
everyday tasks. This is the Contextual aspect of intelligence and reflects how the
individual relates to the external world about him or her.

Sternberg states that Intelligence is: "Purposive adaptation to, shaping of, and
selection of real-world environments relevant to one's life" (Sternberg, 1984, p.271)

Purposive means that intelligence is directed towards goals, however vague or

subconscious they may be. This means that intelligence is indicated by one's
attempts to adapt to one's environment.

Practical Intelligence can be said to be intelligence that operates in the real world.
People with this type of intelligence can adapt to, or shape their environment. It
might also be called �Street-smarts�. In measuring this facet, not only mental
skills but attitudes and emotional factors that can influence intelligence are
measured.

So this practical intelligence is a combination of:

(a) adaptation to the environment in order to have goals met

(b) changing the environment in order to have goals met
(c) or, if (a) and (b) don't work moving to a new environment in which goals can be
met

Sternberg believes that individuals considered intelligent in one culture may be

looked on as unintelligent in another.

An important asset of this theory is to avoid defining intelligence in terms of

intelligence tests rather than performance in the everyday world (which is, after all,
what intelligence tests try to predict!).

Measuring practical intelligence:

• Sternberg Multidimensional Abilities Test measures all 3 intelligences, on

separate scales
• Sternberg and Wagner�s test of Practical Managerial Intelligence measures:
• ability to write effective memos
• ability to motivate people
• knowledge of when to delegate
• ability to �read� people

When measuring practical intelligence Sternberg looks at things such as how people
decode nonverbal messages e.g. can you tell who are the real couples?
Multiple Intelligence Theory
Multiple Intelligence Theory was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor
of education at Harvard University. It suggests that traditional ways of testing for
intelligence may be biased to certain types of individuals. Think back to the good old
school days. Do you remember the girl who was always picked for the lead role in
musicals? Who could forget the boisterous class clown? Or whatever happened to the boy
who never stopped drawing detailed doodles of cars and planes? Much like then, the
perception still exists that intelligence can be measured in relation to reading, writing and
arithmetic skills alone, and a person’s future success is judged accordingly. Dr. Howard
Gardner, a Harvard Psychologist and Professor of Education, has demonstrated through
his extensive research that this notion is, and always has been ridiculous. Instead, he
became one of the first to express how we should not judge others according to this
narrow definition of intelligence. The original Multiple Intelligence theory was
developed in 1983 and first published in his book, ‘Frames of Mind.’ The book strongly
suggests that everybody has a different mind, and no two profiles of intelligence are the
same. Therefore, the traditional concept of measuring intelligence by I.Q testing is far too
restricted. From the 8 primary intelligences, an individual may excel in one, two or even
three of these, but nobody’s good at them all. Equally the same rule applies to a child
prodigy or mentally/physically disadvantaged person. A brain damaged child could have
a severely impaired use of language, but be able to paint or play music magnificently. Dr
Gardner indicates that by introducing a broader range of learning methods, (known as the
intelligences) educators and indeed parents, can home in on an individual’s strengths and
weaknesses by determining their preferred learning style. This would consequently give
them the opportunity to learn in ways more productively to their unique minds. A good
way to measure this theory is to try the free Multiple Intelligence Quiz at
BoffinSquad.co.uk.The results may show a higher achiever who rarely struggles in any
school subject may get a less varied graph of results, and may need less individual
attention than someone who stands out musically but shows very little logical
understanding. This person would probably benefit much more if they could incorporate
musical rhythms into maths and not be bombarded by numbers alone. “If a child is not
learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns."
(Rita Dunn, - from Anne Bruetsch's Multiple Intelligences Lesson Plan Book)Recently
Gardner has posited the existence of a 9th intelligence he calls "Existential". Although
Existential is positioned to be identified as an intelligence, at this time Gardner feels that
there isn't any neurological evidence of a separately functioning biological existential
ability. That is a central criterion in identifying an ability as an "intelligence.Read on to
understand about each of the 8 intelligences.

The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 to

analyze and better describe the concept of intelligence.

Gardner argues that the concept of intelligence as traditionally defined in psychometrics

(IQ tests) mistakenly suggests that the wide variety of cognitive abilities measured in a
battery of tests used to assess general intelligence factor are uncorrelated with each other,
or at least only very weakly correlated. For example, the theory predicts that a child who
learns to multiply easily is not likely to be generally more intelligent than a child who has
more difficulty on this task. The child who takes more time to master simple
multiplication 1) may best learn to multiply through a different approach, 2) may excel in
a field outside of mathematics, or 3) may even be looking at and understand the
multiplication process at a fundamentally deeper level. Such a fundamentally deeper
understanding can result in what looks like slowness and can hide a mathematical
intelligence potentially higher than that of a child who quickly memorizes the
multiplication table despite a less detailed understanding of the process of multiplication.

The theory has been met with mixed responses. Empirical evidence reveals high
correlations between different tasks (rather than the zero correlations which are
predicted). Nevertheless many educationalists support the practical value of the
approaches suggested by the theory.

emotional intelligence (EQ)

emotional intelligence theory (EQ - Emotional Quotient)

Emotional Intelligence - EQ - is a relatively recent behavioural model, rising to

prominence with Daniel Goleman's 1995 Book called 'Emotional Intelligence'. The early
Emotional Intelligence theory was originally developed during the 1970s and 80s by the
work and writings of psychologists Howard Gardner (Harvard), Peter Salovey (Yale) and
John 'Jack' Mayer (New Hampshire). Emotional Intelligence is increasingly relevant to
organizational development and developing people, because the EQ principles provide a
new way to understand and assess people's behaviours, management styles, attitudes,
interpersonal skills, and potential. Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in
human resources planning, job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection,
management development, customer relations and customer service, and more.

Emotional Intelligence links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality: bringing
compassion and humanity to work, and also to 'Multiple Intelligence' theory which
illustrates and measures the range of capabilities people possess, and the fact that
everybody has a value.

The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are
wider areas of Emotional Intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are.
Success requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which has tended to be the
traditional measure of intelligence, ignoring eseential behavioural and character elements.
We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-
personally inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not
automatically follow.

Different approaches and theoretical models have been developed for Emotional
Intelligence. This summary article focuses chiefly on the Goleman interpretation.
The work of Mayer, Salovey and David Caruso (Yale) is also very significant in the
field of Emotional Intelligence, and will in due course be summarised here too.

emotional intelligence - two aspects

This is the essential premise of EQ: to be successful requires the effective awareness,
control and management of one's own emotions, and those of other people. EQ embraces
two aspects of intelligence:

• Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour and all.

• Understanding others, and their feelings.

emotional intelligence - the five domains

Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as:

1. Knowing your emotions.

2. Managing your own emotions.
3. Motivating yourself.
4. Recognising and understanding other people's emotions.
5. Managing relationships, ie., managing the emotions of others.

Emotional Intelligence embraces and draws from numerous other branches of

behavioural, emotional and communications theories, such as NLP (Neuro-Linguistic
Programming), Transactional Analysis, and empathy. By developing our Emotional
Intelligence in these areas and the five EQ domains we can become more productive and
successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too. The
process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many elements
known to reduce stress for individuals and organizations, by decreasing conflict,
improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and
harmony.