Chapter 8: Intelligence and Schooling

For nearly a century, educators and psychologists have debated the nature of intelligence, and more specifically whether intelligence is just one broad ability or can take more than one form. Many classical definitions of the concept have tended to define intelligence as a single broad ability that allows a person to solve or complete many sorts of tasks, or at least many academic tasks like reading, knowledge of vocabulary, and the solving of logical problems (Garlick, 2002). Other psychologists believe that instead of a single factor, intelligence is a collection of distinct abilities. Still, other psychologists believe that intelligence should be defined in more practical terms. We’ll review four perspectives on intelligence: Spearman’s g, Cattell’s fluid and crystallized intelligences, Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, and Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Understanding theories of intelligence will help us understand variations in students’ intellectual abilities.

Video 8.1 Intelligence explains the different definitions of intelligence and the nature/nurture debate in the context of intelligence.