© Ane Venter
Chapter 9
Human Intelligence
1
, © Ane Venter
→ Concept of human intelligence – veiled under perceptual bias and human subjectivity
→ Robert Sternberg (prominent American psychologist)
○ Conducted study to determine how people perceived intelligence
○ Found people thought 3 attributes of intelligence important
Problem solving intelligence
Verbal intelligence
Social intelligence
The Concept
of Intelligence
→ Human intelligence – describes human ability, where mental processes are used to attend to tasks,
solve problems, and comprehend abstract ideas and information
→ Intelligence: the broader ability of acquiring and utilising complex mental skills
→ Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Refers to the numerical representation of the level of an individual’s
intelligence
○ Psychometric approach to intelligence: calculated using standardised and scientific tools of
measurement (intelligence tests)
○ Theoretical approach to intelligence: focusses on the nature of intelligence and the skills that make
up intelligence
→ Academics and laypeople interact and shape each other’s perceptions and understandings
→ When research findings are shared with the public – layperson is able to engage with the findings
→ The way we perceive and understand intelligence is based in theoretical context – reflects the cultural,
historical, and economic framework of a society at any given time
Intelligence Testing:
A brief Historical Overview
→ Sir Francis Galton (Darwin’s cousin)
○ Concluded that intelligence is inherited and passed down in families from generation to generation
○ Based on studies done on families in the higher class – who has access to formal schooling
○ Test of intelligence was unable to predict professional or academic success
→ Alfred Binet (1904)
○ Commissioned by the French minister of education to devise a test to identify children in need of
specialized education programmes
○ Goal: devise a tool that measures intelligence objectively and scientifically
2
Chapter 9
Human Intelligence
1
, © Ane Venter
→ Concept of human intelligence – veiled under perceptual bias and human subjectivity
→ Robert Sternberg (prominent American psychologist)
○ Conducted study to determine how people perceived intelligence
○ Found people thought 3 attributes of intelligence important
Problem solving intelligence
Verbal intelligence
Social intelligence
The Concept
of Intelligence
→ Human intelligence – describes human ability, where mental processes are used to attend to tasks,
solve problems, and comprehend abstract ideas and information
→ Intelligence: the broader ability of acquiring and utilising complex mental skills
→ Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Refers to the numerical representation of the level of an individual’s
intelligence
○ Psychometric approach to intelligence: calculated using standardised and scientific tools of
measurement (intelligence tests)
○ Theoretical approach to intelligence: focusses on the nature of intelligence and the skills that make
up intelligence
→ Academics and laypeople interact and shape each other’s perceptions and understandings
→ When research findings are shared with the public – layperson is able to engage with the findings
→ The way we perceive and understand intelligence is based in theoretical context – reflects the cultural,
historical, and economic framework of a society at any given time
Intelligence Testing:
A brief Historical Overview
→ Sir Francis Galton (Darwin’s cousin)
○ Concluded that intelligence is inherited and passed down in families from generation to generation
○ Based on studies done on families in the higher class – who has access to formal schooling
○ Test of intelligence was unable to predict professional or academic success
→ Alfred Binet (1904)
○ Commissioned by the French minister of education to devise a test to identify children in need of
specialized education programmes
○ Goal: devise a tool that measures intelligence objectively and scientifically
2
