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Intellectual Power
Sally Tucker
EDUC 525
November 5, 2018
Ed Masserman
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Understanding Intellectual Power Through Testing and Its Effects on Learning
Intellectual power is an individual’s intelligence.
It can generally be measured in
different ways, including standardized tests and norm tests, which can either measure an
individual’s specific intellectual ability or compare the individual’s ability to the norm of a test
group.
Individuals learn in different ways and many intelligence tests may not provide a
comprehensive analysis of an individual’s overall intelligence as the test may not take into
consideration all of the cognitive abilities or skills that determine overall intelligence.
Intellectual Power
Intellectual power is an individual’s mental capacity or intelligence.
According to
modern psychology, it is generally agreed upon that an individual’s intelligence can be defined
in different ways, but includes the abilities to reason abstractly, learn from experience and to
adapt to different environmental factors. Intellectual power is the ability to acquire and apply
knowledge.
While debatable, it is generally recognized that there are nine different types of
intelligence described by American developmental psychologist Howard Gardener as follows:
1.
Naturalist Intelligence is the ability to recognize the difference among living
things, such as plant and animals and other natural features of the world, such as
cloud configurations.
2.
Musical Intelligence is the ability to distinguish tone, pitch and rhythm.
3.
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is the ability to use reasoning skills and to
consider propositions and hypotheses.
4.
Existential Intelligence is having the capacity to comprehend deep questions
about human existence.
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5.
Interpersonal Intelligence is the ability to interact and understand other humans.
6.
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is the ability to create harmony between the mind
and the body.
7.
Linguistic Intelligence is the ability to use words and language.
8.
Intra-personal Intelligence is the ability to understand and evaluate oneself and
your own thoughts and feelings.
9.
Spatial Intelligence is the ability to think in three dimensions, such as graphic or
artistic abilities.
Measuring Intellectual Power
Measuring intellectual power if the process of assessing intelligence or intellectual
capacity. The goal of most intelligence tests is to try and measure an individual’s general
intelligence.
Many measurements of intellectual ability compare a individual’s chronological age with
their mental age. Mental age is determined by research to determine an average of what people
can do at certain ages and chronological age is the person’s average age. This allows for a
comparison of how an individual performs relative to others the same age. The IQ equation is
the most common test for measuring intelligence which is mental age/chronological age x 100 =
IQ. 100 is average intelligence and an IQ above or below 100 is higher or lower intelligence.
Standardized tests are one way of measuring intelligence. They are intended to produce a
score of an individual’s average intellectual power using a series of tasks or tests that are usually
administered on an individual level. An IQ test is one example of a standardized test.
Norm-reference testing is another example of measuring intelligence. Norm-referenced
testing seeks to understand how test participant compares to others and the test scores are
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compared to the test’s norms. The norms are developed using a larger group of individuals
similar to the test participant and determine the range of typical performance.
Intellectual Power and Effects on Learning
Intelligence tests provide insight to an individual’s general intellectual functioning.
However, intellectual power or intelligence is made up of multiple cognitive abilities or skills. It
is the total of these skills that determines a person’s overall intelligence, which does not always
correspond with an individual’s general intelligence.
There are a variety of factors that can impact an individual’s ability to score well on
general intelligence tests. Among these factors are nature, nurture and environment. These and
other factors can help to explain why an individual may perform well on some tasks and poorly
on others.
Conclusion
There are nine different types of intelligence that are generally recognized in modern
psychology.
Intelligence testing can provide valuable insight into an individual’s general
intelligence, but due to limitations in the types of testing available, they are not always capable
of considering all the factors that make up an individual’s overall intelligence. Different people
learn in different ways.
By identifying an individual’s specific intellectual strengths, both
through testing and consideration of other factors, including, nature, nurture and environment, a
teacher will be better positioned to understand how a student learns best and can develop
instruction accordingly.
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References
Measuring Intellectual Capacity. (2018, August 07). Retrieved November 03, 2018,
from https://www.illumine.co.uk/2016/11/measuring-intellectual-capacity/
Vital, M. (2017, August 09). 9 Types Of Intelligence - Infographic. Retrieved November 03, 2018,
from https://blog.adioma.com/9-types-of-intelligence-infographic/
[Author removed at request of original publisher]. (2015, October 26). Introduction to Psychology.
Retrieved November 03, 2018, from https://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/chapter/9-1-defining-and-measuringintelligence/