Intelligence

Intelligence is a concept that is believed to be made up of a set of complex behaviors. It is described as the ability to problem solve, to perceive objects in one's environment, to understand spatial relationships, to remember, classify, calculate, and reason. It is analogous with cognition, a mental quality comprising one's ability to learn from experience, to adapt to new situations, acquire knowledge, and deal with abstract concepts. It has been found to be clearly associated with the integrity and functioning capacity of one's central nervous system functioning (the brain) and is made up of several anatomically related domains (e.g., arousal and alertness, visual spatial processing, attention, memory, executive functioning, etc.).

[Page 1307]Raymond Cattell suggested that intelligence consists of two parts, “fluid” intelligence (one's innate basic reasoning that is supposedly independent of culture and educational background) and “crystallized” intelligence (the information and skills one learns through education, experience, and socialization).

Many scientists and educators believe that intelligent behavior is not restricted to human behavior; that is, it can be exhibited by other species. However, it is assumed to be limited by the absence of language. Language is defined as a culture's representation of ideas and objects in symbolic form that is used classify and store information in memory. Only the species of Homo sapiens has developed the ability to string together several sounds (phonemes) to produce new meanings. Language is considered a critical component of higher-order intelligence because without it, one could not measure and define the more complex aspects of intellectual behavior.

Integral to the current use of the term intelligence is the intelligence quotient (IQ). An individual's IQ is commonly measured and quantified by paper and pencil, individually administered IQ tests, as well as by the appraisal of adaptive behavior (based on how a person functions in an everyday setting).