Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

The triarchic theory of intelligence represents a way of understanding intelligence in broader terms than is the case for traditional theories.

Intelligence is defined in terms of the ability to achieve success in life in terms of one's personal standards, within one's sociocultural context. The field of intelligence has, at times, tended to put the cart before the horse, defining the construct conceptually on the basis of how it is operationalized rather than vice versa. This practice has resulted in tests that stress the academic aspect of intelligence, as one might expect, given the origins of modern intelligence testing in the work of Binet and Simon in designing an instrument that would distinguish children who would succeed from those who would fail in school. But the construct [Page 989]of intelligence needs to serve a broader purpose, accounting for the bases of success in all of one's life.

One's ability to achieve success depends on one's capitalizing on one's strengths and correcting or compensating for one's weaknesses. Theories of intelligence typically specify some relatively fixed set of abilities, whether one general factor and a number of specific factors, seven multiple factors, eight multiple intelligences, or 150 separate intellectual abilities. Such a specification is useful in establishing a common set of skills to be tested. But people achieve success, even within a given occupation, in many different ways. For example, successful teachers and researchers achieve success through many different blendings of skills rather than through any single formula that works for all of them.

Balancing of abilities is achieved in order to adapt to, shape, and select environments. Definitions of intelligence traditionally have emphasized the role of adaptation to the environment. But intelligence involves not only modifying oneself to suit the environment (adaptation), but also modifying the environment to suit oneself (shaping), and sometimes, finding a new environment that is a better match to one's skills, values, or desires (selection).

Success is attained through a balance of analytical, creative, and practical abilities. Analytical abilities are the abilities primarily measured by traditional tests of abilities. But success in life requires one not only to analyze one's own ideas as well as the ideas of others, but also to generate ideas and to persuade other people of their value. This necessity occurs in the world of work, as when a subordinate tries to convince a superior of the value of his or her plan; in the world of personal relationships, as when a child attempts to convince a parent to do what he or she wants or when a spouse tries to convince the other spouse to do things his or her preferred way; and in the world of school, as when a student writes an essay arguing for a point of view.