Practical Intelligence: Conceptual Aspects

Exclusionary Definitions

An exclusionary definition defines something by characterizing what it is not. Frederiksen (1986) defined practical intelligence as cognitive responses to just about anything encountered outside the classroom setting. Although it is true that academic knowledge is useful in some everyday contexts, and practical knowledge can be important to aspects of school performance, there do appear to be differences between the typical problems found in the classroom and those encountered in everyday contexts beyond the classroom. Problems found in the classroom and on IQ-type tests tend to (a) be well defined, (b) be formulated by others, (c) come with all information required, (d) have a single answer, (e) have a single method of obtaining the correct answer, and (f) be unrelated to everyday experience. In contrast, the more practical problems of everyday life often are (a) poorly defined, (b) unformulated, (c) missing essential information, (d) characterized by having multiple solutions – each with liabilities as well as assets, (e) characterized by having multiple methods of obtaining each solution, and (f) related to everyday experience (Neisser, 1976; Wagner & Sternberg, 1985). Given the difficulties that arise from the ill-defined nature of practical problems relative to academic problems, it is fortunate that lessons learned over the years from everyday experience turn out to be applicable to solving the practical problems we encounter.

Practical Know-How

Studies of cultures that have been characterized as ‘primitive’ by Western societies produced interesting examples of practical know-how. In third world countries that have automobiles, considerable practical know-how can be required to keep them running in the absence of sophisticated test equipment and replacement parts. Automobile repair often involves adapting an object at hand to fix the problem (Berry & Irvine, 1986). Gladwin (1970) studied how the Puluwat people of Micronesia do ocean navigation without modern navigation instruments. They rely on a sophisticated system that is based on the idea that it is the islands that move rather than the canoe they are in. An initial course is set when leaving the harbour of origin by drawing imaginary lines from the canoe to known landmarks on the island they are departing. This course is maintained in a variety of ways, including making reference to the stars at night and the sun during the day. The destination island is found by looking for birds that are known to roost on land, odours and sounds associated with land, and changes in wind patterns or velocity that can indicate a land mass.

...