What is Intelligence?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 97, 2 May 1941, Page 5

What is Intelligence?

O far I have talked about intelligence testing, but have not attempted to say what this intelligence is that we attempt to measure. It has been defined as the ability to do abstract thinking, the ability to adapt oneself to one’s environment or to make changes in that environment. Some think that there is no such thing as intelligence, but only the ability to do this task or that task, One could think of people who are great musicians or artists or craftsmen who would not be able to pass the matriculation examination; while on the other hand, some men consider that if a person is good at one task then he will excel at others, The most acceptable theory of intelligence is one which combines both these view points, put forward by a psychologist named Spearman, and based on mathematical analysis of test results. He suggests that we have a fund of "g" or genetal intelligence which pervades all our actions. It requires "g" to read a book, to solve a problem, to cross the road, to lace up one’s shoes, but it is obvious that it requires more "g" to solve a problem than to lace up one’s shoes. In addition to this fund of "g’? which we can use for many purposes, we have a number of "s’s" or specific abilities for different tasks. We all have "g" in varying quantities, hut one person may have an "s" for music which another lacks.-("Can We Intelligence?" by G. H. Boyes, 4YA, April 8.)