AP Psychology - Intelligence Theories

Charles Spearman

• Believed in the idea of general intelligence (g) that underlies all mental abilities and therefore is measured by every task on an intelligence test

  • People also often had special, outstanding abilities (s)

L.L. Thurstone

• Have 56 different tests on people and identified 7 clusters of primary mental abilities

  • Word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory

Howard Gardner

• Identified eight relatively independent intelligences

  • Musical, visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, verbal-linguistic, intrapersonal

Robert Sternberg

• Triarchic theory proposes three intelligences: analytical, creative, and practical

  • Analytical: Academic problem-solving intelligence, usually well-defined problems with a single right answer

  • Creative: Innovative smarts, the ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas

  • Practical: Everyday tasks, may be poorly defined and may have multiple solutions