Module II – Theories of Intelligence

A man looks out from the small window grill of his cell in a mental facility keenly observing a driver who had a flat tyre across the quiet street.  Curious, the man called out to the driver.  Pssst! Hey, driver come here!  The driver came and stood by the perimeter fence  which was the closest distance he could go to talk to the man.  The man asked, “What is the matter?  I’ve been watching you for half an hour and you’ve been staring at the manhole.”  The driver replied, “Tough luck, I had a flat tyre and tried to fix it but I  accidentally nudged a pair of bolt and nut which fell into the manhole.  I was figuring out how to get them from the manhole so, I could fix the tyre”.  As if analyzing, the man asked, “How many bolts and nuts are needed to fix one tyre?”.  “Four sets”, the driver replied.  “Hmmm… if you take one pair of bolt and nut from each of the three remaining tyres, you can fix the fourth tyre.  Now, all the tyres will equally have three bolts and nuts.  With that, I think… I think  you can try to drive very slowly and carefully until you reach the nearest car repair shop where you could have them fixed”.  Realizing this is possible, the driver scratched his head and said, “Oh yes, that is possible!  Why did I not think of that?!  Thanks for that brilliant idea, mister!”   The driver was about to go back to the car but turned around and asked the man, “By the way, you are an intelligent man, what are you doing in a mental asylum?”.  The man replied, “Well, I am here only because I am mentally sick but, thankfully I am not stupid!”

Imagine this:  a mentally sound person confronted with a dilemma couldn’t figure out for himself what to do;  and a mentally sick person presented with the same  problem, analyses it and comes up with a possible solution.  A compelling contrast of cognitive abilities.  

I have always believed that intelligence is hereditary but I doubted my personal assumption after seeing a few evidence that disprove it.   Take for example an Arab couple I know of average intelligence who has three kids.  The first two children are of average abilities. The youngest of the three was able to read at age 2, can count to 100 and do multiplication at age 3. Now at four, his reading ability is what his teacher says, a 7^th grader level.  He has been sent overseas for a number of assessments and each time he exceeds what he did in the previous tests given to him. The boy attends two schools – a regular school in the mornings and twice a week he goes to a school for gifted children.

There is no doubt intelligence is an innate human ability which involves learning (acquisition of knowledge), reasoning, recognizing and solving problems.  Our talents, our resolve, emotions and even the way we relate with people form part of intelligence which can be nurtured.  Scientists have been studying human intelligence for over a 100 years in an attempt to unravel its complexity that various theories have been published; each proposal either building upon the previous findings, objecting it or presenting new discoveries.  The research and debates continue to this day.  I do not understand why scientists have to dig deep into solving the ‘mystery’ of intelligence when we already know and accept  that it is a natural phenomenon, an innate combination of various abilities.  So, why can’t we just let nature be?  I could not think up of any excuse  but what is obvious to me is that discovery is  a competition, scientists keep trying to outsmart each other.   Albert Einstein said, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction”.

One issue related to the study of intelligence which evokes controversy is the IQ test. Can numbers really measure one’s overall abilities?

I remember taking the mandatory NCEE (National College Entrance Examination) a few months before graduating from high school.   It was used to determine if a student is qualified to pursue a 4-year college education or vocational/technical education.  Well, to me it was like a test that measured if you’re smart or stupid, nothing in between.   I honestly thought it was discriminating and at the same time embarrassing if you failed it.  Even if I had confidence in my abilities somehow after taking the heavily-proctored exam that lasted half a day I couldn’t take off my mind negative possibilities because computers are used to check the exam sheets and could be erratic.  The anxiety of waiting for test result was a torture (like my head was hanging by a guillotine!) that it overshadowed the excitement of our approaching high school graduation.  I was relieved when I finally got my test result.  I passed!  The whole batch did.  Still, I wondered how many students’ dreams were shattered at the time for failing the NCEE?  How sad.   After many years the NCEE was abolished in 1994.

To date many are still not aware that an IQ test is used to gauge one’s reasoning ability and its result cannot be used to judge a person’s overall abilities.   Many have been disadvantaged by misuse of test results, especially in job applications.  Add to that the frustration caused by organizations’ preference for hiring those who graduated from what they considered top, best or exclusive schools which has been the widespread practice in the Philippines for so many years.   I’m glad that there has been a paradigm shift on this recently for the sake of equality.   

I think teachers should educate students on what IQ tests are used for and what they intend to measure to correct the wrong notion about it.  One’s success in school and in life are not determined by IQ test scores (or influenced by the school where they graduated from).  I personally believe that prayers, intelligence combined with hardwork, right attitude and luck are factors that can propel a person to success.

If you’re given a choice, would you rather be one with high IQ and impoverished or below average IQ and super rich ?

Cheers!