Evaluating Intelligence: Challenging The Usefulness of Traditional Intelligence Predictors

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What is intelligence? Philosophers, educators and psychologists alike have debated this topic for hundreds of years to no indisputable end. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary, intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge, as well as the faculty of thought and reason. While accurate, this broad definition fails to identify the origin, influences, characteristics and components of intelligence. In attempting to understand the full scope of what intelligence is, many scientists have conducted extensive studies and research on intelligence and have developed many theories, each with different perspectives. Two such researchers are Jonathan Baron and Howard Gardner. In his book Rationality and Intelligence, Jonathan Baron defines intelligence as “a set of characteristics, which can be subdivided into capacities and dispositions” (14). In addition, he makes the distinction that rationality is not intelligence, but is a factor of it. Similarly, Howard Gardner, in his book Multiple Intelligences, theorizes that intelligence is a set of qualities, which are important as defined by situation and are limited by capacity and includes problem solving. Although both researchers seem to have the same concept of what constitutes intelligence, their focuses on what ultimately defines it are different. However, these differences are due to the area chosen for their research and, in my opinion in most cases, are merely matters of semantics. As a rational thinker, who was motivated to find the answer using critical thinking skills, I have come to the conclusion that intelligence cannot be scored solely on an IQ test, is the capacity to learn, think, reason, and effectively apply these processes to various situations, and that multiple intelligences exist.


What do IQ tests really tell us? Do these IQ tests really predict outcomes of complete intelligence after a student has finished with schooling? Baron believes that IQ tests cannot be good predictors of intelligence because of their inability to meet certain criteria and types of explanations that intelligence tests adopt. “We often think people ought to do better, other things equal, not just at schoolwork but also at doing their jobs, managing their finances, getting along with their spouses, and raising their children”(Baron, 1). This universal belief is not true in the least bit. A lot of people, who have done exceptionally well on IQ tests, have made choices in their lives that have been irrational and unintelligent. Both Gardner and Baron agree that these tests only measure the person’s ability to perform in the school setting, address only logical and linguistical problem solving in a limited time frame, and memory capacity for such information. As Gardner states in his book “Multiple Intelligences”, “IQ tests predict school performance with considerable accuracy, but they are only an indifferent predictor of performance in a profession after formal schooling”. IQ tests do not address other behaviors that are “intelligent” or acknowledge the “intelligence” of knowing how to find an answer through investigation.


Does the child, who just scored comparatively below his peers on an IQ test, really deserve to be looked down upon or viewed as not as intelligent as the others by his teachers and do the attitudes and expectations of the teachers predict the success of the student? Although neither researcher directly addresses these questions, both imply that, since all intelligence is not evaluated or addressed on IQ tests, children who have been evaluated as being below average should not be labeled as unintelligent. In addition, they imply that expectations of others are predictors of performance. Baron states, “the outcome of rational thinking depends on the thinker’s goals and prior beliefs” (6). Therefore, it follows that if a child believes he will fail, he will fail. Intelligence, to me, is not the overwhelming ability to store information or to score high on IQ tests. Rather, as Baron states, “intelligence is whatever helps any person, in any natural human environment, to achieve their rationally chosen goals”(Baron, 1).


Although Baron and Gardner agree that intelligence is not single dimensional, they disagree on what is a dimension of intelligence. Most notable is their contrasting opinions on the importance of muscle, strength, and body movement. Should we exclude physical condition, muscular tone and other factors that concern the strength of a person, as intelligence? Gardner’s theory says, bodily kinesthetic intelligence fulfills number of the criteria that describe intelligence. For examples, he cites the ability to play tennis or to dance as evidence of the cognitive features of body usage. His view on bodily kinesthetic is opposed to Baron’s. In Baron’s book, he dismisses the fact that physical ability plays a role in rational thinking or in decision making. However, I disagree with Baron. Many situations arise in which decisions are based on a person’s physical ability. An extreme example would be the process of decision making, and actually carrying out the act relevant to saving someone who’s been pinned down by a big rock. Initially, one must evaluate whether or not to attempt rescue and yell for someone else to call 11 or to leave the victim to call 11 oneself. This evaluation would, for the most part, be based on whether or not one is physically able to perform the task. If the ability existed, the process of the action would include unconscious calculation of mass, applied force, as well as many other “intelligent” thoughts. The end result is the translation of those calculations into muscle movement.





On first analysis of Gardner’s and Baron’s views on multiple intelligence, it seems that they are in opposition. However, further consideration reveals that they do not differ as much in theory as they differ in language and the meanings they apply to terms. For example, while Gardner believes in multiple intelligences, Baron believes that intelligence is not single dimensional, which are essentially the same concept. Baron describes the types of intelligence as “factors” or “dispositions” without clearly defining them. However, he does not discount the “domains of motivation or emotion”, which Gardner describes as “interpersonal intelligence and inrtapersonal intelligence”. The only real contention was discussed in the above paragraph. Baron believes that rationality is entirely a function of the dispositional components of intelligence. “Rationality in thinking makes for both rationality in choosing goals, which I have defined as a condition of effectiveness, and success in achieving those goals, which is effectiveness itself” (16). His focus on rationality of thinking does not negate Gardner’s theory. It is merely his area of interest. Similarly, Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences does not ignore or refute Baron’s belief that rationality is a factor of intelligence. The difference is that Gardner refers to “rational thinking” as “problem solving”, which he calls. Gardner states, “An intelligence entails the ability to solve problems or fashion products... The problem solving skill allows one to approach a situation in which a goal is to be obtained and to locate the appropriate route to that goal (15). Gardner’s focus on defining intelligent behaviors is a matter of interest.


My definition of intelligence includes the cited definition in the introduction. However, I further believe that IQ tests are good predictors of school performance, especially when an educator sets expectations by IQ evaluation, but not as predictors of after school performance. In addition, I feel that making rational decisions should be taught early on in school, and that teachers should always remember to treat children equally when evaluating IQ test scores. I believe that emotions, personalities and physical abilities are important factors of intelligence.





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