Justin Yates
Diversity and Cultural Factors in Psychology
May 20, 2014
Quinette Tukes
Intelligence Testing Article Analysis There has been many scholarly definitions of what many think intelligence happen to be. Intelligence can simply be defined as the capacity to facilitate reaching goals while having the ability to put to use the knowledge and skills in different settings based on the mental skill set (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Shiraev & Levy, 2010 suggests that intelligence is the necessary attribute that equips an individual to adapt into his or her environment (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). In this paper an analysis of PASS Theory and an analysis of Gardner's Intelligence Theory will be address as it relates to selected articles. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the intelligence testing will also be provided. Plucker states that Jagannath Prasad Das, a Canadian psychologists, uniquely defined intelligence as the ability to plan, code information, having attention and being aroused based on the cognitive processes (Plucker, 2007). Jagannath Prasad Das is a former student of Hans Eysenck. Eysenck used clinical alternatives to g-based theories to anchor the focus of redefining human intelligence (Plucker, 2007). The Planning, Attention-Arousal, and Simultaneous and Successive model also known by the acronym PASS was created by Eysenck and some of his colleagues to better understand the matter (Plucker, 2007). Based on the relentless research of neuropsychologists, the PASS theory is able to challenge the G-theory because it is now know that the brain is made up of a system with multiple interdependency (Plucker, 2007). Das and some of his colleagues were in agreement with Gardner on the fact that the brain is compartmentalized and one part of the brain can experience a traumatic experience and will have malfunctions while another part of the brain is totally unaffected by the traumatic experience and functions normally (Plucker, 2007). Howard Gardner, a well known theorist, has theorized a different view of what he thinks intelligence happens to be. His definition of intelligence caused the expansion of the traditional definition. Gardener definition of intelligence has all the components of the traditional definition but now it includes linguistic ability, music, mathematics, interpersonal knowledge, and perhaps spatial relations (Brualdi, 1996). As a tag-team, Gardener and Hatch defined intelligence as having the capacity to solve a problem and or to fashion a product that may be valued in multiple cultures (Brualdi, 1996). Gardener was under the assumption that the based on his theory of intelligence, rather than working by themselves, all the intelligence levels complement one another as an individual learn, grow, develop, evolve, and master the skills that are set before them (Brualdi, 1996). As Gardner argued his stance on the importance of biological factors for intelligence, Gardner also believed that an individual’s culture is just as important (Plucker, 2007). Gardner believed that culture perhaps is more significant in intelligence development because different cultures value different types of intelligence and how it betters that culture (Plucker, 2007). In a culture, the more valued a skill is the more motivated individuals in that culture will try to master that skill (Plucker, 2007). Gardner suggested that one intelligence may evolve further than another because of the values that the cultures are subjected to (Plucker, 2007). As Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence gives the foundation for identifying the cognitive skills of people in different culture. It also accommodated the different cognitive skill and abilities amongst more than one culture (Brualdi, 1996). As cultures are different from culture to culture, the values, beliefs, what are culturally acceptable, what’s not culturally acceptable, and ways of dealing with issues also vary from