Intelligence: In Pursuit of Rational Thought and Effective Action 139(c) Spearman concluded that there is a factor running through all aspects of
intelligence. He called this factor.Answers: (a) environment; (b) functional; (c) general; g.Interested in the nature of specific mental abilities, the American researcher
Louis Thurstone made a factor analysis of intelligence tests in the 1930s. Fac-
tor analysisis a mathematical tool that allows a researcher to pull meaningful
clusters out of a set of data. Based on his analysis, Thurstone concluded that
there are at least nine primary mental abilities. These include (1) inductive rea-
soning, (2) deductive reasoning, (3) word fluency, (4) speed of perception,
(5) verbal comprehension, (6) verbal fluency, (7) memory, (8) spatial visualiza-
tion, and (9) mathematics.
More recently, the research psychologist Howard Gardner has suggested that
we speak ofmultiple intelligencesin preference to global intelligence. Taking
this approach, one kind of intelligence may be more or less independent of
another kind of intelligence. An example of what Gardner means is kinesthetic
intelligence,the ability to comprehend the position of one’s body in space. Such
intelligence is important in athletic performance and dancing.(a) What kind of analysis did Thurstone make of intelligence tests?(b) Gardner has suggested that we speak of in preference to global
intelligence.
Answers: (a) A factor analysis; (b) multiple intelligences.
It is possible to bring together the concept of a general ability with the con-
cept of specific abilities. The general factor, or g,is like the palm of a hand. It can
be small or large. The specific abilities are like the fingers of a hand, and they can
vary in length. This allows for many possibilities. Kurt has an unusually high level
of general intelligence, but finds it difficult to comprehend mathematical con-
cepts. Rita has an average level of general intelligence; however, she makes her liv-
ing as a sculptor, and she displays an unusually high level of ability in the area of
spatial visualization.
As you can see, it is difficult to pin intelligence down and say with any kind of
finality what it is.This in part is due to the fact that intelligence has the status of a
hypothetical construct.In science, a hypothetical construct is “constructed” by
the mind of the scientist in order to explain a set of facts. In physics, the concept
of an electromagnetic field is sometimes said to be such a construct. Science freely
employs hypothetical constructs. Intelligence as experienced by you is not, of
course, hypothetical. However, intelligence as measured by a psychologist with an
intelligence test is hypothetical. The intelligence has to be inferredfrom scores, and