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Although there is general agreement among psychologists that g exists, there is also evidence
for specific intelligence (s), a measure of specific skills in narrow domains. One empirical result
in support of the idea of s comes from intelligence tests themselves. Although the different types
of questions do correlate with each other, some items correlate more highly with each other than
do other items; they form clusters or clumps of intelligences.
One distinction is between fluid intelligence, which refers to the capacity to learn new ways of
solving problems and performing activities, and crystallized intelligence, which refers to the
accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives (Salthouse,
2004). [4] These intelligences must be different because crystallized intelligence increases with
age—older adults are as good as or better than young people in solving crossword puzzles—
whereas fluid intelligence tends to decrease with age (Horn, Donaldson, & Engstrom, 1981;
Salthouse, 2004). [5]
Other researchers have proposed even more types of intelligences. L. L. Thurstone
(1938) [6] proposed that there were seven clusters of primary mental abilities, made up of word
fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial ability, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive
reasoning, and memory. But even these dimensions tend to be at least somewhat correlated,
showing again the importance of g.
One advocate of the idea of multiple intelligences is the psychologist Robert Sternberg.
Sternberg has proposed a triarchic (three-part) theory of intelligence that proposes that people
may display more or less analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence.
Sternberg (1985, 2003) [7] argued that traditional intelligence tests assess analytical intelligence,
the ability to answer problems with a single right answer, but that they do not well assess
creativity (the ability to adapt to new situations and create new ideas) or practicality (e.g., the
ability to write good memos or to effectively delegate responsibility).
As Sternberg proposed, research has found that creativity is not highly correlated with analytical
intelligence (Furnham & Bachtiar, 2008), [8] and exceptionally creative scientists, artists,
mathematicians, and engineers do not score higher on intelligence than do their less creative
peers (Simonton, 2000).[9] Furthermore, the brain areas that are associated with convergent