Intelligence book

1 Introduction Intelligence may be narrowly defined as the capacity to acquire knowledge and understanding, and use it in different novel situations. It is this ability, or capacity, which enables the individual to deal with real situations and profit intellectually from sensory experience. A test of intelligence is designed to formally study, under test conditions, the success of an individual in adapting to a specific situation. There are a number of different methods which purport to measure intelligence, the most famous of which is the IQ, or intelligence quotient test. In the formation of such tests many psychologists treat intelligence as a general ability operating as a common factor in a wide variety of aptitudes. Whilst many IQ tests measure a variety of different types of ability such as verbal, mathematical, spatial and reasoning skills, there is now a second school of thought in which it is believed that the earlier definitions of intelligence may be too simplistic. It is now becoming increasingly recognised that there are many different types of intelligence and that a high measured IQ, although desirable, is not the only key to success in life. Other characteristics, such as outstanding artistic, creative or practical prowess, especially if combined with personal characteristics such as ambition, good temperament and compassion, could result in an outstanding level of success despite a low measured IQ. It is because of this that in recent years CQ (creative quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient), to name just two examples, have come to be regarded as equally important as, or even more important than, IQ measurement. 1 It should also be pointed out that having a high IQ does not mean that one has a good memory. A good memory is yet another type of intelligence, and could result in high academic success despite a low measured IQ test score. The object of this book is to identify different types of intelligence and bring together tests for different aspects of intelligence into one book, and provide an objective assessment of abilities in a number of different disciplines. This will, therefore, give readers the opportunity to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and thus enable readers to build on their strengths and work at improving their performance in areas of weakness. As well as the identifying of such strengths and weaknesses, the tests and exercises in this book perform another important function, that of using and exercising the brain. Despite the enormous capacity of the brain, we only use on average 2% of our potential brainpower. There is, therefore, the potential for each of us to expand our brainpower considerably. It is important that we continually use our brain, for example, the more we practise at tests of verbal aptitude, the more we increase our ability to understand the meaning of words and use them effectively; the more we practise at mathematics, the more confident we become when working with numbers; and the more we practise our ability to move our fingers and manipulate small objects, the more dextrous we become at operations involving this type of aptitude. Our brain is undoubtedly our greatest asset, yet, for most of us, it is the part of the body we most take for granted. Our brain needs exercise and care in the same way as other parts of the body. We eat the right foods to keep our heart healthy, we moisturise our skin to keep it from drying out and, just as gymnasts strive to increase their performance at whatever level they are competing, by means of punishing training schedules and refinement of technique, there are exercises, or mental gymnastics, we can do to increase the performance of our brain and enhance quickness of thought.

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