Individual Differencesand Intelligence

Meaning and Nature of Individual Differences:

A truism that no two individuals are alike

Deviations of individuals from the average or from one another

A trait of an individual may be distinguished from other individuals

Individuals vary in physical as well as psychological characteristics

a.Intra-variability or Trait-variability – concerns differences within the individual.

b.Inter-variability – concerns differences among individuals or between individuals with regards to environment.

Individual Differences can be Characterized by the following Attributes:

1. Variability and Normality - anatomical, physiological, and psychological differences exist among people.

2. Differential rates of growth and learning - developmental schedules vary for all individuals, these variations can be seen in cognitive abilities, in physical, emotional and moral aspects of growth.

3. Interrelation of traits – the growth

of personality for instance, is the

result of the continuing interaction

of many factors – biological, social

or environmental.

4. Hereditary and environmental

factors – these can never be completely separated because they are in continuous interplay

in the production of every physical and psychological trait.

Factors Affecting Individual Differences:

1. Physiological factors2. Cultural Influences3. Interaction between biological

and social factors

Meaning and Nature of Intelligence:

Engel defines intelligence as the ability of an organism to adapt to its environment.

Terman says intelligence is a general capacity of an individual to adjust his thinking to new requirements.

Thurston says intelligence is both general ability and a number of specific abilities.

Stagner refers to intelligence as learning ability, and the ability to see learning in new situations.

A.I. Gates refers to intelligence as a composite or organization of abilities to learn, to grasp broad and subtle facts, especially abstract facts.

Colvin says that an individual possesses intelligence in so far as he has learned or can learn to adjust himself to his environment.

To sum up the nature of intelligence:

Intelligence is an aggregate of relatively independent attitudes as

a.verbal comprehensionb.word fluencyc.skill in numerical computationd.perceptual speed and accuracye.associative memoryf. spatial visualizationg.mechanical reasoning

Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as 'the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting' (Gardner & Hatch, 1989).

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences:1. Linguistic2. Logical-Mathematical3. Musical4. Bodily-Kinesthetic5. Spatial6. Interpersonal7. Intrapersonal8. Naturalist

Additional intelligences…

1.Spiritual2.Existential3.Moral

Spencer & Miguel Kagan: Multiple Intelligences1.Verbal/Linguistic2.Logical/Mathematical3.Visual/Spatial4.Musical/Rhythmic5.Bodily/kinesthetic6.Naturalist7.Interpersonal8.Intrapersonal

References

Gardner, Howard (1983; 1993) Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences, New York: Basic Books.

Kagan, Spencer & Kagan, Miguel (1998). Multiple Intelligences. California USA.: Kagan Publishing & Cooperative Learning.

Kahayon, Alicia H. & Gaudencio V. Aquino (2008). General Psychology, 4th ed. Mandaluyong, Philippines: National Book Store.

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