Test of intelligence

The term intelligence can take many different meanings. Suppose you lived in a remote village off Moneragala, you might differentiate between more intelligent and less intelligent people in terms of their agricultural skills. Or suppose you lived in the commercial capital of Sri Lanka – Colombo – intelligence might mean success in business or passing examinations. As such, psychologists have tried to give a general definition of intelligence over the years. To many psychologists intelligence is the capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges.

However, this definition does not help us to differentiate between more intelligent and less intelligent people. So, they have begun to rely on intelligence tests usually known as IQ (Intelligence Quotient) tests. However, the use of IQ tests has raised many social and educational issues. The practice of assessing children’s intelligence was first introduced by the French psychologist Binet way back in 1905. In fact, the French Government had assigned him to develop a way of identifying students who needed special remedial education. His method proved to be successful in predicting school performance. Finally, Binet’s method became the basis for many other intelligence tests. The Stanford – Binet test is based on the original model and is still used today.

Although IQ tests are held in many countries to gauge the intelligence of university entrants or job aspirants, Albert Einstein has showed us that intellectual faculties in some children cannot be gauged by applying IQ tests. According to him, conventional IQ tests have failed to find out personality traits and creativity skills of children. Even modern psychologists would agree that intelligence is difficult to measure because it is something marvellous. Many children have untapped potential that cannot be assessed by using conventional tests.

The life story of Einstein clearly proves this point. As a teenager he was a backward student in his class. His performance in academic activities was so bad that he was expelled from the school. Unfortunately, the school authorities did not know that they were expelling one of the most brilliant students who later came up with the Theory of Relativity that changed our understanding of the world.

In later life, Einstein recalled his learning problem: “My intellectual development was retarded, as a result of which I began to wonder about space and time only when I had already grown up. Naturally, I could go deeper into the problem than a child.”

Some psychologists cast doubts on popular IQ tests. For instance, E. Paul Torrance said, “If we identify (talented) children only on the basis of intelligence tests, we eliminate approximately 70 per cent of the most creative.” This shows that all of us have some facets of mental ability. Some of us are good at mathematics while others excel in languages or music. Therefore, it is not easy to gauge the intelligence of a child or an adult without paying attention to these facts.On looking back I remember my school days. I was rather good at playing with words. My essays were often commended by the class teacher. But one of my friends could not turn out good essays. Instead he excelled in science. Today he is a leading gynaecologist. I ended up as an essayist!

Intelligent people are gifted with the reasoning ability. Psychologists say that reasoning ability can be trained like any other skill such as cycling or typing. Psychologists Arthur and Linda Shaw Whimbey have proved that any healthy person can learn reasoning skills.

Their celebrated work, “Intelligence can be Taught”, shows how weak students are trained to do better in their studies. Although certain skills of children can be improved through training,this cannot be done overnight. Only a qualified psychologist will know how to identify the skills of a child and give him the required training. It is tragic to note how people try to become professionals in fields which are not suitable to them. When you do not know what you are good at, you will keep on experimenting with various subjects until you find yourself at the threshold of retirement! Most of us can be more intelligent than we are if we try to adopt certain measures. To begin with, you can adopt a new method of problem solving. This can be done by breaking down the problem into several parts.

You will find it easy to solve smaller parts than grappling with the whole problem. It is also wise to spare some time for reading good books. Many of us read without understanding. If you cannot remember the plot of a novel you have read, your reading habits are poor. If you read for understanding, speed will look after itself. Learning new words, phrases, and idioms will fortify your problem solving skills.. If you have a look at successful men and women in our midst, you will note that they thrive on their sheer force of personality. They are unusually open in their dealings. They are independent in their thinking. They are imaginative and sometimes playful. What is more, they are cheerful most of the time. Such people do well in their studies and professions. Even if they have never faced an IQ test, their intelligence is above average.