Theories of intelligence
Intelligence is a crucial subject in psychology encompassing a range of aptitudes, skills as well as talents. Learning from experience, recognizing problems and solving problems is what defines intelligence. There are various theories of intelligence which include Vygotsky’s, Gardner’s and Sternberg’s theories. These theories have different viewpoints on matters of intelligence characterized by both advantages and disadvantages.
Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes the ultimate position of social collaboration in the development of cognition. Vygotsky argued that progress could only be understood within a social framework. People and their Culture are intricately entwined through the process of interaction (Daneshfar 2018). The concepts of Vygotsky theory include Culture, Inter mental to intra mental, Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding. In the idea of Culture, opportunities and assistance a person gets for cognitive development are rooted in the belonging Culture. In the concept of Inter mental to intra mental, a person learns a high level of mental functions through external activities. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) entails the distance between actual and potential development. Scaffolding involves the process of providing continuous support to a child through the learning process and cognitive understanding. The benefits of Vygotsky’s theory are that it delivers a compact basis for scrutinizing the learning process of children. This allows learners to keep track of their progress as well as manage their capability of learning. The disadvantage of this theory is that the depiction of developmental practices was cited as being unclear and speculative. Moreover, the approach focuses more upon processes through which children develop rather than qualities of children of particular ages are prone to exhibit.
Gardner’s theory of intelligence states that all people have different forms of intelligence. To capture a wide variety of abilities and talents that people inhibit, Gardner theorizes that people do not have just intellectual capacity but also many sorts of intelligence such as musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual and linguistic intelligence. The disadvantages of Gardner’s theory are his definition of intelligence is too broad and lack empirical research support. The advantages of this theory include the fact that it utilizes multiple intelligence which can be incorporated in teaching philosophies (Alpay 2018). Furthermore, the approach assists people to understand their strengths.
Sternberg’s theoretical aspect of intelligence suggests that there are three kinds of intelligence which include practical, distinct and analytical (Sternberg 2018). It comprises of three sub-theories which include contextual, experiential and componential. The contextual sub theory implies that intelligence is entangled with the corresponding setting. For this case, intelligence is based on the way one performs in their everyday circumstances. Experiential sub theory suggests that there is a range of experience from novel to automation to which intelligence is practical. Componential sub theory entails the different mechanisms that lead to intelligence. According to Sternberg, this theory is comprised of three forms of mental processes such as metacomponents, performance and knowledge-acquisition components. This theory has various disadvantages which include the lack of a solid empirical basis, and the practical intelligence is redundant with the conceptual view of knowledge, explanations and definitions are imprecise. The advantages of the theory include the fact that it explains exceptional information in children adequately and offers a critique of existing intelligence tests.
In conclusion, Vygotsky’s, Gardner’s, and Sternberg theories form a basis in matters associated with intelligence as significant aspects are captured accordingly. Both approaches differ in one way or another, for instance, in terms of emphasis, conceptualization as well as elements. These respective theories try to explain the nature of intelligence, but no exact conceptualization has emerged. Psychologist nowadays accounts for many theoretical viewpoints when elaborating intelligence.
Work cited
Daneshfar, S., & Moharami, M. (2018). Dynamic assessment in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory: origins and main concepts. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(3), 600-607.
Alpay, E. (2019). The implications of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences for education. Retrieved on, 25.
Sternberg, R. J. (2018). Theories of intelligence.
Sternberg, R. J. (2018). The triarchic theory of successful intelligence. The Guilford Press.