CHAPTER 1

Human Intelligence

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.— Albert Einstein

Researchers say learning and intelligence are two distinctconcepts that work closely together. Learning is the processof acquiring new information. Intelligence is the ability to learn, toretain what is learned, and to use logical reasoning to solve problemseffectively.

Learning and intelligence in childhood and early adulthoodare important predictors of success in obtaining social mobility,adult social status, and income. They are crucial because what welearn and how we use that information are pivotal in understandinghuman behavior. It's one thing to learn all kinds of information andto have various levels of understanding, but if we don't ever use thatknowledge, then what's the point?

Intelligence has been defined in multiple ways. Researchers andtheorists have different beliefs about what constitutes intelligenceand how it affects everyday life, but there are some generally acceptednotions of intelligence that they share. For the purposes of this book,we'll focus on a specific notion of intelligence to see how it can affectour choices, eating habits, overall health, and lifestyles.

Single Intelligence

Two ideas are prominent in the study of intelligence: the notionof a single intelligence factor and the idea that humans havemultiple intelligences that contribute to an overall intelligenceprofile.

Traditionally, researchers have believed that individuals havean overall general intelligence, which is the ability that allowspeople to process information of any type and in any context. Overtime, this approach has grown to dominate psychometric tests(tests that measure intelligence), and it has become widely usedand understood as the general factor that describes human mentalabilities. Psychometric intelligence (intelligence measured by testssuch as the Weschler Intelligence Test and the Stanford-Binet IQTest) is described as generic thinking skills that include efficientlearning, reasoning, problem solving, and abstract thinking.

Researchers have used the idea of a single intelligence tostudy the relationship between various social factors includingeducation level, achievement, socioeconomic level, health andlongevity, and mortality rates. For example, a child's IQ predictshis or her later socioeconomic success more accurately than aparent's attributes. Researchers consistently report that factorssuch as problem-solving ability, mental speed, general knowledge,creativity, abstract thinking, and memory all play key roles in themeasure and standard of intelligence, suggesting that a qualityof intelligence is the ability to interact with the environment andovercome its challenges.

Multiple Intelligences

General intelligence is only one way of looking at intelligence.Humans have a variety of mental capacities, and not all are capturedby the concept of a single intelligence. Over time, we have come toaccept multiple definitions of intelligence, suggesting that abilitiesother than the traditionally studied mathematics and linguisticabilities are valuable in society. We value individuals who possessunique abilities in sports, music, interpersonal relationships,intrapersonal understanding, and a variety of other areas.

In the 1980s, researchers proposed the idea that people learnand think differently and therefore possess multiple intelligencesrather than one general intelligence. This idea was appealing toeducators, who could see that children were displaying a wide rangeof abilities and strengths in the classroom. Educators realized thatthere must be an alternate way to explain the differences in learningand acquisition of knowledge. One general intelligence factor wasno longer satisfactory in explaining learning; instead, researchersand educators turned to the idea that multiple intelligences couldexplain the variation in human abilities. This was used to promotea more diverse approach to teaching and learning in which diversestrengths are supported and individuals are encouraged to improveupon their weaknesses.

Harvard University professor Howard Gardner initiallyidentified seven intelligences and later modified his list to includean eighth. The following chart helps define the intelligences in detailby indicating the behavioral strengths, preferred activities, andlearning style associated with each type of intelligence. Although allhumans possess all of the intelligences to some degree, individualscan show more strength in one or more intelligence areas.

Whether you believe in the idea of one general intelligence orprefer to conceptualize human abilities as multiple intelligences,intelligence is a factor that affects your daily choices, your eatinghabits, your approach to tasks, your relationships with others,your understanding and...