Meaning and Definition:
Human being is considered to be the most intelligent animal in this world. He is capable of controlling all other beings and many other things in this world.
Intelligence has a very important role in day- to-day activities of the individual.
The word intelligence has been derived from a Latin verb ‘intellegere’ means to understand.
What is intelligence? There are many answers for this question. The concept of intelligence has been understood by psychologists in different ways. Therefore, there are a number of definitions. The following are some of the important definitions:
Alfred Binet:
Intelligence is something which sensory acuity tests or reaction time experiments measure.
Spencer:
Intelligence is the capacity of the organism to adjust itself to an increasingly complex environment.
Terman:
Intelligence is the ability to carry on abstract thinking.
Munn:
It is the capacity for flexible adjustment.
Goddard:
Intelligence is the degree of availability of one’s experiences for the solution of immediate problems and the anticipation of the future ones.
Spearman:
Intelligence is the capacity for constructive thinking, which involves a discovery of appropriate qualities and relations of the ideas, that are before us and bringing in of other relevant ideas.
All these definitions define intelligence in their own way, but they are incomplete, because they give incomplete picture. In view of this problem, many psychologists have accepted a definition by Wechsler. David Wechsler (1944) who devised the intelligence tests for children as well as adults tried to provide a somewhat comprehensive definition:
“Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of an individual to think rationally, to act purposefully and to deal effectively with his environment”.
This definition includes three important processes, viz., to act purposefully means, to act in a determined way without any ambiguity, to think appropriately in a rational way without any prejudices and to deal effectively with the environment or to adjust in a proper way with the environment.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ):
As said above every individual will possess some amount of intelligence. We may be able to say whether the individual is less intelligent or more intelligent on the basis of his performance in activities. But to know the exact quantity of intelligence possessed by an individual, administration of an intelligence test is essential.
When a test is administered we get a score which may be converted into Mental Age (M A), the concept developed by Alfred Binet. This is an index of his mental ability. But this score does not give us the quantitative measure of his mental ability or intelligence.
Hence, in order to know a quantitative measure, a German psychologist by name William Stern proposed a formula, i.e. MA/CA x 100.
The output we get out of this formula was called as Intelligence Quotient (IQ) by Stern, which is the index of the quantity of intelligence possessed by the person. The Chronological Age (CA) will be the actual or real age of the person.
The resultant product of MA divided by CA may be in decimal point, which does not give a clear picture. Hence, in order to overcome this problem of decimal points, Stern suggested that the product be multiplied by 100. This product will be supposed to be the quantity of intelligence possessed by the individual.
Binet and other psychologists had a firm belief that the IQ remains constant and it will not change though the individual grows chronologically. They believed that the growth of intelligence will be ceased by 16th year in almost all individuals.
Hence, they restricted CA to 16 years-irrespective of the age of individuals after 16 years. That is why the actual CA will be considered if the age is below 16 years while calculating IQ. But it will be taken as only 16, even if the age of the individual exceeds 16 years.
Examples: IQ=MA/CA× 100
= 10/10×100=100
= 12/10×100=120
= 8/10×100=80
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