Multiple intelligences Historical introduction II

Intelligence, throughout history, has been studied by multiple authors and has been approached from different theories and views. Each contribution has contributed more or less to elaborate a theoretical corpus on this concept as well as in the elaboration of different measuring scales. In this way, gradually, We are approaching the concept of multiple intelligences by Howard Gardner.

As we saw in the article "Multiple Intelligences: Historical Introduction I", authors such as Galton, Binet, Cattell, Goddard, Terman, were fundamental in the history of intelligence. Each contributed what he found more successful and gradually grows this concept that today remains a source of research.But we cannot go through something other important milestones in the history of intelligence.

Content

• Key moment: World War I and the Army
  • Alpha and beta
• W. Dill Scott and another advance towards multiple intelligences
• Europe
• After war
  • From standford-binet to the weschesler-beelvue intelligence Scale
• Classic intelligence approaches
  • Intelligence theories centered on the person
  • Where had cognitive psychologists been all this time?
  • Intelligence theories centered on the context
  • Interactive Intelligence Theories
  • Jean Piaget
  • Vygotsky
• Bibliography

Key moment: World War I and the Army

World War I was a milestone in the history of psychotechnics. For the first time, specialized knowledge of psychology outside scientific research was applied in a practical way (Goundlach, 1998).

What role did Psychology in the Army? Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956), president of the APA, mobilized US psychology to serve the army. This fact was the key element for public recognition of the movement of mental tests and psychology.

On April 21 and 22, 1917 they will go down in history because APA advice decided to create twelve committees to organize the contribution of psychology and psychologists in war.

Yerkes made a psychology division created in the National Research Council. This organism enjoyed such fame and credibility that The president of the USA.Uu Woodrow Wilson put him in charge of the coordination of scientists in the war conflict. Yerkes was elected president of the committee dedicated to the recruit exam. But what was yerkes based for soldiers recruits?

Alpha and beta

Yerkes was eugenist and defended the hereditary model, so he considered that the best way the psychologists had to help in the army was Identify subjects with psychological disorders. In this way, he put psychologists in charge of the Identification Intellectual deficiency, nerve instability, psychopathic trends and lack of self -control (Camfield, 1969).

After an arduous and intense debate about what type of tests to use to recruit military an agreement was reached between the different professionals. Two tests were developed: Alpha tests and Beta tests. He Alpha test was intended for Angloper recruits And it consisted of 8 subtests that measured general culture, arithmetic, language, practical judgment, etc.

He Beta test It was destined for illiterates and non -English -speaking and consisted of labyrinths, geometric puzzles, figures, geometric constructions (Zeiner and Drucker, 1988).

The intention of psychologists is that they were collective tests that would measure if young people were suitable to be recruited by the army through the measurement of innate general intelligence. So that, This type of test became an instrument of the eugenic movement.

W. Dill Scott and another advance towards multiple intelligences

Walter Dill Scott (1869-1955) supposed the counterpoint to Yerkes and its conception of psychology and intelligence is much closer to the multiple intelligences model.

While Yerkes understood intelligence as innate, Scott defined it in a way flexible and changing depending on their practical purposes. However, this theory was not liked as Yerkes that described her as "little academic" because he said he was moving away from the scientific attitude sought by psychology.

On the other hand, Scott did not believe that the psychologist had to work with the doctor (as he did believe yerkes), but that Scott was interested in identifying the characteristics of the individuals who made them appropriate to occupy a position.

Scott also contributed his experience and criteria to the army classifying recruits according to their work experience, educational training and military experience. Its function resembled more to work of a human resources, evaluating each individual according to their CV that the evaluation of their intelligence.

Scott adapted a classification, selection and promotion of employees that took place in the Applied Psychology Division of the Carnegie Institute. He also prepared questionnaires to determine the skills of recruits in relation to possible military tasks. And standardized tests were also introduced to measure the ability to perform specific tasks.

Between the work of Yerkes and Scott the psychology came out strongly after the war and prepared to apply its instruments for evaluation, diagnosis and classification to new fields.

Europe

The European objective of psychology was the same, to place on the map and make themselves known. However, the procedure was a bit different. In Europe, concrete explorations were followed instead of evaluations at collective level. Among other tests, in Europe they were:

• Military vehicle driver examination.
• Appetizer's Aptitude Tests and Air Observers.
• Tests for phonometry and photometry service.
• Radiotelegrafista tests.
• Tests for gunners.

"The selection of specialists through the combination of the measure of the reaction time with the simulation through the real situation devices, would end up imposing itself in Europe, where it would become a paradigm of psychotecnia". -Gundlach-

After war

The war served to place psychology in the educational and workplace. Intelligence tests had begun to enjoy very prominent fame and recognition, but not only these, but also tests such as selection, classification, training and rehabilitation. This aspect caught attention in the business field and began to require psychologists for the selection of their staff.

"[War] constituted a fabulous opportunity to show the value of psychology in human resources management". -Reed-

An important step was the Association of Yerkes, Thondike, Terman, Whipple and Haggerty for the elaboration of a National Intelligence Test, that during the 20s it would apply to about seven million American schoolchildren. In the 30s these tests were already part of the educational policy and their purposes were the following (Morawski, 1984):

1. Determine students' skills and capabilities to facilitate better adjustment.
2. Identify deviants who required special education.
3. Help promotion and classification.
4. Vocational and educational orientation.
5. Evaluate educational practices and environments effective.

From standford-binet to the weschesler-beelvue intelligence Scale

The Standford-Binet scale dominated during the first decades of the twentieth century, but soon The tests of David Wechsler (1896-1981) would begin to be a serious competition until somehow, replace them becoming the most used tests in clinical and school contexts. The first version appeared in 1939 with the name of Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale with the purpose of evaluating the Intellectual processes in adolesentities and adults. 

Intelligence is the "global capacity of a person to act propositively, to think rationally, and to effectively face their environment". -Wechsler-

The author reviewed the first version of the test and following there he prepared the following scales:

• In 1949 he developed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). Applicable to children between six and sixteen years old.
• In 1955 he developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Scale for older than sixteen years.
• In 1963 the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPSSI) appeared. For children between four and six years.
• In 1974 he reviewed the WISC and elaborated the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revice (WISC-R).

Classic intelligence approaches

Sternberg and Detterman (1986) distinguish three approaches to intelligence:

1. Person -centered.
2. Focused on context.
3. Interaction between person and context.

Intelligence theories centered on the person

Among the intelligence theories focused on the person we find the Psychometric theories of intelligence. What does it consist on? In to be able to measure a psychological dimension of the human being through quantitative procedures. Thus, the psychometric study of intelligence is based on three points (Stenberg and Berg, 1992):

1. The nature of intelligence is analyzed through the study of individual differences in the face of certain cognitive tasks.
2. Techniques such as correlation or factor analysis provide necessary information on the structure of intellectual capacities.
3. Measurement instruments must be constructed and validated properly since they are decisive in the study of intelligence.

Within person -centered theories we also find the cognitive theories of intelligence. At the end of the 70s a movement of criticism of the factor analysis begins and a change of approach is raised.

"At the beginning of the 21st century, cognitive psychology is a wide field concerned about memory, perception, attention, recognition, consciousness, neuroscience, representation of knowledge, cognitive development, language, thought and Artificial and human intelligence "-Solso and Maclin-

Cognitive theory defends that intellectual functioning processes both external and interior information. The human being begins to be seen as a "Information processor", collect external and internal data and processes them, creates representation of this information and acts accordingly. The processes would be destined for a better adaptation to the immediate environment.

All this information processing elapses between the stimulus and the response. The human being receives a stimulus, performs the entire mental operation and offers an answer. The mental activity between the stimulus and the response would imply Information manipulation, elaboration and transformation of this information.

In this way, while the factorial position tried to describe intelligence and measure it, The cognitive position wanted to go further and was interested in investigating how the process worked.

Where had cognitive psychologists been all this time?

Apparently it was not until 1974 in a congress held in Pittsburg when cognitive psychology is not really interested in intelligence. From this moment on, the information process is used as the theoretical framework to explain and describe the cognitive processes underlying "intelligent behavior". Cognitive psychology would emphasize individual differences than in measuring intelligence.

Its objective was clear, define basic psychological processes such as attention, learning, memory, perception, information recovery ... and all this associating it with intelligence.

Martín (2007), difference three currents within cognitivism regarding intellectual abilities:

1. Intelligence identification with Mental speed.
2. Higher mental processes They arise from underlying basic mental operations.
3. Intelligence corresponds to mental processes of higher order In an up-down approach.

Intelligence theories centered on the context

CIVERA, TORTOSA Y VERA (2006): "Context, or contexts, refers to the situational or circumstantial environment that gives value or meaning a set of facts or events of physical, social, psychological, cultural, political or any kind. […] They are complex, ambiguous and changing spaces in which human activity occurs ".

These theories speak of the psychosocial aspect of the human being, of their interaction with the environment, both labor, family, educational, etc. Although the most radical contextual psychologists place intelligence in a phenomenon of a social and/or cultural nature. That is, it is no longer an internal, but external element (Berry, 1981).

"It is impossible to understand intelligence without understanding culture: in essence, culture determines the nature of intelligence and determines who has certain levels of intelligence, through classification and attribution processes". -Sternberg and Detterman-

Interactive Intelligence Theories

These theories defend the interaction between the individual and his context in the development of his intelligence. Two authors stand out within these positions: Jean Piaget and Lëv Semionovith Vygotsky.

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is unmarked both the psychometric aspect of intelligence and the experimental. As Vera and Tortosa (2006) are questioned, the best matter to understand Piaget is asking himself: "How are living beings adapt to their various environments and what are the mechanisms that make such adaptation possible?"

Piaget focuses on the maturational process. According to this, it's about find a balance between the individual himself and the demands of the contexts. Also contemplates a process of assimilation of the external reality and another of accommodation From our structures to the environment. The human being tends to "Harmonic articulation" of its parts as a whole, this is, All parts that make up the human being coordinate with each other to be able to interact efficiently with the environment.

For example, when the newborn manages to coordinate his visual system with his auditory system, it can be said that he has taken a step forward in his maturational process and is able to interact with the environment more efficiently and function as a whole.

The "Circular reaction" It consists of the indefinite functionality of the mechanism, in this way new assimilatory forms continuously and increasingly rich are created, until reaching logical intelligence that seeks humans a deep knowledge of objects.

"The balance activity is the dialectic between matter and life, and it is the engine of evolution". -Piaget-

Piaget defended a position interactionist since he considered the relationship between the subject and the objects the key aspect of his theory.

Vygotsky

Lëv Semionovith Vygotsky (1896-1934), considers culture as the main determinant of individual development. It focuses on sociocultural aspects related to the development of higher mental processes, especially in those who make learning possible.

"The human being creates culture and in it, through it develops as such. Language is the key instrument that makes all this process possible ". -Vygotsky-

So that, Vygotsky's concerns revolve around consciousness as a phenomenon mediated by historical-cultural laws and around language as a social element, the result of the interaction between the individual and his environment.

Vera (1995), summarizes Vygotsky's ideas in seven:

1. The highly evolved nervous system is the only thing a child is endowed when it is born.
2. There are associations in the nervous system and these are those that direct psychic life in the first years of life.
3. The social structure that faces the biological structure comes into play. From the dialectical encounter between these two realities the human psyche was born.
4. At this point the determining tendencies of the child's thought arise and modify its cognitive structure, although the behavior direction will proceed from abroad.
5. The company acts on the individual through external tools (instruments) and internal tools (signs), both manipulable.
6. Through language, the manipulative function of the original psyche is produced.
7. The use of tools away the man from an immediate response to his surroundings and distance him from reality, in this way he can plan the behavior and carry it out based on the goals.

Do not miss: Multiple Intelligences: Historical Introduction III

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