Types of Intelligence and How to Find The One You Are Best In

By Martin

Being referred to or described as “intelligent” is probably one of the best compliments you can hope for. Certainly, people with high levels of intelligence are accorded a lot of respect and admiration. Basically, they are viewed as a cut above the rest.

But there are downsides to that, too, since being described as intelligent can be quite restricting and, at the same time, put a lot of pressure on you. You are expected to be excellent or outstanding at everything, and your smallest mistake will be picked on and criticized.

This mostly stems from the fact that people, in general, have a single perception on what intelligence is. For most people, being intelligent is perceived as having a lot of useful (and sometimes non-useful) knowledge and skills, and being able to apply such knowledge and skills.

That's not wrong, mind you. In fact, it is one of the several accurate definitions of intelligence circulating today. Where it goes wrong in actual application is how people believe that being knowledgeable and skilled at general and random information is a sign of being intelligent.

You see, there are several types of intelligence, and that's what we will look into in the succeeding discussion.

CATTELL-HORN'S TWO TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE

In Psychology, there are two types of intelligence, as identified by American psychologists Raymond Cattell and John Horn: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

Their theory holds that an individual's overall intelligence is a result of different skills and abilities mixing and interacting together.

Fluid intelligence

Fluid intelligence is described as the “general ability to think abstractly, reason, identify patterns, solve problems, and discern relationships”. It is something that depends mainly on one's native ability, and not something that can be obtained or acquired through education, training, or even experience and exposure to various environmental factors.

This type of ...read more

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