Measurable Intelligence?
Intelligence is defined as "thinking skills and the ability to adapt to and learn from life's everyday experiences" (Santrock, 249). Various interpretations of what intellect really is have induced many hotheaded debates at simply the mention of that little four-syllable word. The real underlying key to answering all questions regarding the mind is whether intelligence is assessable. And it is not. Intelligence is too broad and ever changing a field of the human mind to ever accurately be measured. Topics that support intellect being immeasurable include the changing historical trends, individual performance strengths, disabled individuals, the inaccuracy of intelligence tests and, finally, cultural variances. History has shown that any given society's concept of intelligent behavior changes throughout time, and that "... the mental abilities deserving emphasis-the criteria for assessing intelligence-may change with the times; men of extreme but one sided talent, deemed "brilliant" in one era, might be considered unremarkable in another" (Frost, 1993). For example, the individual that first implemented fire as a tool for cooking raw meat-- millions of years ago-may have been held by peers as having a
that it is impossible to distinguish. Education: reflecting our society (2000 ed. 60) it would prove a near impossible task to determine one clear, culture-fair set of standards to use in assessing intelligence found throughout (and holds true to) all cultures of the world. While the future holds a great deal of promise in advancing today's current limits in the research of human knowledge, presently there is no correct way to measure intelligence. Suffice it to say, abilities and knowledge deemed important by generations before [the 21st century] are considered to be of little accomplishment today. Because of the many restrictions that hinder the evaluation of disabled persons, such as a physical or mental disability, no assessment can be given in any manner to those not able to perform in a way that could be understood by the evaluator. Retrieved 20 November 2003, from Academic Search Elite, Article No. The bell curve, IQ, and assessment testing.
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