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Giving a definition of what intelligence is is more difficult than it seems at first glance. This is because intelligence covers a wide range of cognitive abilities and mental faculties.
What intelligence is: concept, definition, word origin and measurement
What intelligence is can be defined in different ways.
- While the Duden defines intelligence as the human capacity for rational and abstract thought from which purposeful action can be derived, psychological definitions tend to emphasise the cognitive and instrumental aspect of intelligence.
- Although there is no uniform definition of intelligence in psychology, one basic idea can be found in all attempts at definition: Intelligence is used as a collective term for the totality of a person’s cognitive abilities.
- In a narrower sense, intelligence encompasses intellectual performance and the ability to solve complex tasks. It is understood as a domain-specific construct.Accordingly, there are different types or sub-areas of intelligence. These include logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial or even interpersonal intelligence.
- The term “intelligence” has its origin in the Latin verb “intellegere”, which literally means “to choose between”. The word was already used in ancient Rome in the sense of “understanding” or “insight”.
- Intelligence can be measured using psychological tests – first and foremost an IQ test. The IQ test examines abilities in different areas such as spatial, linguistic, mathematical, reasoning and memory skills.
- The result of the test is the intelligence quotient, which relates the age of intelligence recorded by the test to the age of life. An IQ of 100 is considered average, with about two-thirds of people achieving a score between 85 and 115.
