A Review at the Turn of the Millennium
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Copyright 2000 by the Psychology in Spain, 2000, Vol. 4. No 1, 167-182 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos. Spain THE STUDY OF HUMAN INTELIGENCE: A REVIEW AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM Roberto Colom Marañon* and Antonio Andrés-Pueyo** Universidad Autónoma de Madrid* and **Universitat de Barcelona The study of intelligence has been one of the cornerstones of psychology throughout the twentieth century. From the work of pioneers Spearman, Binet and Thurstone up to the present day, advances in this area have been constant, but also con- troversial. Given the relevance of this area for everyday life, the question of intelligence models and their implications has gone beyond the academic framework to become a hot topic of socio-political debate. Motivated by recent controversies, our aim in this article is to describe, with the necessary brevity, what psychology currently knows about human intelligen- ce, what remains to be discovered, and the consequences and possibilities of the application of this knowledge. We intend to present a photograph, a snapshot of the advances and discoveries made in this century in the field of the study of inte- lligence. Our aim is not to get “back to basics”, but rather to take stock, to look back at the past and forward to the future of psychology’s quest for understanding the nature of human intelligence. El estudio de la inteligencia ha sido uno de los apartados más característicos de la Psicología a lo largo del siglo XX. Desde los trabajos de los pioneros Ch.Spearman, A.Binet, y L.L.Thurstone hasta la actualidad los avances en este terreno han sido constantes y también polémicos. Como en cualquier otra disciplina científica el debate en torno a los modelos, el contraste de las predicciones y de aplicaciones ha sido intenso y a veces ha superado el estricto marco de la Psicología para convertirse en un debate socio-político debido a la importancia de este fenómeno en la vida cotidiana. En este artí- culo queremos realizar una descripción, necesariamente breve, de lo que hoy la Psicología sabe de la inteligencia huma- na, lo que falta por descubrir, así como las consecuencias y posibilidades que se derivan de aplicar estos conocimientos. Esta descripción está motivada por las recientes polémicas y declaraciones que se han realizado en torno a este tópico. Pretendemos realizar una instantánea, una foto fija, realizada ante el conjunto de avances y descubrimientos realizados durante este siglo en el ámbito del estudio de la inteligencia. No es un «back to basics», sino un punto y seguido en la inves- tigación psicológica de la inteligencia humana. lmost 30 years ago, David Wechsler wrote: chology, psychometrics, differentia psychology, etc.), A“Intelligence is one of the psychological pheno- and these have been joined by geneticists, sociologists, mena about which we know most, and about which we primatologists, palaeontologists, engineers, and so on. have most information” (Wechsler, 1971). This opinion Interest in human intelligence has been renewed in the of one of the most reputable experts in intelligence is not last decade after a decline in the 1960s and 70s. Current shared by other psychologists, who consider intelligen- interest goes beyond the limits of psychology, and repre- ce to be a largely unknown phenomenon. This divergen- sents the culmination of two decades in which psycho- ce may be due to the fact that intelligence is a complex logical research on human intelligence regained much of and many-faceted phenomenon that admits a wide the strength it had acquired in the 1930s and 1950s. variety of approaches. Thus, many specialists have stu- Research on intelligence had stagnated in the 1960s for died intelligence since the turn of the century with the a variety of reasons, among them the crisis of analytical intention of discovering its secrets. The psychologists methods based on correlation and factor analysis, the involved in such work have come from a range of spe- harsh criticisms of intelligence tests (and by extension, cialities (child psychology, educational psychology, cli- IQ) from radical environmentalist positions, widely dis- nical psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsy- parate –not to say antagonistic– models of the structure of intelligence, and ignorance of the functional mecha- The original Spanish version of this paper has been previously nisms of this highly relevant attribute of cognitive acti- published in Psicothema, 1999, Vol. 11 No 3, 453-476 vity. These, then, are some of the factors that explain the ........... substantial crisis suffered by the study of intelligence. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Roberto Colom Marañon, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad This hiatus did not affect research in the development of Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain. intelligence, which has had its own dynamic, though E-mail: [email protected] recently this aspect has recently also suffered a crisis, VOLUME 4. NUMBER 1. 2000. PSYCHOLOGY IN SPAIN 167 given its strong dependence on the Piagetian tradition, perhaps to a greater extent than in other cultural traditions which has shown its insufficiencies. The arrival of the in which, while we find referents for this ability, they do cognitive paradigm in psychology, together with other not play the same role as in our own (Juan-Espinosa, important influences, such as interest in the role of inte- 1997). Our immediate referents with regard to intelligen- lligence in the lifespan and the growth and spread of ce are peculiar to our Western culture. multivariate data analysis techniques, have been instru- In a general way, we can observe that between the mental in a renewal of interest in the study of intelligen- popular or lay conception of intelligence and the scien- ce. The result has been a high degree of enthusiasm and tific one there are many points of coincidence. the development of new research programmes on intelli- Sternberg, in a seminal work, demonstrated that experts gence that have aimed at resolving –and with a high and non-experts agree that intelligent people are charac- degree of success –some problems and enigmas related terised by their capacity for solving problems, either to its structure and functioning. Thus, for example, the new or familiar, their adeptness with language and their problem of the existence of different models of intelli- open and tolerant attitude to innovation (Sternberg, gence has been solved, with the achievement of the for- 1981). Lay and scientific conceptions also coincide, mulation of a single and comprehensive model accepted though perhaps to a lesser extent, in identifying the exis- by the majority (Carroll, 1993; Colom, 1995, 1998; tence of a general capacity that permits the acquisition Andrés-Pueyo, 1996, 1997; Juan-Espinosa, 1997). Also of knowledge and certain more specific abilities based in this latest period, enormous efforts have been devoted on knowledge ability. This area of agreement extends to to studying the mechanisms that underpin intelligent ideas about aspects of the nature and functions of inte- behaviour, and the progress made, though insufficient, lligence that in Western society constitute a body of has brought us closer to a scientific explanation of the knowledge rooted in tradition, and whose basic tenets processes that constitute intelligence (Colom, 1997 a; are that: a) intelligence is a dispositional aptitude or Hunt, 1995 a; Jensen, 1998). capacity (a faculty) that conditions the obtaining of an However, these advances in our understanding of the adequate level of performance in any task approached basic structure and mechanisms of intelligence have not by an individual, b) this ability has an eminently adapti- been made alone. Within this context fascinating disco- ve function, c) it is not a property exclusive to human veries have been made in relation to the genetics of inte- beings, though it is in humans that it attains it greatest lligence and its functioning in the most recent stages of complexity, and in whom its effects are most relevant, human development, to the role of environmental varia- and d) it is closely related to the structure and function bles in the development of this capacity, and to the use of the brain (Andrés-Pueyo, 1994; Colom, 1997; Juan- and effectiveness of its measurement. These advances Espinosa, 1997). In this context the development of psy- have permitted psychologists to gain access to reliable chological research in intelligence throughout the twen- information which, when used as the basis for the work tieth century has been enormously fruitful. of professionals, lends it a rigour essential to scientific A simple observation of intelligence demonstrates the practice (Colom, 1999). Our aim in this article is to des- many and varied facets of this phenomenon, given its cribe, with the necessary brevity, what psychology implication in all individual and social behaviours. And currently knows about human intelligence, what remains it this very ubiquitousness that gives rise to one of the to be discovered, and the consequences and possibilities most important problems regarding the formulation of a of the application of this knowledge. The presentation of theory of intelligence, in terms of whether it should be such a description has been motivated by the recent con- considered as a single or multiple ability. In fact, a pro- troversy surrounding this issue and the statements made per understanding of the phenomenon requires the iden- in relation to it. We intend to present the reader with a tification of a wide variety of expressions of intelligen- photograph, a snapshot of the advances and discoveries ce. We can speak of a social intelligence, which some made in this century in the field of the study of intelli- prefer to call practical, that comes into play in everyday gence. Our aim is not to get “back to basics”, but rather life, and that may be used equally to deal with a domes- to take stock, to look back at the past and forward to the tic, a financial or a work-related problem.