Many intelligence tests yield a single IQ score. Explain whether such a score is consistent or inconsistent with each of the following theoretical perspectives:

Question

a. Spearman's concept of g
b. Gardner's multiple intelligences
c. Sternberg's triarchic theory
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Responses to various parts of the question are as follows:
a. A single IQ score is consistent with the idea that there is a general factor (g) that underlies people's performance on many different measures of intelligence.
b. A single IQ score is inconsistent with Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner proposes that people may be more or less intelligent in eight different areas. A single IQ score cannot reflect all eight of these simultaneously.
c. A single IQ score is inconsistent with Sternberg's triarchic theory. Sternberg suggests that there are at least three ways in which people might be more or less intelligent; he calls these analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. He also proposes that intelligent behavior is a function of the environmental context, one's prior experiences, and the cognitive processes brought into play. Thus intelligence will vary from situation to situation and cannot be reflected by a single IQ score.