INDIVIDUAL PORTFOLIO 8 Name: Ronny Anak Tanjong

Lecture 6: Intelligence, Cognition & Learning Matrix ID: 19752

This lecture is discusses about intelligence, cognition and learning. There are many
definitions of intelligence. Some say it the capacity to learn and some defined it as the ability
to adapt successfully to new situations and to the environment in general. This is causing the
controversies in research on intelligence. Is intelligence has one ability or many abilities?
According to Spearman (1927), performance on any cognitive task depended on a primary
general factor. People who score high or low in one test of intelligence tend to score at a
similar level on the other tests. He thinks that intelligence is a unified ability. Meanwhile,
according to Thurstone (1938), intelligence is a composite of 7 distinct primary mental
abilities such as verbal comprehension, number, space, reasoning, associative memory and
perceptual speed. He thinks that intelligence is a multifaceted ability.
Human intelligence can be measured. It was started by Alfred Binet at 1904. He
proposes the Simon-Binet Scale to find a way to discriminate between intellectual normal and
retarded children. IQ, which is stands for “intelligence quotient” is produced following
Binet’s work. Then, in 1939, David Wechsler divided Binet’s Test into 3 different parts:
verbal IQ, performance IQ and overall IQ. IQ is measured by the ratio of mental age to
chronological age, with 100 being average.
According to Howard Garner (1983), there are at least 7 separate kinds of
intelligences. There are linguistic (verbal), musical, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-
kinesthetic, understanding of others (interpersonal) and understanding of self (intrapersonal).
People who strong in language intelligence enjoy and sensitive to words. For musical
intelligence, they like the rhythm and sound of languageand understand how music works.
Another is people who love graphics, easy to remember objects and enjoy drawing; they are
good in spatial intelligence. People who are strong in the logical-mathematical intelligence
enjoy exploring how things are related, love mathematics and good at critical thinking.
People good in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are often good at sports. If some persons good
in socal skills, then, they are in the interpersonal intelligence, but, if they have detailed and
accurate self-knowledge, they are in the intrapersonal intelligence.
Another type of intelligence is emotional intelligence (EI). According to Daniel
Goleman, EI is the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought,
understand and reason eith emotion, and regulate emotion in oneself and others. EI consists
of 4 components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship
management. Intelligence can be get due to the heredity or due to the environment. For
example, adopted children have IQ that correlate closely with those of their biological parents
INDIVIDUAL PORTFOLIO 8 Name: Ronny Anak Tanjong

Lecture 6: Intelligence, Cognition & Learning Matrix ID: 19752

than with those of their adoptive parents. On the other hand, for example, special educational
program has raised IQ scores and academic achievement makes environment factors also
important in intelligence development.
Final topic in this chapter is about computer and its intelligence. Computer is built to
help human produce a better works such as paper work, modelling a 3D object or program a
JavaScript. However, computers still have to be improve before it can be said to have it own
intelligence.