Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SI) theory - Madhav University

Structure. In Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SI) theory, intelligence is viewed as comprising operations, contents, and products. There are 5 kinds of ... Guilford'sStructureofIntellect(SI)theory Home Guilford'sStructureofIntellect(SI)theory Guilford'sStructureofIntellect(SI)theory Introduction JoyPaulGuilfordwasbornonafarmnearMarquette,Nebraska,onMarch7,1897.Hewasimpressedwiththeunevennessofchildren'sabilitiesindifferentareas,somethinghehadalreadynoticedwhilecomparinghisownandhisbrother'saptitudes.Hebecameconvincedthatintelligencewasnotonemonolithic,globalattributebutacompositeofdifferentabilities.Atthispointinhistraining,therefore,hewasalreadyshowingastronginterestinwhatwastobethedominantfocusofhisprofessionalcareer—individualdifferences. Bytheearly1950sGuilfordbegantofeeltheneedtodevelopasystemforclassifyingthemanymentalabilitiesthathadbeenandwerecontinuingtobediscovered.Thefirstversionofhisnow-famousStructureofIntellect(SOI)modelwaspresentedin1955toaninternationalconferenceonfactoranalysisinParis.Fromitsfirstformulation,theSOImodelbecamethemainfocusofGuilford'sresearchandwriting.Heusedthemodeltosuggestwherenewabilitiesmightbediscovered,muchastheperiodictablehadbeenusedearliertolocatenewchemicalelements. Thenumberofpossibleabilitiesrepresentedbythemodelhasincreasedovertheyears,andinthelatestversion(describedbelow)thereare180.AstheSOImodeldeveloped,Guilfordbecamemoreandmoreinterestedinapplyingittoimproveeducation. Hebelievedthathumanabilitiesaredifferentiatedintoincreasinglycomplexsystemsasafunctionofmoreandmoreeducation.Hebelievedthatchildrencanbetrainedtobesmarter;"Intelligenceeducationisintelligenteducation"becamehismotto. InhisfinalversionoftheSOI,"SomeChangesintheStructure-of-IntellectModel"EducationalandPsychologicalMeasurement,1988,vol.48,pp.1-4,Guilforddescribedintelligenceasbeingasystematiccollectionofalargenumberofabilitiesforprocessingdifferentkindsofinformationinvariousways. Structure InGuilford’sStructureofIntellect(SI)theory,intelligenceisviewedascomprisingoperations,contents,andproducts.Thereare5kindsofoperations(cognition,memory,divergentproduction,convergentproduction,evaluation),6kindsofproducts(units,classes,relations,systems,transformations,andimplications),and5kindsofcontents(visual,auditory,symbolic,semantic,behavioral).Sinceeachofthesedimensionsisindependent,therearetheoretically150differentcomponentsofintelligence. GuilfordresearchedanddevelopedawidevarietyofpsychometricteststomeasurethespecificabilitiespredictedbySItheory.Thesetestsprovideanoperationaldefinitionofthemanyabilitiesproposedbythetheory.Furthermore,factoranalysiswasusedtodeterminewhichtestsappearedtomeasurethesameordifferentabilities. Parenthetically,itisinterestingtonotethatamajorimpetusforGuilford’stheorywashisinterestincreativity(Guilford,1950).Thedivergentproductionoperationidentifiesanumberofdifferenttypesofcreativeabilities. Application SItheoryisintendedtobeageneraltheoryofhumanintelligence.Itsmajorapplication(besideseducationalresearch)hasbeeninpersonnelselectionandplacement.Meeker(1969)examinesitsapplicationtoeducation. Principles Reasoningandproblem-solvingskills(convergentanddivergentoperations)canbesubdividedinto30distinctabilities(6productsx5contents). Memoryoperationscanbesubdividedinto30differentskills(6productsx5contents). Decision-makingskills(evaluationoperations)canbesubdividedinto30distinctabilities(6productsx5contents). Language-relatedskills(cognitiveoperations)canbesubdividedinto30distinctabilities(6productsx5contents). References Guilford,J.P.(1967).TheNatureofHumanIntelligence.NewYork:McGraw-Hill. Guilford,J.P.&Hoepfner,R.(1971).TheAnalysisofIntelligence.NewYork:McGraw-Hill. Guilford,J.P.(1982).Cognitivepsychology’sambiguities:Somesuggestedremedies.PsychologicalReview,89,48-59. MadhavUniversityprovidealltypesofEducationandPhysicalEducationCourses- -Education -PhysicalEducation Courtesy: Dr.DeepakPancholi,AssistantProfessor MadhavUniversity