Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence - Education Encyclopedia

The triarchic theory of intelligence is based on a broader definition of intelligence than is typically used. In this theory, intelligence is defined in ... 10minuteread Intelligence TriarchicTheoryOfIntelligence Thetriarchictheoryofintelligenceisbasedonabroaderdefinitionofintelligencethanistypicallyused.Inthistheory,intelligenceisdefinedintermsoftheabilitytoachievesuccessinlifebasedonone'spersonalstandards–andwithinone'ssocioculturalcontext.Theabilitytoachievesuccessdependsontheabilitytocapitalizeonone'sstrengthsandtocorrectorcompensateforone'sweaknesses.Successisattainedthroughabalanceofanalytical,creative,andpracticalabilities–abalancethatisachievedinordertoadaptto,shape,andselectenvironments. Information-ProcessingComponentsUnderlyingIntelligence AccordingtoRobertSternberg'sproposedtheoryofhumanintelligence,acommonsetofuniversalmentalprocessesunderliesallaspectsofintelligence.Althoughtheparticularsolutionstoproblemsthatareconsidered"intelligent"inoneculturemaybedifferentfromthoseconsideredintelligentinanother,thementalprocessesneededtoreachthesesolutionsarethesame. Metacomponents,orexecutiveprocesses,enableapersontoplanwhattodo,monitorthingsastheyarebeingdone,andevaluatethingsaftertheyaredone.Performancecomponentsexecutetheinstructionsofthemetacomponents.Knowledge-acquisitioncomponentsareusedtolearnhowtosolveproblemsorsimplytoacquireknowledgeinthefirstplace.Forexample,astudentmayplantowriteapaper(metacomponents),writethepaper(performancecomponents),andlearnnewthingswhilewriting(knowledge-acquisitioncomponents). ThreeAspectsofIntelligence Accordingtothetriarchictheory,intelligencehasthreeaspects:analytical,creative,andpractical. Analyticalintelligence.Analyticalintelligenceisinvolvedwhenthecomponentsofintelligenceareappliedtoanalyze,evaluate,judge,orcompareandcontrast.Ittypicallyisinvolvedindealingwithrelativelyfamiliarkindsofproblemswherethejudgmentstobemadeareofafairlyabstractnature. Inonestudy,anattemptwasmadetoidentifytheinformation-processingcomponentsusedtosolveanalogiessuchas:AistoBasCisto:D1,D2,D3,D4(e.g.,lawyeristoclientasdoctoristo[a]nurse,[b]medicine,[c]patient,[d]MD).Thereisanencodingcomponent,whichisusedtofigureoutwhateachword(e.g.,lawyer)means,whiletheinferencecomponentisusedtofigureouttherelationbetweenlawyerandclient. Researchonthecomponentsofhumanintelligencehasshownthatalthoughchildrengenerallybecomefasterininformationprocessingwithage,notallcomponentsareexecutedmorerapidlywithage.Theencodingcomponentfirstshowsadecreaseinprocessingtimewithage,andthenanincrease.Apparently,olderchildrenrealizethattheirbeststrategyistospendmoretimeinencodingthetermsofaproblemsothattheylaterwillbeabletospendlesstimeinmakingsenseoftheseencodings.Similarly,betterreasonerstendtospendrelativelymoretimethandopoorerreasonersinglobal,up-frontmetacomponentialplanningwhentheysolvedifficultreasoningproblems.Poorerreasoners,ontheotherhand,tendtospendrelativelymoretimeindetailedplanningastheyproceedthroughaproblem.Presumably,thebetterreasonersrecognizethatitisbettertoinvestmoretimeupfrontsoastobeabletoprocessaproblemmoreefficientlylateron. Creativeintelligence.Inworkwithcreativeintelligenceproblems,RobertSternbergandToddLubartaskedsixty-threepeopletocreatevariouskindsofproductsintherealmsofwriting,art,advertising,andscience.Forexample,inwriting,theywouldbeaskedtowriteveryshortstories,forwhichtheinvestigatorswouldgivethemachoiceoftitles,suchas"BeyondtheEdge"or"TheOctopus'sSneakers."Inart,theparticipantswereaskedtoproduceartcompositionswithtitlessuchas"TheBeginningofTime"or"EarthfromanInsect'sPointofView."Participantscreatedtwoproductsineachdomain. SternbergandLubartfoundthatcreativityisrelatively,althoughnotwholly,domain-specific.Inotherwords,peoplearefrequentlycreativeinsomedomains,butnotinothers.Theyalsofoundthatcorrelationswithconventionalabilitytestsweremodesttomoderate,demonstratingthattestsofcreativeintelligencemeasureskillsthatarelargelydifferentfromthosemeasuredbyconventionalintelligencetests. Practicalintelligence.Practicalintelligenceinvolvesindividualsapplyingtheirabilitiestothekindsofproblemsthatconfrontthemindailylife,suchasonthejoborinthehome.MuchoftheworkofSternbergandhiscolleaguesonpracticalintelligencehascenteredontheconceptoftacitknowledge.Theyhavedefinedthisconstructaswhatoneneedstoknow,whichisoftennotevenverbalized,inordertoworkeffectivelyinanenvironmentonehasnotbeenexplicitlytaughttoworkin–andthatisoftennotevenverbalized. Sternbergandcolleagueshavemeasuredtacitknowledgeusingwork-relatedproblemsonemightencounterinavarietyofjobs.Inatypicaltacit-knowledgeproblem,peopleareaskedtoreadastoryaboutaproblemsomeonefaces,andtothenrate,foreachstatementinasetofstatements,howadequateasolutionthestatementrepresents.Forexample,inameasureoftacitknowledgeofsales,oneoftheproblemsdealswithsalesofphotocopymachines.Arelativelyinexpensivemachineisnotmovingoutoftheshowroomandhasbecomeoverstocked.Theexamineeisaskedtoratethequalityofvarioussolutionsformovingtheparticularmodeloutoftheshowroom. Sternbergandhiscolleagueshavefoundthatpracticalintelligence,asembodiedintacitknowledge,increaseswithexperience,butthatitishowoneprofits,orlearns,fromexperience,ratherthanexperienceperse,thatresultsinincreasesinscores.Somepeoplecanworkatajobforyearsandacquirerelativelylittletacitknowledge.Mostimportantly,althoughtestsoftacitknowledgetypicallyshownocorrelationwithIQtests,theypredictjobperformanceaboutaswellas,andsometimesbetterthan,IQtests. InastudyinUsenge,Kenya,Sternbergandcolleagueswereinterestedinschool-agechildren'sabilitytoadapttotheirindigenousenvironment.Theydevisedatestofpracticalintelligenceforadaptationtotheenvironmentthatmeasuredchildren'sinformaltacitknowledgeofnaturalherbalmedicinesthatthevillagersusedtofightvarioustypesofinfections.Theresearchersfoundgenerallynegativecorrelationsbetweenthetestofpracticalintelligenceandtestsofacademicintelligenceandschoolachievement.Inotherwords,peopleinthiscontextoftenemphasizepracticalknowledgeattheexpenseofacademicskillsintheirchildren'sdevelopment. Inanotherstudy,analytical,creative,andpracticaltestswereusedtopredictmentalandphysicalhealthamongRussianadults.Mentalhealthwasmeasuredbywidelyusedpaper-and-penciltestsofdepressionandanxiety,whilephysicalhealthwasmeasuredbyself-report.Thebestpredictorofmentalandphysicalhealthwasthepractical-intelligencemeasure,withanalyticalintelligencebeingthesecond-bestmeasureandcreativeintelligencebeingthethird. Factor-AnalyticStudies Factor-analyticstudiesseektoidentifythementalstructuresunderlyingintelligence.Fourseparatefactor-analyticstudieshavesupportedtheinternalvalidityofthetriarchictheoryofintelligence.Thesestudiesanalyzedaspectsofindividualdifferencesintestperformanceinordertouncoverthebasicmentalstructuresunderlyingtestperformance.Inonestudyof326highschoolstudentsfromthroughouttheUnitedStates,Sternbergandhiscolleaguesusedtheso-calledSternbergTriarchicAbilitiesTest(STAT)toinvestigatethevalidityofthetriarchictheory.Thetestcomprisestwelvesubtestsmeasuringanalytical,creative,andpracticalabilities.Foreachtypeofability,therearethreemultiple-choicetestsandoneessaytest.Themultiple-choicetestsinvolveverbal,quantitative,andfiguralcontent.Factoranalysisonthedatawassupportiveofthetriarchictheoryofhumanintelligence,asitwasmeasuredrelativelyseparateandindependentanalytical,creative,andpracticalfactors.Thetriarchictheoryalsowasconsistentwithdataobtainedfrom3,252studentsintheUnitedStates,Finland,andSpain.Thestudyrevealedseparateanalytical,creative,andpracticalfactorsofintelligence. InstructionalStudies Inanothersetofstudies,researchersexploredthequestionofwhetherconventionaleducationinschoolsystematicallydiscriminatesagainstchildrenwithcreativeandpracticalstrengths.Motivatingthisworkwasthebeliefthatthesystemsinmostschoolsstronglytendtofavorchildrenwithstrengthsinmemoryandanalyticalabilities. TheSternbergTriarchicAbilitiesTestwasadministeredto326high-schoolstudentsaroundtheUnitedStatesandinsomeothercountrieswhowereidentifiedbytheirschoolsasgifted(bywhateverstandardtheschoolused).Studentswereselectedforasummerprogramincollege-levelpsychologyiftheyfellintooneoffiveabilitygroupings:highanalytical,highcreative,highpractical,highbalanced(highinallthreeabilities),orlowbalanced(lowinallthreeabilities).Thesestudentswerethenrandomlydividedintofourinstructionalgroups,emphasizingmemory,analytical,creative,orpracticalinstruction.Forexample,inthememorycondition,theymightbeaskedtodescribethemaintenetsofamajortheoryofdepression.Intheanalyticalcondition,theymightbeaskedtocompareandcontrasttwotheoriesofdepression.Inthecreativecondition,theymightbeaskedtoformulatetheirowntheoryofdepression.Inthepracticalcondition,theymightbeaskedhowtheycouldusewhattheyhadlearnedaboutdepressiontohelpafriendwhowasdepressed. Studentswhowereplacedininstructionalconditionsthatbettermatchedtheirpatternofabilitiesoutperformedstudentswhoweremismatched.Inotherwords,whenstudentsaretaughtinawaythatfitshowtheythink,theydobetterinschool.Childrenwithcreativeandpracticalabilities,whoarealmostnevertaughtorassessedinawaythatmatchestheirpatternofabilities,maybeatadisadvantageincourseaftercourse,yearafteryear. Afollow-upstudyexaminedlearningofsocialstudiesandscienceby225third-gradersinRaleigh,NorthCarolina,and142eighth-gradersinBaltimore,Maryland,andFresno,California.Inthisstudy,studentswereassignedtooneofthreeinstructionalconditions.Inthefirstcondition,theyweretaughtthecoursetheywouldhavelearnedhadtherebeennointervention,whichplacedanemphasisonmemory.Inthesecondcondition,studentsweretaughtinawaythatemphasizedcritical(analytical)thinking,andinthethirdconditiontheyweretaughtinawaythatemphasizedanalytical,creative,andpracticalthinking.Allstudents'performancewasassessedformemorylearning(throughmultiple-choiceassessments)aswellasforanalytical,creative,andpracticallearning(throughperformanceassessments). Studentsinthetriarchic-intelligence(analytical,creative,practical)conditionoutperformedtheotherstudentsintermsoftheperformanceassessments.Interestingly,childreninthetriarchicinstructionalconditionoutperformedtheotherchildrenonthemultiple-choicememorytests.Inotherwords,totheextentthatone'sgoalisjusttomaximizechildren'smemoryforinformation,teachingtriarchicallyisstillsuperior.Thisisbecauseitenableschildrentocapitalizeontheirstrengthsandtocorrectortocompensatefortheirweaknesses,allowingthemtoencodematerialinavarietyofinterestingways. Inanotherstudy,involving871middle-schoolstudentsand432highschoolstudents,researcherstaughtreadingeithertriarchicallyorthroughtheregularcurriculum.Atthemiddle-schoollevel,readingwastaughtexplicitly.Atthehighschoollevel,readingwasinfusedintoinstructioninmathematics,physicalsciences,socialsciences,English,history,foreignlanguages,andthearts.Inallsettings,studentswhoweretaughttriarchicallysubstantiallyoutperformedstudentswhoweretaughtinstandardways. Conclusion Thetriarchictheoryofintelligenceprovidesausefulwayofunderstandinghumanintelligence.Itseemstocaptureimportantaspectsofintelligencenotcapturedbymoreconventionaltheories.ItalsodiffersfromthetheoriesofHowardGardner,whichemphasizeeightindependentmultipleintelligences(suchaslinguisticandmusicalintelligence),andfromthetheoryofemotionalintelligence.Thetriarchictheoryemphasizesprocessesofintelligence,ratherthandomainsofintelligence,asinGardner'stheory.Italsoviewsemotionsasdistinctfromintelligence.Eventually,atheorymaybeproposedthatintegratesthebestelementsofallexistingtheories. Seealso:CREATIVITY;INTELLIGENCE,subentryon>MYTHS,MYSTERIES,ANDREALITIES. BIBLIOGRAPHY GARDNER,HOWARD.1983.FramesofMind:TheTheoryofMultipleIntelligences.NewYork:BasicBooks. GARDNER,HOWARD.1999.IntelligenceReframed:MultipleIntelligencesforthe21stCentury.NewYork:BasicBooks. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.1977.Intelligence,InformationProcessing,andAnalogicalReasoning:TheComponentialAnalysisofHumanAbilities.Hills-dale,NJ:Erlbaum. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.1981."IntelligenceandNonentrenchment."JournalofEducationalPsychology73:1–16. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.1993.SternbergTriarchicAbilitiesTest.Unpublishedtest. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.1997.SuccessfulIntelligence.NewYork:Plume. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.1999."TheTheoryofSuccessfulIntelligence."ReviewofGeneralPsychology3:292–316. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.;FERRARI,MICHEL;CLINKENBEARD,PAMELAR.;andGRIGORENKO,ELENAL.1996."Identification,Instruction,andAssessmentofGiftedChildren:AConstructValidationofaTriarchicModel."GiftedChildQuarterly40(3):129–137. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.;FORSYTHE,GEORGEB.;HEDLUND,JENNIFER;HORVATH,JOE;SNOOK,SCOTT;WILLIAMS,WENDYM.;WAGNER,RICHARDK.;andGRIGORENKO,ELENAL.2000.PracticalIntelligenceinEverydayLife.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.;GRIGORENKO,ELENAL.;FERRARI,MICHEL;andCLINKENBEARD,PAMELAR.1999."ATriarchicAnalysisofanAptitude-TreatmentInteraction."EuropeanJournalofPsychologicalAssessment15(1):1–11. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.,andLUBART,TODDI.1995.DefyingtheCrowd:CultivatingCreativityinaCultureofConformity.NewYork:FreePress. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.,andRIFKIN,BATHSEVA.1979."TheDevelopmentofAnalogicalReasoningProcesses."JournalofExperimentalChildPsychology27:195–232. STERNBERG,ROBERTJ.;TORFF,BRUCE;andGRIGORENKO,ELENAL.1998."TeachingTriarchicallyImprovesSchoolAchievement."JournalofEducationalPsychology90:374–384. ROBERTJ.STERNBERG Additionaltopics Intelligence-Myths,Mysteries,AndRealities EducationEncyclopedia-StateUniversity.comEducationEncyclopediaIntelligence-Measurement,MultipleIntelligences,Myths,Mysteries,AndRealities,TriarchicTheoryOfIntelligence-EMOTIONALINTELLIGENCE