Intelligence
A concrete definition of intelligence is notoriously difficult to determine. Numerous definitions have been put forward but none can give a quantitive, all-encompassing definition, and this is one reason – of many – why intelligence tests cannot claim to give ‘definitive’, all-encompassing reflections of intelligence. The need to quantify intelligence drives the study and the wide scale testing of subjects, but how reliable is our definitions of intelligence and testing methods. Of the many definitions of intelligence Robert Sternberg definition is one, which most psychologists agree (or partly agree) with. ... Two other definitions are: “Intelligence is multifaceted; that is aspects of it can be expressed in many domains” (Westen, 1996) and in general, the ability of an individual to understand the world and work out appropriate courses of action (Stratton & Hayes 1999). ... Thurstone’s definition looks at an ability to control one’s behaviour as well as the extent of one’s mental ability: “Intelligence is the ability to inhibit judgements and instead, to consider different responses and to learn from experience” (Scott & Spencer, 1998, p 578).