Ashley Banna

October 24, 2016

OPTION B: INTELLIGENCE
Respond to BOTH of the following: sets of questions:
1. Think of intelligent people whom you know well. What unintelligent things do they do? All
of them are bound to do some unintelligent things, so why do you consider them to be intelligent
people? Were you emphasizing some factors at the expense of others? Explain.
2. Did you ever consider that the homeless shelter might be filled with people of tremendous
potential? There might be a world-class archer, a great poet, a magnificent violinist, and a great
president. However, the archer never happened to try the bow, the poet never tried writing, the
violinist ignored music, and the president never ran for office. Instead, they worked at other
things and weren't very good. Some might think of themselves as failures, although they would
have been successful if they had only tried these other things. What argument is being made by
these statements? How would the concept of a general intelligence refute this argument?
I look up to my mother. She has always been my role model. She is very smart and wise.
She is also very intelligent. My mom has always been there for me, Ive always been able to go
to her for help or ask her tough questions I couldnt answer myself. Even when she doesnt know
the answer to something, she can always point me in the right direction of finding the answer.
My mother is a very good listener, she is able to listen to what has been said and apply it. I often
come to her with my problems and she is able to help me evaluate the situation and solve the
problem. People turn to her because of how well she is able to do so. She listens and learns from
others and is able to assist.
Even though my mother had good grades when she was young, she had difficulty
reading. This past experience discouraged her from going to college when the time came. She
didnt see herself as a good student.
As time went by she married and had a family and then my mom became a single parent
of four. At first she felt she had few opportunities to get a good job that would support her family
as needed. In the past she wanted to teach or do social work. She wanted to be helping other
people in a way that she was able to. That past experience helped her find the motivation that
pushed her to seek higher education. She had to find a way.
Three factors facilitate increases in the knowledge base: past experience, current
opportunity, and personal motivation. The third one is crucial. Because of motivation, childrens
knowledge base is not always what their parents or teachers would like. Lack of motivation helps
explain why some students dont remember what they learned in science class but do remember
the scores of local athletic contests. (Berger, 2014, p. 258)
This makes so much sense to me because in 2014 my mom graduated Magna Cum Laude
with a BA from USU. She is currently 2/3 through her masters program. She used her personal
motivation along with her love for her family to overcome her past fears, focus on a positive past
experience such as desiring to help others, and make a better decision going forward.
The illustration above helps me evaluate what makes a person become homeless because
I think the reason is not simple. Robert Stemberg (1996) described three distinct types of
intelligence: academic, measured by IQ and achievement tests; creative, evidenced by
imaginative endeavors; and practical, seen in everyday problem solving. (Berger, 2014, p.270)

Howard Gardner (1983) originally described seven intelligences: linguistic, logicalmathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic (movement), interpersonal (social
understanding), and intrapersonal (self-understanding) each associated with a region of the
brain. He has since added two more: naturalistic (understanding nature, as in biology or
farming) and existential (thinking about life and death) (Gardner, 1999, 2006; Gardner & Moran,
2006).
There is still a debate over multiple or general intelligences. Leading theoretician
Charles Spearman proposed that there is such a thing as intelligence, a single entity that he called
general intelligence. (Berger, 2014, p.445) This seems to say that general intelligence does not
take into account specific skills or traits but is an overall assessment**measurement. In my
opinion, two people with identical IQs could turn out with completely different lifestyles. I
believe that the reason for that is because you add to your knowledge base depending on past
experience, current opportunity, and personal motivation.

Reference List
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to The Life Span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.