Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTheoryTypesComponentsMeasurementImpactChallenges

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Theory

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Components

Measurement

Impact

Challenges

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General intelligence, also known as the general factor orgfactor, refers to the existence of a broad mental capacity that influences performance on cognitive ability measures. Other terms such as intelligence,IQ, general cognitive ability, and general mental ability are also used interchangeably to mean the same thing as general intelligence.

This general mental ability is what underlies specific mental skills related to areas such as spatial, numerical, mechanical, and verbal abilities. The idea is that general intelligence influences performance on all cognitive tasks. So, general intelligence can be defined as a construct that is made up of different cognitive abilities. These abilities allow people to acquire knowledge and solve problems.

Spearman’s Theory of General Intelligence

Psychologist Charles Spearman helped develop a statistical technique known as factor analysis, which allows researchers to use a number of different test items to measure common abilities. For example, researchers might find that people who score well on questions that measure vocabulary also perform better on questions related to reading comprehension.

In 1904, Spearman suggested that this g factor was responsible for overall performance on mental ability tests. He noted that while people certainly could and often did excel in certain areas, people who did well in one area tended also to do well in other areas.

General intelligence can be compared to athleticism. A person might be a very skilled runner, but this does not necessarily mean that they will also be an excellent figure skater.However, because this person is athletic and fit, they will probably perform much better on other physical tasks than an individual who is less coordinated and more sedentary.

General intelligence can be compared to athleticism. A person might be a very skilled runner, but this does not necessarily mean that they will also be an excellent figure skater.

However, because this person is athletic and fit, they will probably perform much better on other physical tasks than an individual who is less coordinated and more sedentary.

Types of General Intelligence

In the 1940s, Raymond Cattell theorized that there were two types of intelligence that affect human cognitive ability: fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc).Fluid intelligence refers to intelligence that we are born with and that we acquire through interacting with our environment. Crystalized intelligence is intelligence that we acquire through our culture.

Others suggest that there are more types of general intelligence, often referred to as the “g’s of intelligence.” Additional g’s of intelligence include:

Components of General Intelligence

There are several key components that are believed to make up generalintelligence. These include:

How General Intelligence Is Measured

The Stanford-Binet, which is one of the most popularintelligence tests, aims to measure the g factor. In addition to providing an overall score, the current version of the test also offers a number of score composites as well as subtest scores in ten different areas.

What Do IQ Test Scores Mean?While scoring systems vary, the average score on many is 100 and the following labels are often used for different scoring ranges:40 - 54: Moderately impaired or delayed55 - 69: Mildly impaired or delayed70 - 79: Borderline impaired or delayed80 - 89: Low average intelligence90 - 109: Average110 - 119: High average120 - 129: Superior130 - 144: Gifted or very advanced145 - 160: Exceptionally gifted or highly advanced

What Do IQ Test Scores Mean?

While scoring systems vary, the average score on many is 100 and the following labels are often used for different scoring ranges:40 - 54: Moderately impaired or delayed55 - 69: Mildly impaired or delayed70 - 79: Borderline impaired or delayed80 - 89: Low average intelligence90 - 109: Average110 - 119: High average120 - 129: Superior130 - 144: Gifted or very advanced145 - 160: Exceptionally gifted or highly advanced

While scoring systems vary, the average score on many is 100 and the following labels are often used for different scoring ranges:

What Is a Genius IQ Score?

Impact of General Intelligence

While the concept of intelligence is still the subject of debate within psychology, researchers believe that general intelligence is correlated with overall success in life. Some of the effects that it may have on an individual’s life include areas such as:

Academic Achievement

One of the most obvious effects of general intelligence is in the realm of academic performance. While intelligence plays a role in academics, there has been a great deal of debate over the extent to which it influences academic achievement.

This means that while general intelligence does affect how well kids do in school, other factors can play a major role.

Job Success

IQ scores have long been thought to correlate to career success. This is why psychological testing has become so prevalent for pre-employment screening and career placement. Many have questioned, however, whether a general mental ability was really more important than specific mental abilities.

A 2020 study published in theJournal of Applied Psychologyconcluded that both general intelligence and specific mental abilities play an important role in determining career success including income and job attainment.

The importance of the g factor for job success becomes greater as the complexity of the work increases. For occupations with a high degree of complexity, having a higher general intelligence becomes a greater asset.

Health and Longevity

The field of cognitive epidemiology looks at associations between general intelligence and health. Just ashealth can play a role in influencing intelligence, a person’s intelligence may have an impact on their health. Studies have found that high-IQ individuals have a lower risk of:

Research has found that people who have higher general intelligence also tend to be healthier and live longer, although the reasons for this are not entirely clear.

Income

Research also suggests that people with higher intelligence scores also tend to earn higher incomes.However, it is important to note that other factors play a mediating role including education, occupation, and socioeconomic background.

While the g factor has a number of effects, other variables are also important. Factors such as socioeconomic status andemotional intelligence, for example, can interact with general intelligence and play a major part in determining a person’s success.

Challenges of General Intelligence

Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities

Some psychologists, including L.L. Thurstone, challenged the concept of a g-factor. Thurstone instead identified a number of what he referred to asprimary mental abilities:

He suggested that all people possess these mental abilities, although to varying degrees. People could be low in some areas and high in others.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

More recently, psychologists such asHoward Gardnerhave argued against the notion that a single general intelligence can accurately capture all of human mental ability. Gardner instead proposed thatmultiple intelligencesexist.

Each intelligence represents abilities in a certain domain such as visual-spatial intelligence,verbal-linguistic intelligence, and logical-mathematical intelligence.

Research today points to an underlying mental ability that contributes to performance on many cognitive tasks. IQ scores, which are designed to measure this general intelligence, are also thought to influence an individual’s overall success in life.

However, whileIQ can play a role in academic and life success, other factors such as childhood experiences, educational experiences, socioeconomic status,motivation, maturity, and personality also play a critical role in determining overall success.

Left Brain vs Right Brain Dominance

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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Gottfredson LS.Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life.Intelligence. 1997;24(1):79-132. doi:10.1016/S0160-2896(97)90014-3

Tikhomirova T, Malykh A, Malykh S.Predicting academic achievement with cognitive abilities: Cross-sectional study across school education.Behav Sci (Basel). 2020;10(10):158. doi:10.3390/bs10100158

Lang JWB, Kell HJ.General mental ability and specific abilities: Their relative importance for extrinsic career success.Journal of Applied Psychology. 2020;105(9):1047-1061.doi:10.1037/apl0000472

Kanazawa S.General intelligence, disease heritability, and health: A preliminary test.Personality and Individual Differences. 2014;71:83-85.doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.07.028

Coon D, Mitterer JO.Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior With Concept Maps.Wadsworth; 2010.

Myers DG.Psychology, Seventh Edition. Worth Publishers; 2004.

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