Intelligence assessment and prevention of operational surprise

Intelligence

One recent study defined purpose as "an extraordinary achievement" (Moran, 2009, p. 143), yet the there are many individuals in the world who believe that the purpose of intelligence is to prevent surprise. Contemplating the contradiction, the question that could be asked is "how then does an extraordinary achievement translate into everyday intelligence?" This author believes that the purpose of intelligence is not to prevent surprise, instead that the purpose of intelligence is to determine a pathway for the life of the individual.

Measuring the successful pathway of an individual life can be a difficult venture, especially if such measurements are based on the person's intelligence. My belief is that preventing a surprise by showing intelligence can be applied to these type of scenarios with very limited success. There are a myriad of methods used to determine ones intelligence, including but certainly not limited to: measuring intelligent quotient as well as measuring the individual's body intelligence. A 2006 study states that there is "a converging line of research and theory focuses on the human capacity for multiple forms of intelligence" (Anderson, 2006, p. 358). If the study is correct in its assumption, then it stands to reason that the multiple forms of intelligence are measured using multiple methods.

It would seem, therefore, that one must understand what intelligence is before one can attempt to measure it. If it is determined that the primary purpose of intelligence is to prevent surprise, then that can be effectively measured using a certain method that might not be as effective if one was attempting to determine how successful a person is going to be in business, or in the arts, or in education. Each of those determinations would be measured using other methods.

As Anderson states in her study concerning dancers Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham "the sheer force of their dancing has demonstrated the incomparability of the body in movement as an instrument of expression and communication" (p. 358), or in Anderson's words "body intelligence." Anderson supplies a second, more contemporary, example using basketball players Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods as having had "the same resounding voice in signaling the importance of the body as both a means and expression of intelligence" (p. 358). Of course, the problem with measuring those "body intelligences" is that if they were currently being measured one could assume that both Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are a lot 'dumber' than they used to be, since neither can exhibit the same amount of skill as has been exhibited in younger years. It would also be ironic to point out that the common belief that most individuals are going to gain in intelligence (or at least become wiser) throughout the years would not necessarily be demonstrated by measuring the various aspects of "body intelligence."

One of the standards used to determine whether someone is intelligent or not is the common IQ test. Keith Stanovich, a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada states that "IQ tests are very good at measuring certain mental faculties…including logic, abstract reasoning, learning ability and working-memory capacity (how much information you can hold in your mind)" (Bond, 2009, p. 36). What IQ tests are not real good at is measuring someone's ability to make decisions or to act 'wisely'. One of the manners in which intelligence is described is through one's ability to make a wise choice, or a reasoned decision, which is not measured by the IQ test.

Bond reinforces the idea that total intelligence cannot be effectively measured by a simple IQ test by stating that "they (the tests) are unable to assess things such as a person's ability to critically weigh up information, or whether an individual can override the intuitive cognitive biases that can lead us astray" (p. 37). If that is true, then it would likely take more than one test to determine an individual's total intelligence, and even then the tests would have to correlate all the material and data in order to provide a complete picture.