INTEGRATING CURRENT ISSUES
A century after Galton and Binet, we are now making progress in developing new models that draw together some of the apparent contradictions of earlier research. And we have moved some way towards understanding both individual differences and developmental change in ‘normal’ intelligence, as well as in exceptional intellectual populations. Work in the field of intelligence has never been more vibrant at both the level of theory development and at the level of applied research and practice. Our overview of new research on intelligence begins with a couple of contemporary theories. These will allow us to look at two areas of research that today are regarded as test-beds of any comprehensive theory of intelligence – savant syndrome and the nature of mental retardation. But first please note that the terms ‘retarded’ and ‘mental retardation’ are being used here in a professional-technical sense with a very specific definition of measured IQ being less than 70. It is offensive to use the word ‘retard’ to refer to an individual who could be given the diagnostic label ‘retarded’, and the term ‘retard’ should always be avoided, as the intellectual abilities of such people are clearly not defining features of them as individuals. These two cases are important in evaluating theories of intelligence because they are anomalies that are they are exceptions in terms of intellectual ability. Any theory that comprehensively characterizes the concept of ‘intelligence’ must be able to explain what is ‘normal’ as well as that which is exceptional.
A century after Galton and Binet, we are now making progress in developing new models that draw together some of the apparent contradictions of earlier research. And we have moved some way towards understanding both individual differences and developmental change in ‘normal’ intelligence, as well as in exceptional intellectual populations. Work in the field of intelligence has never been more vibrant at both the level of theory development and at the level of applied research and practice. Our overview of new research on intelligence begins with a couple of contemporary theories. These will allow us to look at two areas of research that today are regarded as test-beds of any comprehensive theory of intelligence – savant syndrome and the nature of mental retardation. But first please note that the terms ‘retarded’ and ‘mental retardation’ are being used here in a professional-technical sense with a very specific definition of measured IQ being less than 70. It is offensive to use the word ‘retard’ to refer to an individual who could be given the diagnostic label ‘retarded’, and the term ‘retard’ should always be avoided, as the intellectual abilities of such people are clearly not defining features of them as individuals. These two cases are important in evaluating theories of intelligence because they are anomalies that are they are exceptions in terms of intellectual ability. Any theory that comprehensively characterizes the concept of ‘intelligence’ must be able to explain what is ‘normal’ as well as that which is exceptional.
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