Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Throughout life, we meet various individuals and notice that they are fundamentally different from us in many ways. Some are great at sports, others are great academically. Some are great dancers and musicians, while others make magnificent drawings, paintings and pottery. Some are comfortable socially and have a big circle to move around, whereas others may be reserved, prefer their own space and limited interaction, yet enjoy close and intimate relationships. 

Much like nature’s biology, we humans are too have variations that make us all unique, interesting and even dependent on each other. According to Plato, “No two persons are born exactly alike, but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another”. This is primarily what is known as “individual differences” in psychology. 

Individuals are different in how they understand the world around them, equip themselves according to it, how they learn, the traits and characteristics they possess, the interests and abilities for certain tasks and activities, the experiences they encounter, the upbringing they receive, how they relate with others and themselves and even their inheritance biologically, psychologically and even financially. 

Intelligence- A result of Nature or Nurture? 

David Weschler has defined intelligence as: “Aggregate global capacity of an individual to think rationally, act purposefully, and deal effectively with the environment”. According to the Oxford Learner Dictionary, intelligence is the ability to learn, understand and think logically about things; the ability to do things well. Even the current definitions stress intelligence as the ability to learn from experiences, and adapt to, shape and select a favorable environment. 

Intelligence has various factors that influence it and is influenced by, these factors can be divided into two categories- Nature or the biological and inherited features or precursors of Intelligence and Nurture or the environmental portion of Intelligence. One’s Intelligence depends on both factors. The biological factors set a stage for intellectual learning, whereas the environmental factors provide conditions, both favourable and unfavourable, for learning to occur. 

Biologically, intelligence is said to have two factors that influence it- hereditary factors and brain structural and functional factors. Heredity factors account for one’s genetic material passed on from the previous generations, whereas, structural and functional factors of the brain account for neural connectivity and efficiency, cortical thickness, white and grey matter and specific brain areas that are involved in various intellectual tasks. 

Earlier in the 1800s, higher intelligence was thought to be a result of greater brain size and volume, however, with advancements in scientific techniques, researchers were able to put this hypothesis to the test. It was found that cortical thickness, which is the outer or gray matter of the brain, showed significant differences in specific areas: the prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive function and abstract thinking; the Broca’s area, responsible for language processing and speech; the angular gyrus, located at the junction of the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes, responsible for language processing, particularly written language, mathematical abilities, spatial cognition, and retrieval of episodic and semantic memory; and the supramarginal gyrus in the parietal lobe, responsible for phonological processing and motor planning and coordination in speech and writing.

The White matter which contains myelinated neural connections among different areas of the brain is also responsible for intelligence. The brain’s ability to function as an integrated system depends upon the integrity of its white matter connections. White matter allows for speed of transmission of signals, integration of sensory, motor and executive Information and facilitation of higher order function. During childhood and adolescence, this white matter is associated with improvement in intellectual capabilities. Degeneration of white matter is associated with a decline in cognitive abilities and even psychopathological factors. 

Researchers have identified that intelligence as a component is about 50-80% heritable. The data in this mainly comes from twin studies that show that identical twins, when reared apart in different environments, have more similar IQ scores to each other than their adoptive parents compared to fraternal twins, who share 50% of their DNA. 

Intelligence does not have a single gene influencing it, rather it is a combination of various genes interacting with each other and the environment as well, that modulates its expression, for this, intelligence has a polygenic nature. Genes, if not directly involved In intelligence, affect intelligence by determining the development of neurobiological pathways like brain structure and function, neurotransmitters and brain plasticity, which determine how we think, learn and remember and with what efficiency. 

Genes determine the functioning of areas of the brain like the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus involved in memory making and retrieval and white matter tracts. It also influences the neurotransmitter systems of dopamine which is crucial to focus and learning motivation and Serotonin important for mood and emotional stability, which is crucial for optimal cognitive function.

An environment that a person is brought up in interacts with their genetic material and influences it, this is the study of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of how our behaviours and environment can cause changes that affect the way our genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence. 

Epigenetic changes do not change the genetic code but it does affect what part of the genetic code is expressed at what point in time. Epigenetic changes start taking place early on in the developmental phase. We are born with the same genome in every cell of our body but it is these epigenetic changes that guide which cell makes up the liver, heart or skin cell and what all functions it performs. An epigene is a specialized gene, modified to perform a particular type of task. 

A person may be with superior mental capabilities but an environment that does not challenge or foster these capabilities may lead to lower IQ scores for the individual. for example, the Authoritative parenting style, where the parent is responsive to a child’s needs and does not engage in harsh discipline, fosters open parent-child communication with clear, attainable expectations, independence and boundaries and is nurturing as well has been shown to foster emotional regulation, problem-solving and critical thinking skill, social intelligence and adjustment to environments, all factors crucial to intelligence. 

Theories of Intelligence 

Various psychologists have tried to identify what constitutes intelligence and whether intelligence is an amalgamation of small units that form one single unit called intelligence or is rather about the way information is processed in the brain. The theories that put forth that intelligence is an amalgamation of various smaller units are called psychometric theories and the latter is known as information-processing theories. 

Psychometric theories of Intelligence include- 

• Two-factor Theory by Charles Spearman 
• Theory of Primary Mental Abilities by Louis Thurstone 
• Structure of Intellect model by Joy Paul Guilford 
• Crystallized and fluid intelligence theory by Raymond Cattell 

Information Processing theories include- 

• Theory of multiple intelligence by Howard Gardner 
• Triarchic Theory of Intelligence by Robert Jeffery Sternberg 
• Planning, arousal-attention, simultaneous and successive Processing (PASS) model of Intelligence by J.P. Das, Naglieri and Kirby

What does Sternberg have to say about Intelligence? 

Psychometric theorists have defined various abilities, also known as general factor or g-factor abilities that underscore pretty much every cognitive task. This idea of general intelligence was given initially by Charles Spearman in his two-factor Theory in which he propounded that intelligence has two kinds of abilities- general factor and specific factors, which are abilities unique to a certain individual. Specific factors are general factors that are present in a varied, mostly, enhanced degree in an individual. 

Different kinds of g-factors include- 

• General fluid intelligence- the ability to solve new problems, use logic and think abstractly 
• General Crystallized Intelligence- the ability to use knowledge and experience
• Quantitative Reasoning- the ability to use and understand arithmetic operations and concepts 
• Reading and writing ability- the ability to comprehend and produce language
• Working memory – the ability to hold Information for a short span and manipulate or use it 
• Long-term storage and retrieval- the ability to store information and bring it to consciousness when needed 
• Visual-spatial Processing- the ability to mentally perceive, analyze and mentally manipulate images 
• Auditory Processing- the ability to comprehend and use Auditory Information
• Processing speed- ability to efficiently and quickly analyze Information
• Decision Time- the efficiency and accuracy of making decisions or reactions to stimuli in the environment. 

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory came as an alternative to the g-factor theory, which in practicality only measured and focused on “Academic Intelligence”. He brought in the concept of creativity in intelligence, as well as, the ability of a person to learn from their environment. According to Sternberg, intelligence is not a set of fixed abilities but rather a set of abilities that can be developed and learnt. Based on this proposition, Sternberg put forth three sub-theories that gave rise to three types of Intelligences.

Theories of Intelligence 

Contextual sub-theory and practical intelligence

Sternberg recognized the role of environment in intelligence and put forth this sub-theory according to which an individual learns through their environment. One’s intelligence is based on how effectively they deal with their environment. According to Sternberg, “intelligence is the purposive adaptation to, shaping of and selection of real-world environments relevant to one’s life”. 

According to this Theory, intelligence is the ability to make changes in oneself to adapt to new situations of life, shaping or making adjustments to the environment in a way that compliments one’s goals and selecting or recognizing how a certain environment doesn’t suit one anymore and going for new environment altogether. 

This sub-theory gave rise to what is known as practical intelligence. People high on this are “street smart” or high on common sense. They understand the requirements of their external environments, plan their course of action as to adapt, shape or change the environment and modify their behaviour accordingly. This kind of Intelligence is based on organism-stimulus interaction, which involves meaning-making and dealing with novel conditions. 

Experiential sub-theory and creative intelligence

imagine a continuum with one end being ‘experience’ and the other being ‘novelty’. The experiential sub-theory states that Intelligence I the ability applied to this continuum. It is the ability to deal with familiar situations with minimal thought and effort but at the same time deal with new situations creatively and come up with new ideas. 

The two main components of this theory are automation and novelty on a spectrum and an individual can decide what level of previous experience and what level of new ideas for dealing with a situation is required In a condition. This sub theory gave rise to creative intelligence which is the ability of a person to use existing knowledge of problem-solving to create new pathways for dealing with an issue at hand 

Componential sub-theory and analytical intelligence

the componential sub-theory proposes three mechanisms or processes- meta components, performance components and knowledge acquisition, that are required to solve a problem. This is the traditional conceptualization of Intelligence that takes into account the components of g-factor theory related to “Academic Intelligence” and gives a standard IQ score as a measure. 

Metacomponents are the cognitive part of the sub-theory that controls the other two components. It is the internal Processing of the problem at hand and finding out the right course of action to solve it and operations or courses of action from our knowledge bank to apply to the problem or aspects of the problem that are familiar. 

Performance components include the coordination of various actions like behaviour, writing or speech that may be required to solve the problem. Knowledge acquisition components use both short-term and long-term memory as a bidirectional process, in which knowledge from previous familiar experiences is used and experience from a novel situation is converted to knowledge. 

Sternberg in this sub theory has recognized the importance of general factors that underlie intelligence but at the same time, recognizes that analytical or Academic Intelligence is not only what constitutes intelligence but intelligence is the general ability to learn from real-life situations, think creatively about them and solve those too. 

Conclusion 

Intelligence is the ability of an individual to learn from their experiences, shape, select and adapt to new environments. Intelligence is one of the many factors for the existence of individual differences. It is a by-product of biological, genetic and cultural factors and the study of epigenetics has shown that the Nature vs. nurture debate is not about what influences intelligence the most, it is not a debate but rather a simultaneous coexistence. 

Theories of Intelligence are divided into two broad categories- psychometric theories and Information Processing theories. The psychometric theorists have focused on the components that constitute intelligence but Information processing theorists have focused on how these components interact and work. 

Robert Jeffery Sternberg, an information Processing theorist, gave the triarchic theory of Intelligence in which he challenged the extreme focus of psychometric theorists on general factors of intelligence that can be measured using a standard IQ test, gave a composite IQ score and measured only the Academic form of intelligence. 

Sternberg in his theory has proposed three kinds of Intelligence- practical intelligence, experiential intelligence and analytical intelligence. The first two types of Intelligence are what make his theory stand out from the rest. He proposed the aspect of creativity and stimulus-organism Interaction as a means of learning from and about the environment and solving problems. Analytical intelligence is the traditional conceptualization of Academic Intelligence. 

FAQs

Q. How is Sternberg’s conceptualization of Intelligence different from psychometric theorists? 

A. Psychometric theorists have focused on the general factors or components of Intelligence, and use the technique of factor analysis that helps give a composite IQ score. These traditional IQ tests focus mostly on analytical intelligence assessing verbal proficiency, mathematical skills and logical reasoning. Triarchic Theory of Intelligence removes this focus from only “Academic Intelligence” and propounds that Human Intelligence is also the ability to solve problems in real-life situations, to learn from experiences and to deal with novel situations creatively. 

Q. How can the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence be used in a real-life setting?

A. The theory can be used in various real-life settings like education, parenting, workplace and personal development. 

In educational settings, an understanding of the three types of Intelligences can help design a curriculum, assessment techniques and teaching methods that do not only favour analytical learners but those who learn practically or creatively. Giving assessments like creative projects can be useful for those who are high on creative intelligence, whereas giving hands-on experience to those who learn practically. 

The theory can be applied to job settings for recruitment purposes and analyzing what job role suits an individual based on the kind of Intelligence they are higher on. In a corporate setup, various departments can be divided on the basis of the three types of Intelligences and a person with analytical intelligence can be employed in data analysis department, one with creative Intelligence in marketing or brainstorming and one with practical Intelligence in maybe sales department as they learn better about a situation by being in it. 

An understanding of the three kinds of Intelligence can help individuals assess what type of Intelligence they are high on and make career options for themselves in that regard and even help parents make educational choices for their children. 

Q. What role does Cultural context play in the triarchic Theory of Intelligence?

A. Different cultures conceptualize, express and value the three types of Intelligence In different ways. In Western cultures, analytical intelligence is highly valued, emphasizing logical reasoning and problem-solving, often equated with academic success. Eastern cultures also respect analytical skills but integrate them with moral education, as seen in Confucian traditions. Creativity in Western societies is linked to innovation and artistic expression, while Eastern cultures, like the Taoist tradition, emphasize intuitive understanding. Practical intelligence is crucial in African and Asian cultures, focusing on social responsibilities and community cohesion.