A researcher asks students to think aloud while they solve a puzzle. She notes each mental process they use while reasoning towards the solution. Which of the following is true of the approach to intelligence she follows?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Its major focus is on how an intelligent person acts.
Option (1) It considers intelligence as an aggregate of abilities. — Incorrect. Seeing intelligence as an aggregate of abilities is the psychometric approach. The researcher studies processes.
Option (2) It expresses performance in terms of a single index of cognitive abilities. — Incorrect. Giving one index of cognitive abilities is also the psychometric approach.
Option (3) Its major focus is on how an intelligent person acts. — Correct. Studying the processes people use in reasoning and problem solving is the information-processing approach. Its main focus is on how an intelligent person acts, that is, the cognitive functions behind intelligent behaviour.
Option (4) It classifies intellectual traits into operations, contents and products. — Incorrect. This is Guilford's structure-of-intellect model. It is a psychometric theory that sorts intellectual traits into three dimensions.
NCERT (2026-27): “THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE “The psychometric approach considers intelligence as an aggregate of abilities. It expresses the individual’s performance in terms of a single index of cognitive abilities. On the other hand, the information-processing approach describes the processes people use in intellectual reasoning and problem solving. The major focus of this approach is on how an intelligent person acts. Rather than focusing on structure of intelligence or its underlying dimensions, information-processing approaches emphasise studying cognitive functions underlying intelligent behaviour. …” |