Which of the following correctly gives the number of cells in the mod…

Meera, a counsellor in Pune, runs a workshop on intelligence. Her first speaker presents a model that sorts intellectual traits along three dimensions: operations, contents and products. Meera then describes Kavya. Kavya breaks a hard physics problem into parts, checks each part critically and tops her school tests. Before starting, Kavya decides what to do and how to do it. Next, Ananya sets goals and a time schedule before a class test, and changes her plan when a chapter proves too hard. Meera also plans to test Rohan, a 12-year-old with learning problems, on a battery of verbal and non-verbal tasks devised by Das and Naglieri. Finally, she tests an 8-year-old boy whose mental age comes out as 10.

Which of the following correctly gives the number of cells in the model presented by Meera's first speaker and the approach it represents?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → 180 cells; psychometric approach

Option (1) 180 cells; psychometric approach — Correct. Operations, contents and products are the three dimensions of Guilford's structure-of-intellect model. With 6 operations, 5 contents and 6 products, it has 6 x 5 x 6 = 180 cells. Like the other factor theories, it represents the psychometric approach.

Option (2) 180 cells; information-processing approach — Incorrect. The cell count is right, but the approach is not. The information-processing approach is represented by Sternberg's triarchic theory and the PASS model, which study how a person processes information.

Option (3) 150 cells; psychometric approach — Incorrect. The approach is right, but the count is not. Products are six (units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, implications), so the model has 180 cells.

Option (4) 150 cells; information-processing approach — Incorrect. Both parts are wrong. 150 cells counts products as five instead of six, and the model belongs to the psychometric approach.

NCERT (2026-27): “THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE …
J.P. Guilford proposed the structureof-intellect model which classifies intellectual traits among three dimensions: operations, contents, and products. Operations are what the respondent does. These include cognition, memory recording, memory retention, divergent production, convergent production, and evaluation. Contents refer to the nature of materials or information on which intellectual operations are performed. These include visual, auditory, symbolic (e.g., letters, numbers), semantic (e.g., words) and behavioural (e.g., information about people’s behaviour, attitudes, needs, etc.). Products refer to the form in which information is processed by the respondent. Products are classified into units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, and implications. Since this classification (Guilford, 1988) includes 6´5´6 categories, therefore, the model has 180 cells. …”

“The above mentioned theories are representations of psychometric approach to understand intelligent behaviour.”

Which of the following correctly gives the number of cells in the model presented by Meera's first speaker and the approach it represents?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → 180 cells; psychometric approach

“The above mentioned theories are representations of psychometric approach to understand intelligent behaviour.”