Week 13 Post 1

As I read Chapter 21, I took a real interest in the two clusters of intelligence. Before reading this chapter I was already somewhat familiar with fluid intelligence as well as crystallized intelligence. However, I only knew basic information about both of these types of intelligences. I knew that fluid intelligence allowed people to quickly learn anything and that it was mostly curiosity that generated this type of intelligence. Despite my previous knowledge on this type of intelligence I never knew that people who used high amounts of fluid intelligence often experienced stress (Berger, p. 586). Nevertheless, these people were more likely to change the stressors that they faced into positive situations. I also learned that by using fluid intelligence to turn negative situations into positive experiences people can have a higher IQ as well as live a longer life (Berger, p. 586). The other cluster of intelligence is crystallized intelligence. This type of intelligence is based on knowledge for past education. Some psychologists even believe that crystallized intelligence can intensify as people age whereas fluid intelligence can decrease overtime (Berger, p. 586). After reading this section of the Chapter 21, I would have to say that I agree with the psychologists who believe that crystallized intelligence increases with age. Yet, fluid intelligence has been proven to help increase a longer life for someone while crystallized intelligence has not been proven to help people live a longer life. Overall, I feel like both of these two clusters of intelligences are very important and beneficial to human development. To me it seems almost impossible to have one without having the other.