Week Thirteen Post One

In chapter twenty-one I enjoyed the section on two clusters of intelligence. In the 1960’s Raymond Cattell, a personality researcher, and John Horn, a graduate student, concluded that adult intelligence is best understood if various measures are grouped into two categories, called fluid and crystallized. Fluid intelligence is those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough. Abilities such as short-term memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are all usually considered part of fluid intelligence. People that are high in fluid abilities can draw inferences, understand relations between concepts and readily process new ideas and facts. Fluid intelligence is usually measured by puzzles because working memory is considered to be crucial. High fluid intelligence in emerging adulthood can lead to a higher IQ and a longer life due to the ability to detoxify stress. Crystalized intelligence is those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning. Vocabulary and general information are examples. Some developmental psychologists think crystalized intelligence increases with age while fluid intelligence degreases. Crystallized intelligence causes the result of widely reading ad deep thinking. High crystalized intelligence in emerging adulthood predicts a high IQ later in in life because the more people know, the more they can learn. In order to detect a person’s intellectual aptitude both fluid and crystalized intelligence is measured. I found this section to be interesting because I have never even thought about measuring my intelligence until recently so I’d like to know how it could be measured. As an adolescent I was a huge fan of puzzles, and I was really good at them, so I am assuming I have a high fluid intelligence, but I don’t think I detoxify stress that easily, which is a result of a high fluid intelligence. Therefore I support the conclusion that crystalized intelligence increases with age while fluid intelligence degreases. As I get older I tend to think more deeply and read more, and I have not touched a puzzle in years. So I completely agree with the theory.