Alternative Conceptions of Intelligence and Their Implications for Education

In this article, we review alternative conceptions of intelligence and their implications for education. First, we consider the basic question of just what intelligence is. Because no single universally accepted view exists, we compare and evaluate three major views of intelligence: the psychometric, the Piagetian, and the information-processing. The three views are complementary rather than mutually exclusive, each dealing with different but overlapping aspects of intelligence. Next, we consider the educational implications of each view for training content knowledge, which is currently emphasized in our schools, and for training intellectual skills, which is emphasized to a lesser degree. We compare the educational implications of each approach by discussing how each would address the problem of training students on one type of intellectual skill, solving verbal analogies. We conclude by summarizing the implications of current conceptions of intelligence for education and by making recommendations for researchers and practitioners that follow from our analysis.