Abstracts - Earli

O 901 September 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: HarmóniaSymposiumCan we be intelligent about intelligence?Chair: Trevor Bond, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong KongOrganiser: Philip Adey, King’s College London, United KingdomDiscussant: Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Göteborg University, SwedenThis symposium will explore the notion of general cognitive ability (or ‘intelligence’) and why thetime might now be ripe for educators, after years of animosity towards the notion, to re-considerthe power offered by a general intellectual capacity which is itself amenable to educationalinfluence. We review the existing scientific knowledge concerning general mental abilities,including the cohabitation of general and special abilities, cognitive modules, cognitivedevelopment, and some evidence for plasticity of the general processor. We will examine why thisknowledge does not find its way into mainstream educational theory and practice. We then presenta number of models that attempt to synthesise the main aspects of current psychological theoriesand try to identify the role of general abilities in each. We will then explore how the models mightbe used as the basis for effective educational application. In particular we will look at variousexamples of successful cognitive stimulation, where programmes have been shown to have apositive effect on the process of cognitive development, considering both the practicalities andtheoretical notions of just what it might be in our cognitive models that is affected by thestimulation. Further practical aspects will be discussed, especially in the context of possiblepolitical, cultural and social barriers to the inclusion of general ability as central to most, if not all,educational aims.Some characteristics of ‘general intelligence’, and its problematic imagePhilip Adey, King’s College London, United KingdomTeachers characterise general ability in terms of both convergent and divergent abilities. They seeconnectivity as a central characteristic of smart behaviour. Making comparisons, extrapolating,relating causes to effects, or the elucidation of any relationship between variables all involveconnectivity - characteristics which accord very well with ideas of intelligence developed by thefounding fathers of the idea. A second characteristic of intellectual processing is that it operatesacross all subject and context domains, but there are also special abilities, and the hierarchicalnature of these abilities need to be taken into account in any model of the mind. Thirdly, generalmental ability is plastic, amenable to environmental influence. Evidence from population studiesand from intervention studies will be described in other papers in this symposium showing thatintelligence is open to significant enhancement in an appropriately stimulating environment.Finally, intelligence is characterised by development and by individual differences. Therelationship between development and differences is important. Although these characteristics arewell-established in the psychological literature, the construct of ‘intelligence’ remainsproblematical in educational circles. We can speculate about the reasons for this, but what mattersis that an idea which offers a powerful explanatory mechanism for many of the accepted, butessentially pragmatic, ideas currently offered as guides to educators (such as expert-novicedistinctions, powerful learning environments, or conceptual change) has been repressed.– 791 –