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By Sebastian Hirsch
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Wednesday, 04 May 2005 |
 The Jacobs Center invited Dr. Robert Sternberg, Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University, to give a lecture about 'Culture and Intelligence' on Monday evening. As part of the JCLL Distinguished Lecture Series 2005, his talk proved to be both insightful and entertaining.
One way to understand intelligence is the degree to which we are able to adapt to our environment, Dr. Sternberg said. But according to this definition, he clearly failed this practical test when he was almost run over in England, where people drive on the wrong side of the road.
His take-home message was that intelligence 'must be understood and developed in its cultural context'. Thus, children who grow up in Alaska or Kenya -two of the sites where Dr. Sternberg did research- develop very different skills from those that they would normally learn at school. Nevertheless, if teachers rely on conventional IQ tests, they would think that many of their most intelligent kids are actually stupid.
Implicit theories of intelligence also play an important role. Because people make judgments with such theories in mind, it is important to be aware that these implicit theories can also differ across cultures. The Taiwanese notion of knowing when not to show your intelligence may be a point in case. Prof. Sternberg said that 'trying to impress a date with your knowledge of theoretical physics' would be a particularly bad idea.
In the Q&A session he explained that none of the available tests are actually culture-free. Abstract thinking in geometrical forms or dealing with novelty can, for example, be trained in schools. Whatever test you apply the resulting scores will never tell the whole story.
It is then curious that many societies rely so heavily on IQ tests, SAT scores, and the like. Skills that one will need to be successful in business differ widely from those necessary for an academic career. In the end, this misfit and cultural biased intelligence tests will result in 'a lot of talent wasted. |
