Psychology TopicsIntelligence
Intelligence refers to intellectual functioning. Intelligence quotients, or IQ tests, compare your performance with other people your age who take the same test. These tests don’t measure all kinds of intelligence, however. For example, such tests can’t identify differences in social intelligence, the expertise people bring to their interactions with others. There are also generational differences in the population as a whole. Better nutrition, more education and other factors have resulted in IQ improvements for each generation.
Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Psychology
What You Can Do
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Believing You Can Get Smarter Makes You Smarter
Thinking about intelligence as changeable and malleable, rather than stable and fixed, results in greater academic achievement, especially for people whose groups bear the burden of negative stereotypes about their intelligence.
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Intelligence and Achievement Testing: Is the Half-Full Glass Getting Fuller?
IQ and achievement tests can give us valuable information, but more research is needed to make sure these tests are used to improve learning opportunities for all students.
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Think Again: Men and Women Share Cognitive Skills
Research debunks myths about cognitive difference.
Getting Help
Monitor on Psychology Articles
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Smarter than ever?
March 2013
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Brighten up
September 2009
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The birth of American intelligence testing
January 2009
Books
APA Offices and Programs
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Center for Gifted Education Policy (CGEP)
The mission of the Center for Gifted Education Policy (CGEP) is to generate public awareness, advocacy, clinical applications, and cutting-edge research ideas that will enhance the achievement and performance of children and adolescents with special gifts and talents.