Guilford’s Structure of Intellect

Guilford’s Structure of Intellect

Introduction

          The term intelligence covers the abilities associated with all cognitive processes. According to Wechsler, intelligence is the aggregate of global capacity of the individual to act purposefully to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment. An intelligent person is able solve difficult problems very fast. He works with accuracy and speed. He is adept in dealing with symbols and abstract phenomena. He has the ability to think and act creatively intelligence is not a thing it is a way of behaving thinking unders founding reasoning and organizing.

          The theories of intelligence propagated by psychologists from time to time have attempted to answer what the structure of intelligence. Some of these theories are, unitary theory or monarchic theory, Multifactor theory or Anarchic theory, Two factor theory, Group factor theory and Guilford’s theory.

Guilford’s Theory Involving A Model of Intellect

          J.P Guilford and his associates have developed a model of intellect on the basis of the factor analysis of several tests employed for testing intelligence of human beings. They have come to the conclusion that any mental process or intellectual activity of the human being can be described in terms of there basic dimensions or parameters known as operation [ The act of thinking or way of processing the information ]; Contents [ The terms in which we think or the type of information involved ]; and products [ The ideas we come up with i-e the fruits of a thinking ] Each of these parameters – operations, contents and products – may be further subdivided into some specific factors or elements. As a result, operations may be subdivided into 5 specific factors, contents into 5 and products into 6. The interaction of these three parameters, according to Guilford, thus results into the 5x5x6=150 different elements or factors in ones intelligence. In a figured form, these 150 factors or independent abilities of the human beings along with the basic parameters and their divisions can be represented through a model named as Guilford’s model of intellect or Intelligence.

          Intelligence consists of 150 independent abilities that result from the interaction of five types of contents, five types of operations and six types of products Guilford 1982.

          These contents ; operations and products can be understood through the following brief descriptions.       

                 Contents: [ The Type of Information Involved ]

·        Figural [ Visual ] - The properties of stimuli we can experience through visual senses eg colour size,shape,texture and other visual characters of figure.

·        Figural [ Auditory ] - The properties of stimuli we can experience through the auditory senses,eg voice and sound.

·        Symbolic – Numbers,letters,symbols,designs.

·        Semantic – The meaning of words,ideas.

·        Behavioural – The actions and expressions of people.

Operations : [ The way of processing information ]

·        Cognition – Recognizing and discovering.

·        Memory – Retaining and recalling the contents of thought.

·        Divergent production – producing a variety of  ideas or solutions to a problem.

·        Convergent production – producing a single best solution to a problem.

·        Evaluation – Taking decision about the nature of the intellectual contents or gathered information whether it is positive or negative, good or bad etc.

Products : [ The results obtained through operations ]

·        Units – Individual pieces of information limited in size, eg a single number, letter or word.

·        Classes – Groups of units information related to each other an the basis of some common characteristics involving a higher order concepts [ eg. Men + women = people ]

·        Relations – A connection between concepts.

·        Systems – An ordering or classification of relations.

·        Transformation – Altering or restructuring intellectual contents.

·        Implications – Making inferences from separate pieces of information.

According to Guilford’s model of intellect, there are 150 factors operating in one’s intelligence. Each one of these factors has a trigram symbol, ie.at least one factor from each category of three parameters has to be present in any specific intellectual activity or mental task. 

Preetha.K  

Social Science