Intelligence cannot be visibly observed, it is a hypothetical construct that has to be operationalized in order to measure. However, can a concept as arbitrary as intelligence really be measured? As with any hypothetical construct it is subjective and can differ depending on culture and time. Stern introduced the concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which can be measured on a scale with specific cut-off points, with 100 being average. These IQ tests tend to look at things such as speed of response, working memory, fluency and processing capacity; the tasks include arithmetic, verbal problems and having to rotate somewhat novel shapes. Many of these tasks in IQ tests tend to be very culturally specific and often involve doing something that would not normally be encountered in everyday life.
An important definition of intelligence is that given by William Stern:
“Intelligence is the general ability of an individual to adjust his thinking consciously to new requirements; it is the general mental adaptability for new tasks and conditions of life.”
To me the most important part of this quote is that intelligence is described as being “the general ability…to adjust thinking… to new requirements”. These requirements are not only bound to change dependent on culture, i.e. in many western cultures having a high IQ is seen as being able to complete the various tasks briefly mentioned above, however in hunter gatherer societies a high IQ may be based on ones ability to capture food, but also on social class. For instance, it can be viewed as a requirement for those in the higher social classes to have good mathematical skills, reasoning skills etc, because of the managerial/professional careers that they may have, but are those working in manual labour jobs any less intelligent than these professionals? Controversial research, such as the Bell Curve by Hernstein and Murray, suggests that those in lower social classes are less intelligent than those in higer social classes. However, these difference may be due to bias because those in lower social classes (or those involved in manual labour) may require a different form of intelligence to be able to perform new tasks in their life. It has been argued that intelligence keeps groups divided and hierarchical.