Unit 2: Intelligence and Individual Differences

 Definition of intelligence .
 Intelligence in psychology.
 Intelligence is a process.

What is intelligence?

Definition of intelligence.

the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as

measured by objective criteria (such as tests)

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.

Intelligence in psychology:

Intelligence is the ability to think, to learn from experience, to solve problems, and to adapt to
new situations. ... Psychologists believe that there is a construct, known as general intelligence ,
that accounts for the overall differences in intelligence among people.

At various points throughout recent history, researchers have proposed some different definitions
of intelligence., current conceptualizations tend to suggest that intelligence is the ability to:

● Learn from experience: The acquisition, retention, and use of knowledge is an

important component of intelligence.
● Recognize problems: To put knowledge to use, people must be able to identify possible
problems in the environment that need to be addressed.
● Solve problems: People must then be able to take what they have learned to come up
with a useful solution to a problem they have noticed in the world around them

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Intelligence as a process

The Intelligence Cycle is the process of developing raw information into finished intelligence
for policymakers to use in decision making and action. There are five steps which constitute
the Intelligence Cycle.
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1. Planning and Direction

This is management of the entire effort, from identifying the need for data to delivering an
intelligence product to a consumer. It is the beginning and the end of the cycle--the beginning
because it involves drawing up specific collection requirements and the end because finished
intelligence, which supports policy decisions, generates new requirements.

2. Collection

...is the gathering of the raw information needed to produce finished intelligence. There are
many sources of information including open sources such as foreign broadcasts, newspapers,
periodicals, and books. Open source reporting is integral to CIA's analytical capabilities.
There are also secret sources of information.

3. Processing

...involves converting the vast amount of information collected to a form usable by analysts
through decryption, language translations, and data reduction.

4. All Source Analysis and Production

...is the conversion of basic information into finished intelligence. It includes integrating,
evaluating, and analyzing all available data--which is often fragmentary and even
contradictory--and preparing intelligence products.

5. Dissemination

The last step, which logically feeds into the first, is the distribution of the finished intelligence
to the consumers, the same policymakers whose needs initiated the intelligence requirements.
Finished intelligence is hand-carried daily to the President and key national security advisers.
The policymakers, the recipients of finished intelligence, then make decisions based on the
information, and these decisions may lead to the levying of more requirements, thus triggering
the Intelligence Cycle.

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