Scores from standardized intelligence tests (IQ scores) are

widely used to defi ne one’s intelligence level. It is, however,

becoming increasingly apparent, and accepted, that they do not
reveal the complete picture and provide only a snapshot of a
person’s ability in the area under examination. For example,
someone who has scored highly on a verbal test can only be said
to have a high verbal IQ, and someone who has scored highly on
a mathematical test can only be said to have a high numerical IQ.
Obviously, therefore, the more different types of disciplines that
are tested and examined, the more accurately the intelligence level
of the individual can be assessed.
The concept of general intelligence, or g, was devised in the
early 20th century by the English psychologist Charles Spearman,
who established g as a measure of performance in a variety of
tests.
Spearman’s research led him to the conclusion that the same
people who performed well in a variety of mental tasks tended to
use a part of the brain that he termed g. The g factor, therefore,
laid the foundation for the concept of a single intelligence, and
the belief that this single, and measurable, intelligence enables us
to perform tasks of mental ability.
As we learn more about the workings of the human brain,
Spearman’s concept has become highly controversial and is
increasingly challenged by those who claim that the concept of a
single overall intelligence is too simplistic.
To cite just one example of this, we know now, as a result of
work carried out in the 1960s by the US neurologist Roger Wolcott
Sperry (1913–94), that the creative functions of human beings are
controlled by the right-hand hemisphere of the human brain. This
is the side of the brain that is underused by the majority of people,
as opposed to the thought processes of the left-hand hemisphere,
which is characterized by order, sequence and logic and is responsible
for such functions as numerical and verbal skills.
In addition there is increasing recognition of the importance of
the concept of emotional intelligence developed in the mid-1990s