Life Span Perspective on Practical Intelligence

Abstract

The relatively brief history of the study of human intelligence reflects a continuing tension between identifying the most basic processes or units of cognition, on the one hand, and describing and predicting complex human behavior, on the other. Some eight decades ago, Binet (Binet & Simon, 1905) sought to predict performance on complex academic tasks via the assessment of a small group of basic mental abilities. Since Binet’s time, research and debate has continued unabated on the relationship between basic cognitive processes and complex forms of intelligence. During the past two decades, the study of basic skills and cognitive processes has been reflected in the information-processing approach to cognition (Newell & Simon, 1972; Rybash, Hoyer, Sc Roodin, 1986; Salthouse, 1985), in the study of artificial intelligence (Hillman, 1985), and in the development of componential models of intelligence (Sternberg, 1982). The study of complex forms of human performance has been reflected in recent research on topics, such as expertise (Hoyer, 1985), practical or everyday intelligence (Sternberg & Wagner, 1986), and ecological and construct validity concerns within clinical psychology and neuropsychology (Crook, 1979; Kasniak & Davis, 1986; West, 1986).