Cognitive intelligence
BMJ 2002; 325 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0212458 (Published 01 December 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:0212458
- Brian McMullen, specialist in holistic medical education1
- 1Kinloss, Scotland
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T S Elliot, The Rock, 1928
How many different forms of intelligence can you think of? For most people, being clever is connected with success in exams. In the past, the standard measure of intelligence has been the IQ test.
In 1983, Howard Gardner from the Harvard School of Education proposed that there is not a single entity called intelligence. He suggested an idea of “multiple intelligences” (see box).1
Multiple intelligences
Musical or rhythmic
Visual or spatial
Bodily or kinesthetic
Verbal or linguistic
Logical or mathematical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Others have suggested different kinds of intelligences: cognitive (IQ), emotional (EQ), and spiritual (SQ). This article is concerned with cognitive intelligence. In the next two articles I will consider emotional and spiritual intelligence and their relation to the practice of medicine. Being “clever” in the traditional sense is no longer enough.
A brief history of IQ
The word intelligence goes back to Aristotle, who distinguished “orexis,” the emotional and moral functions, from “dianoia,” the cognitive and intellectual function. Dianoia was translated by Cicero as intellegentia (“intra” means within and “legere” means to choose).
Ebbinghaus devised the first test of higher intellectual function in 1897. It was the French psychologist Alfred Binet, however, who produced the first practical scale for measuring intelligence, in 1905. For many years he had studied the physical and mental development of his daughters. Then the Paris education authorities approached him for help in discovering children who were …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £173 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£38 / $45 / €42 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.