# Intelligence --- **Intelligence** the ability that humans and other organisms have that allow them to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Intelligence—what is it exactly, and how can measure it objectively—is a topic that has received a lot of attention from scientists (especially [[psychology|psychologists]]). The "white whale" of researchers is to find and accurately measure a person's ***general intelligence***, or ***g***. It's basically impossible to pin down, due to the complex and highly context dependent nature of intelligence. ## Types of Intelligence There are many different types of intelligence. Researchers recognized this but there is no singularly accepted paradigm for classifying types of intelligence. ### Fluid & Crystallized Intelligence One way of classifying types of intelligence is between **fluid** intelligence and **crystallized** intelligence. Of course it's difficult to measure but some researchers think that fluid intelligence tends to decrease with age while crystallized intelligence tends to increase. **Fluid intelligence** is characterized by quick, flexible thinking, which allows people to learn new skills (even those that are unconnected with any of their already known skills) or solve abstract puzzles (even those that are of an unfamiliar type). People with high fluid intelligence can easily draw inferences, grasp relationships between concepts and have a large [[memory|working memory]]. **Crystallized intelligence** is the accumulation of facts, information and knowledge that comes from direct education or experience—or "book smarts". People with high crystallized intelligence have a large vocabulary, know lots of facts or dates in history. >[!people] Cattell & Horn > The "two clusters of intelligence" (i.e. fluid and crystallized) framework for understaning intelligence was first understood by researchers **Raymond Cattell** and **John Horn** ### Analytic, Creative & Practical Intelligence One way of classifying intelligence is in three fundamental buckets of intelligence: **analytic**, **creative**, and **practical** intelligence. **Analytic intelligence** is used for abstract planning, strategizing, focused attention, and logic. It's useful for analyzing data, learning and understanding, remembering and thinking. **Creative intelligence** is used for creativity, imagination, and expecting the unexpected. It's useful for intellectual flexibility and originality. **Practical intelligence** is used for understanding and assessing daily problems, applying skills and knowledge, and being adaptive. It's useful for it's adaptability, cooperation and family interactions. >[!people] Robert Sternberg **Roberst Sternberg** first proposed the "three forms of intelligence" (analytic, creative, practical). ___