Defining intelligence is an area that remains open to interpretation. According to Sternberg and Sternberg (2012), intelligence refers to a person’s ability to acquire knowledge from their experiences and their environment. They further note that this can require adaptability to adjust to different contexts, including social or cultural (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012). Superior intelligence is often determined when an individual excels in particular areas including: “attention, working memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision making, and concept formation” (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012, p. 17). Sternberg and Sternberg (2012) note that understanding the cognitive processes behind these functions aid in determining the individualism behind intelligence in humans. Another way to define intelligence is to consider the multiple intelligences as outlined first by Gardner in 1983. Gardner suggested that intelligence could be broken down into categories such as verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, emotional, spatial etc. (Furnham, 2009). His list of intelligences grew in number and since him, others have gone on to label more areas of intelligence, the number growing from seven to more than 20, depending on the researcher (Furnham, 2009). Emotional intelligence is more difficult to study than other areas, such as mathematical or linguistic, resulting in uncertainty regarding the best manner in which to measure it. Due to the argument between intelligence testing needing to be timed tests with correct/incorrect answers and self-report testing being an adequate measure, emotional intelligence testing remains filled with subjective perception, making it difficult to quantify and assess (Furnham, 2009). I believe that emotional intelligence must be acknowledged as an area of intelligence, allowing for this measurement to fuel overall understanding of human individualities, strengths, and weaknesses. As discussed by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2008), individuals have different information processing abilities – this is outside of their ability to gather or collect information. For example, someone may be highly skilled in gathering facts, and understanding scientific information as it is presented. However, this same person may not understand the nuances of who or how this information is presented. Fact-gathering is only one part of understanding the information that is presented. We know that human communication is not only about the words being communicated. Humans use a wide array of communication tools such as voice inflection, facial expression, gestures, tone etc. to communicate their message (Schooler & Anderson, 2017). Emotional intelligence is what allows a person to grasp not just the words being presented but to also acknowledge those other elements that can dramatically alter the meaning of the words. Anecdotally, as I watch my toddler grow, develop and begin to understand the world around him I am watching as his different.

1. Defining intelligence is an area that remains open to
interpretation. According to Sternberg and Sternberg (2012),
intelligence refers to a person’s ability to acquire knowledge
from their experiences and their environment. They further note
that this can require adaptability to adjust to different contexts,
including social or cultural (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012).
Superior intelligence is often determined when an individual
excels in particular areas including: “attention, working
memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision making, and
concept formation” (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2012, p. 17).
Sternberg and Sternberg (2012) note that understanding the
cognitive processes behind these functions aid in determining
the individualism behind intelligence in humans.
Another way to define intelligence is to consider the multiple
intelligences as outlined first by Gardner in 1983. Gardner
suggested that intelligence could be broken down into
categories such as verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical,
musical, emotional, spatial etc. (Furnham, 2009). His list of
intelligences grew in number and since him, others have gone
on to label more areas of intelligence, the number growing from
seven to more than 20, depending on the researcher (Furnham,
2009).
Emotional intelligence is more difficult to study than other
areas, such as mathematical or linguistic, resulting in
uncertainty regarding the best manner in which to measure it.
Due to the argument between intelligence testing needing to be
timed tests with correct/incorrect answers and self-report testing
being an adequate measure, emotional intelligence testing
remains filled with subjective perception, making it difficult to
quantify and assess (Furnham, 2009).

2. I believe that emotional intelligence must be acknowledged as
an
area
of intelligence, allowing for this measurement to fuel overall
understanding of human individualities, strengths, and
weaknesses. As discussed by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso
(2008), individuals have different information processing
abilities – this is outside of their ability to gather or collect
information.
For example, someone may be highly skilled in gathering facts,
and understanding scientific information as it is presented.
However, this same person may not understand the nuances of
who or how this information is presented. Fact-gathering is only
one part of understanding the information that is presented. We
know that human communication is not only about the words
being communicated. Humans use a wide array of
communication tools such as voice inflection, facial expression,
gestures, tone etc. to communicate their message (Schooler &
Anderson, 2017). Emotional intelligence is what allows a person
to grasp not just the words being presented but to also
acknowledge those other elements that can dramatically alter
the meaning of the words.
Anecdotally, as I watch my toddler grow, develop and begin to
understand the world around him I am watching as his different
areas of intelligence grow and change. Factual understanding
seems to come first: he’s learning words, shapes, colours, and
routines. Notably, his ability to adequately share and understand
his feelings and emotions is (understandably) still a work in
progress. Just like any other area of intelligence, emotional
intelligence needs to be taught and nurtured and there are
repercussions when it is not. In areas I have worked in I have
seen the impact of underdeveloped or stunted emotional
intelligence; oftentimes this results in poor communication
skills, assumptions of threat or attack, and an inability to

3. appropriately respond to stressful situations, particularly in men
and boys. Too often there is too little focus on helping boys
develop their emotional intelligence (or even purposefully
focusing energy away from natural emotional intelligence
development) and we can see the results of this in an abundance
of un- and under-addressed mental health needs in the male
population.
Reference:
Furnham, A. (2009). The validity of a new, self-report measure
of multiple intelligence.
Current Psychology, 28
(4), 225–239.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2008). Emotional
intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits?
American Psychologist, 63
(6), 503–517.
Schooler, L. J., & Anderson, J. R. (2017). The Adaptive Nature
of Memory.
Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference
, 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.21042-0
Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg K. (2012). Cognition and
intelligence. In
Cognitive psychology
(6th ed., pp. 17–22). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage
Learning.