The Psychology Book (99 page)

of psychological innocence, although

Gordon Willard Allport was

born in Montezuma, Indiana

he maintained his belief that traits

in 1897. The youngest of four

are a reasonable starting point for

to explore positive human experience

sons, Allport was shy and

the description of personality.

are based “largely upon the behavior

studious as a child, but as a

of sick and anxious people or upon

teenager he became editor of

Allport’s influence

the antics of captive and desperate

his school newspaper and ran

Allport’s work forms the basis of

rats.” He wondered why there were

his own printing business.

many contemporary schools of

no theories based on the study of

During World War I, Allport

thought, though he is rarely credited

healthy human beings, and those

performed military duties,

directly. Much of modern personality

who strive to make life worth

before winning a scholarship

testing derives from the work of

living. He pointed out that most

to Harvard University to study

Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck,

studies are of criminals, not of

philosophy and economics.

and both of these psychologists

law abiders; of fear, not courage;

After graduating in 1919, he

drew upon Allport’s lexical study.

and focus on the blindness of

taught for a year in Turkey,

Cattell’s “16 Personality Factor

humans, rather than their vision.

then went back to Harvard,

Questionnaire,” which is still used

The burgeoning school of positive

where he gained his doctorate

in psychology in 1922. He also

by psychologists today, uses 16

psychology, led by Martin

studied with the Gestalt School

traits identified by Cattell through

Seligman, has taken up this idea

in Germany, and at Cambridge

computer analysis of Allport and

and aims to develop a scientific

University in England.

Odbert’s original 4,500 adjectives.

psychology of positive experience.

In 1924, Allport again

Humanistic psychology, which

By 1955, when Allport wrote

returned to Harvard to teach

forms the basis of most counseling

Becoming
, his thinking had

the first course in personality

and therapeutic practices, also

developed further; he now saw

studies in the US. Apart from

relies heavily upon Allport’s ideas,

human striving toward a higher level

four years at Darmouth College,

particularly his idiographic method

of consciousness and realization as

he remained at Harvard until

and insistence upon the uniqueness

the true motive of personality. The

his death from lung cancer,

of each and every person. Increased

idea that “becoming” is the ultimate

aged 70, in 1967.

focus on the practitioner–client

goal of human beings was also

relationship as a vehicle for the

developed by the psychologists

Key works

expression and development of

Carl Rogers and then Abraham

1937
Personality: A

personality has its roots in Allport’s

Maslow, who renamed it “self-

Psychological Interpretation

assertion that personality is largely

actualization.” Although Allport’s

1954
The Nature of Prejudice

a function of relationships.

work is cited less often than other

1955
Becoming

Allport was also one of the

well-known figures, he had a

1961
Pattern and Growth in

first to point out that even those

profound and lasting influence

Personality

psychological theories that attempt

on the field of psychology. ■

314

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

CONSISTS OF BOTH

FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED

INTELLIGENCE

RAYMOND CATTELL (1905–1998)

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

R
aymond Cattell, considered made up “g”: fluid and crystallized

to be one of the dozen most

intelligence. Fluid intelligence is

eminent psychologists of

a series of thinking or reasoning

the 20th century, contributed hugely

abilities that can be applied to

Intelligence theory

to the study of human intelligence,

any issue or “content.” Sometimes

BEFORE

motivation, and personality. His

described as the intelligence we

interest in intelligence was sparked

use when we don’t already know

1900s
Alfred Binet claims

early in his career when he was a

how to do something, it comes into

intelligence can be measured,

student of Charles Spearman, the

play automatically in processes

and introduces the term

British psychologist who defined

such as problem-solving and

“intelligence quotient” (IQ).

“g”—a single-factor, general

pattern recognition, and it is

1904
Charles Spearman

intelligence that serves as the

thought to be closely related to

identifies “g” as an underlying

foundation for all learning.

working memory capacity.

property of intelligence.

In 1941, Cattell developed this

Cattell suggests fluid intelligence

concept further, defining two

is genetically inherited, which may

1931
In
The Measurement of

different types of intelligence that

account for individual differences.

Intelligence,
Edward Thorndike

says that there are three or four

main types of intelligence.

General underlying intelligence (g)

AFTER

is made up of two parts.

1950
J.P. Guilford claims that

there are around 150 different

types of intellectual ability.

1989
US psychologist John

B. Carroll proposes a three-

stratum psychometric model

Fluid intelligence
, which

Crystallized intelligence
,

of intelligence, consisting

is the ability to think and

which builds from past

of narrow abilities, broad

reason abstractly, and to

experiences and learnt

abilities, and Charles

perceive relationships

facts, and amounts to

between things without

judgement skills that

Spearman’s “g” factor.

prior practice or instruction.

accumulate as we age.

PSYCHOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE 315

See also:
Alfred Binet 50–53 ■ J.P. Guilford 304–05 ■ Hans Eysenck 316–21 ■ William Stern 334 ■ David Wechsler 336

It builds to a peak in young

The culture-fair intelligence

adulthood, then steadily declines,

test
was developed by Cattell

perhaps because of age-related

in the 1920s. It measures fluid

intelligence through pattern-

changes in the brain. Brain injury

related problems that require

can affect fluid intelligence, which

reasoning ability but no prior

suggests it is largely physiological.

learning or knowledge to solve.

Crystallized intelligence

As we use fluid intelligence for

solving problems, we begin to

develop stores of knowledge and

A

B

C

D

working hypotheses about the

world around us. This store of

knowledge is our crystallized

E

F

G

H

intelligence, described by Cattell

as “the set of judgmental skills”

gained from investing fluid

intelligence in cultural activities.

Vast differences in learning

of intelligence increases gradually

Noting that standard IQ tests

experiences occur because of

over a lifetime and stays relatively

tend to assess a combination of

factors such as social class, age,

stable until we are around 65 years

fluid and crystallized intelligence,

nationality, and historical era.

old, when it begins to decline.

Cattell developed tests to assess

Crystallized intelligence

Cattell sees fluid and crystallized

fluid intelligence in isolation. His

includes skills such as verbal

intelligence as fairly independent

culture-fair intelligence test, which

comprehension and numerical

of each other, but reasons that

uses nonverbal, multiple-choice

facility, because these abilities rely

having a higher fluid intelligence

questions based on shapes and

on knowledge already gained—

might lead to the broader and

patterns, requires no prior learning

such as the rules of grammar or

faster development of crystallized

from the participants and can be

addition, subtraction, and other

intelligence, depending on factors

used to test children and adults

mathematical concepts. This form

relating to personality and interests.

from any culture. ■

Raymond Cattell

Born in Staffordshire, England,

life there. In 1997, the American

Raymond Bernard Cattell achieved

Psychological Association

a first-class degree in chemistry in

honored him with a Lifetime

1924 before turning to psychology

Achievement Award. However,

and receiving his doctorate in

his idea that nations should

1929. After teaching in London

safeguard high, inherited

and Exeter universities, he ran

intelligence through eugenics

the Leicester Child Guidance

made this a controversial award,

Clinic for five years before moving

and led to critical attacks.

to the US in 1937. He lived and

Cattell defended himself and

taught there until 1973, holding

refused the award, but died of

posts at Clark and Harvard

heart failure the following year.

universities, and the University

of Illinois. Cattell married three

Key works

times and moved to Honolulu as

a professor at the University of

1971
Abilities

Hawaii, spending the rest of his

1987
Intelligence