Introduction
The motivation system for pupils in schools is a crucial aspect of the functioning of the education system. The emphasis on social or intellectual components predisposes to discussion and debate among sociologists and child psychologists. An article from the New York Times newspaper is an example of such a discourse. The aspects it discusses are directly related to the humanities field, such as communication theories. Scholars such as Wechsler, Sternberg, and Gardner, when examined in detail, present their views on the issue. Thus, intelligence has additional values represented by social and operational skills, especially when it comes to evaluating students; they are described in the New York Times article and in the theories of the above-mentioned scholars.
Smarts vs. Personality in School: Nature vs. Nurture Analysis
The article “Smarts vs. Personality in School” reveals what additional factors influence each student’s academic opportunities and achievements. Based on the information provided in the article, these include grit, extraversion, social openness, and friendliness (New York Times, 2015). Moreover, the author notes that the evaluators, in this case, are teachers and not peers. The critical thesis can be considered as the phrase, “Maybe intelligence is less important than grit” (New York Times, 2015, par. 7). This logical sequence touches on aspects such as nature opposing nurture.
In real-world circumstances, practical talents serve three purposes: adapting to current surroundings, modifying existing settings to create new surroundings, and choosing new environments. Adaptation is learning the rules of a new environment and figuring out how to prosper in it (Sternberg & Williams, 2010). As an example, when a student first entered college, they have likely attempted to determine campus life’s explicit and tacit standards (Sternberg & Williams, 2010). One must additionally learn how to effectively use these skills in the new setting, for instance, molding surroundings by choosing the courses and activities that would take most of a student’s free time. Youth may have even attempted to influence the conduct of others through social interactions (Sternberg & Williams, 2010). Lastly, if one were unable to adjust themselves or their surroundings to the desired needs, they may have considered choosing a different setting. Social skills are vital in any environment, including the academic one, which becomes evident in this situation.
Nature, which is affected by genetic heritage and any biological variables, is comparable to prewiring. Nurture is often understood as the impact of external variables on a person after conception, such as exposure, life events, and learning. The reason to agree with the author’s statement is that school is a prototype of real social life, where innate charisma and the ability to build social connections are vital pathways to success in life. Thus, nature in the matter of intelligence is an essential factor in learning, but the ability to build social contacts in the scholar community, as part of people’s collective work, appears to be crucial.
Intelligence: Sociology Scholars’ Theories
Theories’ Overview
Proposing a multidimensional perspective of intelligence, Wechsler’s theory of intelligence is comparable to ideas presented by several of his contemporaries as well as other cognitive psychologists. He argued that previous evaluations of general intelligence were too limited since they did not account for all non-cognitive aspects, such as education, experiences, feelings, and the surroundings (Bryce, 2018). The scholar stated that these previous tests were not realistic since many of them were only applicable for specific early literacy abilities and did not account for other ability levels (Bryce, 2018). Wechsler recognized these constraints early in his academic work (Bryce, 2018). When he originally joined the military as a psychiatrist, he worked with a variety of intelligence tests, including those created by Pearson, Spearman, Yerkes, and Thorndike (Bryce, 2018, par. 9). He discovered that the employed exams not only had significant limits, but additionally had prejudices, including not being tailored for persons who could not read or write or who were from a different nation.
According to Howard Gardner’s hypothesis of multiple intelligences, humans are not born with all the knowledge they will ever possess. This hypothesis challenged the conventional belief that there is just one sort of intelligence, additionally referred to as “g” for general intelligence, which focuses solely on cognitive ability (Cherry, 2021). He identified eight different bits of intelligence to widen this concept of intelligence: verbal, rational, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, naturalist, interpersonal, spatial, and intrapersonal (Cherry, 2021, par. 3). According to the theorist, the linguistic and logical-mathematical modalities are the most prized in school and society (Cherry, 2021, par. 3). Gardner additionally proposes that there may be more “candidate” intelligence, including spiritual intelligence, existential intelligence, and moral intelligence.
According to the hypothesis offered by dr. Robert J. Sternberg, the human mind has three forms of intelligence. These are operational (the ability to adapt to diverse situations), creative (the capacity to generate fresh concepts), and analytic, the ability to solve problems and evaluate information (Vinney, 2020, par. 1). The experience-based theory is the context-specific sub-theory, which is directly connected to the suitable type of intelligence or the skills to properly function in one’s surroundings (Vinney, 2020). The latter relates to inventive intelligence, the capacity to deal with new situations or concerns, and the multidimensional sub-theory, which, as a result, systematically describes analytical intelligence.
Theories’ Comparison and Response
Based on the information provided, an analysis of the theories described is required. At the core of their categorizations and assertions, both scholars concur in their views, presenting a system by which the intellectual level of a person can be assessed. It follows that the academic community in psychology and sociology supports the fact that there are additional values which affect the human mind. Specifically, the main comparison point is evident in the categorization and proposal of the multidimensional intelligence being present as a foundational basis of the examined concept. This conclusion leads one to propose that the described model is particularly relevant to school students and their academic perspectives for the reasons stated in this and the previous sections.
However, a response to the theories presented in this paper will not only be to agree with the theses presented but additionally to supplement them in part. In particular, the main reason why a person’s social and communicative abilities should be considered a measure of intelligence lies in the factors used to analyze the situation. Being comfortable in a group of other individuals with their own opinions, personalities, and desirable and undesirable topics of conversation and leading over it requires the ability to interpret and understand the thinking of others quickly. While human empathy plays an essential role in this process, so do the cognitive abilities to analyze, categorize and persuade. Thus, neglecting such skills in the academic sphere can seriously negatively impact the development of disciplines such as diplomacy, political science, sociology, and psychology.
Conclusion
Finally, several analyses of the New York Times article and psychological theories were presented to support the thesis that additional values have a strong influence on determining levels of intelligence and success in academic performance. The initial analysis demonstrated the underlying principle of contrasting natural and acquired human skills. Furthermore, the academic theories of influential psychologists were presented to support such a position. Their subsequent analysis determined and reinforced the assertion made. Drawing public attention to such reasoning is a critical factor that can lead to a positive reform of the education system that balances and accommodates the skills of both introverts and extroverts.
References
Bryce, S. (2018). David Wechsler and Intelligence Tests. Study.Com. Web.
Cherry, K. (2021). Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. VeryWellMind. Web.
New York Times. (2015). Smarts vs. personality in school. PressReader. Web.
Sternberg, R. J., & Williams, W. M. (2010). Educational psychology. Pearson. (2nd ed.). Pearson.
Vinney, C. (2020). Understanding the triarchic theory of intelligence. ThoughtCo. Web.