Chapter 16
The Application of Personality
and Intelligence in Education
and the Workplace:
The Introduction of Other
Intelligences
Key themes
Personality and individual difference in education and work
Learning styles
Emotional intelligence
Creativity
Wisdom
Giftedness
Learning disabilities
Learning outcomes
At the end of this chapter you should:
Be able to present a general overview of how a number of
personality and intelligence ideas have informed our
understanding of education and work
Understand the role and values that commonly known
personality and intelligence tests have in predicting education
and work achievement
Be aware of Kolb’s theory of learning styles and some of its
criticisms
Know how emotional intelligence theory informs our
understanding of learning
Know how emotional intelligence theory informs our
understanding of leadership
Be familiar with theoretical descriptions and models of creativity
Be familiar with theoretical descriptions and models of wisdom
Be able to outline a series of models that describe giftedness
Be able to outline a theory and programme of Structural
Cognitive Modifiability
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 411
In 1998, Time magazine sought to identify the greatest
people of the twentieth century. In a special issue they
considered great leaders, greater innovators, thinkers,
scientists, artists and entertainers.
Were those who had achieved the most the greatest
leaders? Or were they those who had defined and
changed the political and social fabric of the world?
Among those listed were Mohandas Gandhi, a political
leader of India who led the struggle for Indian independence
from the British Empire; Mikhail Gorbachev, leader
of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 whose attempts
at reform led to the end of the Cold War; Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, who led the United States through
the Great Depression; and the Reverend Martin Luther
King, the most famous leader of the American civil
rights movement.
However, others were named by Time magazine: ‘the
Unknown Rebel’, the anonymous man who in a single
act became internationally famous when he was photographed
standing in front of a line of tanks during the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China; Emmeline
Pankhurst, the Victorian Englishwoman associated with
her struggle for women’s rights; Pablo Picasso, one of
the most recognised figures in twentieth-century art; Bill
Gates, successful businessman and chairman of the Microsoft
Corporation; Albert Einstein, who proposed the
theory of relativity and made major contributions to the
development of quantum and statistical mechanics.
In the end, Time suggested the person of the last
century was Albert Einstein, followed by Franklin Delano
Roosevelt and Mohandas Gandhi.
Of course, achieving such greatness is beyond most
people’s wildest dreams. But how might we achieve
greatly in our lives? How might we achieve our greatest
potential and show leadership qualities where they are
needed?
In this chapter we are going to look at some of the
personality, intelligence and individual differences theories
that surround education and work. We are going to
take a wide view of education as it pertains not only to
schools, but the workplace – and the environment in
which you are most likely reading this book, university.
We are going to draw on many of the preceding chapters,
not only the intelligence sections, and we will explore
some ideas about personality and individual
differences at work. However, our main focus in this
chapter is to concentrate on theories that suggest how
to create and build success in education and the workplace.
In this chapter, we will cover:
Personality and intelligence predictors of achievement
in education and the workplace
How a concept called learning style has helped us
understand the way we learn
How the concept of emotional intelligence is used in
the workplace
How psychologists have defined creativity and
wisdom
How giftedness is conceptualised by psychologists
How individuals show leadership in education when
working with those with learning disabilities.
Source: Grace/Zefa/Corbis
Introduction
Personality and intelligence
predictors of achievement in
education and the workplace
You may remember that in Chapter 12 we discussed the
case of Robert Yerkes and the Alpha and Beta intelligence
tests. At that time, the American Psychological Association
worked with the US Army to assess individuals’ intelligence,
thus enabling the army to classify and assign soldiers
to suitable tasks. Since then, this approach – psychologically
assessing people to predict not only what roles they should
do but also whether they should be selected for a role – has
been of interest to psychologists as well as employers, educators
and governments.
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412 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Established measures of personality
and intelligence: predictors of
achievement in education and work
In terms of the relationship between intelligence and
academic achievement, evidence suggests that general intelligence
shows a strong relationship with academic achievement.
Remember that when it comes to size of correlations,
a correlation of r ϭ 0.1 is a small effect size, r ϭ 0.3 is a
medium effect size and r ϭ 0.5 is a large effect size (go to the
online statistics chapter, Chapter 27, that accompanies this
book if you want to read more on effect sizes).
There are a number of reviews by psychologists. Jencks
(1979) reported correlations between general intelligence
and academic achievement ranging from r ϭ 0.40 to r ϭ
0.63 for six longitudinal studies in the USA. American psychologists
Alan Kaufman and Elizabeth Lichtenberger
(Kaufman, 1990; Kaufman and Lichtenberger, 2005) provide
a review of key papers that have looked at the correlation
between general intelligence and school attainment
and achievement. The authors conclude that the average
correlation between IQ scores and a number of school indicators
is around r ϭ 0.50. Mackintosh (1998) estimates
the correlation between generally intelligence and achievement
at school to be between r ϭ 0.4 and r ϭ 0.7.
In 2007, Ian Deary, Steve Strand, Pauline Smith and
Cres Fernandes (Deary, Strand, Smith and Fernandes,
2007) reported on a five-year longitudinal study of over
70,000 English children which examined the association
between general intelligence at age 11 years (as measured
by the Cognitive Ability Test) and educational achievement
in national examinations in 25 academic subjects at age 16.
In this study the authors used GCSE scores to measure educational
attainment, which is the General Certificate of
Secondary Education [GCSE] and is the name of an academic
qualification awarded in a specified subject and
taken in a number of subjects (e.g. Mathematics, English,
History) by students in secondary education. Table 16.1
shows some of the correlations between general intelligence
and GCSE scores across a number of subject areas.
However, authors, such as Chamorro-Premuzic and
Furnham (2006), have suggested that intelligence factors
are not the only factors that predict academic success.
Denis Bratko, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Zrnka Saks’
overview of the literature suggests that conscientiousness is
the most consistent predictor of academic achievement
(Bratko, Chamorro-Premuzic and Saks, 2006). These researchers
suggest that conscientiousness personality traits
lead students to be organised, disciplined and motivated
to succeed. This in turn has a positive effect on their ability to
study and on the effort and commitment they put into
their work. Bratko and colleagues also suggest that the relationship
between the other factors of personality and
achievement are less clear and less consistent. For example,
Bratko et al. suggest that while neuroticism might cause
people to perform badly in examinations due to their tendency
to worry and be anxious before and during the
examination, this worry and anxiety might make people
work harder in the run up to the exam and therefore do
much better. In a similar way, extraversion is inconsistently
associated with academic achievement because extraverted
people may be less worried and optimistic about examinations
and therefore perform better in high-pressure situations
such as examination, or, they may spend less time
studying and more time doing other non-academic activities.
Regardless of these speculations, it seems that conscientiousness,
over the other personality factors, consistently
predicts academic achievement.
Melissa O’Connor and Sampo Paunonen (O’Connor
and Paunonen, 2007) carried out a meta-analysis (a technique
that combines the results of several studies) of empirical
studies that looked at the relationship between the
five-factor model of personality and academic achievement.
You will remember that the five-factor model comprises five
personality dimensions (Costa and McCrae, 1992):
openness (perceptive, sophisticated, knowledgeable,
cultured, artistic, curious, analytical, liberal traits);
conscientiousness (practical, cautious, serious, reliable,
organised, careful, dependable, hardworking, ambitious
traits);
extraversion (sociable, talkative, active, spontaneous,
adventurous, enthusiastic, person-oriented, assertive
traits);
agreeableness (warm, trustful, courteous, agreeable,
cooperative traits);
Table 16.1 Correlations between general intelligence
and GCSE scores (Based on Deary et al., 2007).
Subject
Correlation with general
intelligence (r ‫؍‬)
GCSE total points 0.69
GCSE best 8 0.72
Mathematics 0.77
Biology 0.51
Chemistry 0.46
Physics 0.50
English 0.67
English Literature 0.59
History 0.63
Geography 0.65
French 0.64
German 0.61
Spanish 0.62
Drama 0.47
Art and Design 0.43
Music 0.54
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 413
neuroticism (emotional, anxious, depressive, selfconscious
worrying traits).
O’Connor and Paunonen found that conscientiousness
was consistently associated with academic success. The
overall correlation across the studies was r ϭ 0.22, with
the highest correlation being reported by Furnham et al.
(2003) as being between conscientiousness and grade
point average (r ϭ 0.40). They found that openness to
experience was sometimes positively associated with
scholastic achievement, with the highest relationship
being reported by Dollinger and Orf (1991) with a correlation
of r ϭ 0.30 between openness and exam grade, but
the average correlation of the studies was low (r ϭ 0.05).
Extraversion was also sometimes negatively related to academic
success, with Furnham et al. (2003) reporting a significant
negative correlation between extraversion and
grade point average, though the overall average correlation
was also low (r ϭ Ϫ0.05). O’Connor and Paunonen
also found that very few significant relationships between
academic performance and agreeableness (average correlation,
r ϭ 0.06) and neuroticism (average correlation, r ϭ
0.03), leading to the suggestion that these personality
dimensions may not be as relevant as predictors of academic
achievement.
More recently, Poropat (2009) presented a meta-analysis
of studies that examined the relationship between the fivefactor
model of personality and academic performance
across studies totalling over 70,000 individuals. Poropat
found that though agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
openness were found to significantly correlate with academic
performance, it was only conscientiousness that
predicted academic performance independently of intelligence
(when this was measured). Poropat (2009) also
found that when looking at individuals in tertiary education
(i.e. universities), when individuals’ secondary-level
performance (i.e. results from secondary school) was controlled
for, conscientiousness was able to predict tertiary
academic performance as much as intelligence did.
In addition to these findings, some authors have found
that the narrow personality traits or facets (those traits in
brackets in the list of the five factors above) were sometimes
stronger predictors of academic performance than the five
main personality factors. For example, O’Connor and
Paunonen found that facets of conscientiousness, being
achievement-oriented, self-disciplined, and diligent, were
best predictors of academic success. This finding suggests
that the five-factor personality factors are too broad and the
facets are more useful in understanding the relationship
between personality and academic achievement. So, for example,
compare these two statements:
‘Conscientiousness predicts academic achievement.’
‘Being achievement-oriented, self-disciplined, and diligent
predicts academic achievement.’
The second statement seems more meaningful and
insightful when trying to understand why conscientiousness
traits predict academic achievement.
Regarding job performance, research also suggests that
intelligence is an important factor. Job performance can
mean various things, but generally, US work psychologist
Leaetta Hough, who served as president of the American
Psychological Association Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, has defined several areas that indicate
job performance (Hough, 1992). These include
overall job performance (for example, ratings by employers,
managers, the number of promotions the person has
gained), poor behaviour (for example, lack of attendance
of work through absence), competence, effectiveness,
teamwork, creativity and effort.
In researching the area of intelligence and job performance,
US psychologists John E. Hunter and R. F.
Hunter (1984) provided a meta-analysis of studies that
examined various predictors at the time of an interview
for a job with eventual job performance. In all, the authors
looked at results for over 32,000 workers. They
found that the correlation between intelligence and job
performance was r ϭ 0.54 (a medium-sized correlation),
and it shared a lot larger association with job performance
than with curriculum vitae (r ϭ 0.37), previous experience
(r ϭ 0.18) and education (r ϭ 0.10). The first
ever meta-analysis of this type in the United Kingdom
was carried out by Cristina Bertua, Neil Anderson and
Jesus F. Salgado, who looked at over 280 samples, comprising
13,262 people, and compared the scores on different
intelligence measures with their job performance
(Bertua, Anderson and Salgado, 2005). In this study, the
researchers examined several different types of jobs, including
clerical, engineering, professional, managers and
sales; the requirements ranged from low-skilled jobs to
higher-skilled professional jobs. Bertua and her colleagues
found that both general intelligence and specific
ability tests were good predictors of job performance,
with correlations being similar to those reported by
Hunter and Hunter (between r ϭ 0.5 and r ϭ 0.6).
With personality measures and job performance, findings
are also relatively consistent. Of the various personality
measures, research suggests that the five-factor model is
the most useful in understanding the relationship between
personality and job performance (Hough and Oswald,
2000; Salgado, 2003). Researchers have conducted several
meta-analytical studies of the relationship between personality
and job performance (Hough, 1992; Robertson, 2001;
Salgado, 2003). Overall, findings suggest the following
three things:
Of the five factors, conscientiousness and low neuroticism
are consistently related to a number of indicators
of job performance.
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Of these two factors, conscientiousness and neuroticism,
conscientiousness is a better predictor of job
performance.
In meta-analyses, openness, agreeableness and extraversion
are not related to job performance. They have occasionally
been related to job performance, but much less
often – and not consistently (for example, extraversion
is sometimes related to people in marketing).
On this last point Barrick and Mount (1991) reviewed
117 studies involving nearly 24,000 participants. These
authors found that conscientiousness showed consistent
positive relationships with work performance across a
number of occupations, extraversion was a good predictor
for jobs involving social interaction (e.g. management
and sales), and extraversion and openness to
experience were good predictors at individuals showing
training proficiency.
You can see in Table 16.2 a comparison of those personality
traits that consistently predict job performance
and those that do not. Imagine that the traits in each column
describe a different person that you are interviewing
for a job. Which person would you be more likely to
employ?
However, perhaps the best way to understand the relative
importance of personality and intelligence is to compare
the strength of different personality variables in
predicting eventual job performance at the point of selection.
Table 16.3 is a summary of such comparisons, based
on findings from Anderson and Shackleton (1993) and
Hunter and Hunter (1984). As you can see, personality and
intelligence fare relatively well against various predictors of
job performance.
414 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Table 16.2 A comparison of those personality traits that
consistently predict job performance and those that
do not.
Practical, cautious, serious,
reliable, organised, careful,
dependable, hardworking,
ambitious, unemotional, not
anxious, not depressive,
not self-conscious, doesn’t
worry
Sociable, talkative, active,
spontaneous, adventurous,
enthusiastic, personoriented,
assertive, warm,
trustful, courteous, agreeable,
cooperative, perceptive,
sophisticated, knowledgeable,
cultured, artistic,
curious, analytical, liberal
Personality traits that
consistently predict job
performance
Personality traits that do not
consistently predict job
performance
Table 16.3 Comparison of the strength of different
variables in predicting eventual job performance at the
point of selection.
Assessment methods at selection Correlation
Astrology (the study of positions and
aspects of the planets and stars in the
belief that they can influence the course
of natural events and behaviour) 0.0
Graphology (the study of handwriting,
employed as a means of analysing
character) 0.0
Character references 0.13
Previous experience 0.18
Unstructured interviews 0.31
Curriculum vitae 0.37
Personality assessments 0.38
Intelligence 0.54
Samples of people’s work 0.55
Structured interviews 0.62
The difficulties with using established
measures of personality and
intelligence in education and work
Our European modern-day educational and workplace
settings are not alight with a world of personality and intelligence
theory and testing. The use of personality and intelligence
in education and the workplace seems to be of limited
interest to educators and employers. On one hand, they
seem to be good, and relatively consistent, predictors of
eventual education and job performance. However, using
measures of personality and intelligence in the selection and
assessment of individuals and their performance has not
been enthusiastically received by people working in education
and the workplace. There may be a simple explanation
for this. Are intelligence tests and personality tests expensive
and time consuming to use? Does personality and intelligence
testing have a ‘bad press’? For example, what would
your view of intelligence testing be if you were a head teacher
in a school and you knew about all the controversy over intelligence,
and intelligence tests, that we have covered in the
last three chapters? Or maybe intelligence and personality
tests haven’t had enough press. We would imagine that few
employers know of the Hunter and Hunter findings of intelligence
predicting job performance quite as well as it does.
There are two other main, more detailed and research-based
reasons for the seeming lack of enthusiasm by those working
in education and the workplace:
The relationships between personality, intelligence, education
and workplace variables are not as straightforward
as they first seem.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 415
Established measures of personality and intelligence are
not a first consideration by educators and employers.
We will now consider these two points.
The relationships between personality,
intelligence, education and workplace
variables are not as straightforward as
they first seem
There are many dimensions to both education and work.
There are different subjects to be taught in school, different
ways of assessing achievement, many different types of jobs
in the workplace and many different types of responsibility.
Therefore, perhaps intelligence and personality variables do
not provide very adaptable constructs within which to assess
educational and workplace factors. Take, for example,
the finding of Leaetta Hough (Hough, 1997, 1998) and UK
work psychologist Ivan Robertson (Robertson, 2001), that
conscientiousness (practical, cautious, serious, reliable,
organised, careful, dependable, hardworking, ambitious
traits) is the strongest predictor of work performance. The
finding is impressive, until we consider two points suggested
by Hough and Robertson:
A person with conscientiousness personality traits is
cautious and careful. Therefore, would a person with
conscientiousness personality traits be best suited to a
job that requires creativity and innovation?
The world of work is constantly and rapidly changing,
requiring people to be adaptable and flexible. Is a person
with conscientiousness personality traits best suited to
being flexible and adaptable?
You can see that even with the most important personality
predictor of work performance (conscientiousness),
there is debate about its applicability across all job roles that
are important in the workplace, particularly those that involve
flexibility and adaptability. Consequently, as Roberston
(2001) suggests, though conscientiousness and neuroticism
are the consistent factors in predicting job performance,
there is reason to believe that they may be redundant when
considering certain types of jobs and the ever-changing
world of education and the workplace.
Established measures of personality and
intelligence are not a first consideration by
educators and employers
Personality and intelligence measures are not a first consideration
in the minds of educators and employers; there
are many more important non-personality and nonintelligence
factors to be considered. For example, workplaces
do not base their selection on personality
characteristics, but rather on factors that employees will
encounter within the job. Modern-day legislation on equal
opportunities in the workplace makes it a legal requirement
How similar are workplaces to school environments today?
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for clear job descriptions to be written when advertising
for a job. Therefore, personality and intelligence variables
will not be at the forefront of any job description. For example,
‘must have good communication skills’ will always
appear on a job description before ‘must be extraverted’
because the former clearly relates to a job skill, whereas the
latter relates to general disposition in life. Equally, asking
for someone to show they are intelligent in a job description
and then giving them an intelligence test is somewhat
redundant given that people outline their qualifications
on their application. If someone has a university degree,
this is already an indication of their level of intelligence
across a number of skills, and perhaps a better one than a
one-hour test made at an assessment centre where the person
is feeling anxious and nervous. Therefore, though
often used in large selection processes, measures of personality
and intelligence are not usually employers’ first
thought when devising a job role.
Equally, in schools, using personality and intelligence
tests presents difficulties. Take, for example, intelligence
tests.A child of 7 takes an intelligence test, but their IQ score
is kept secret from the child. This is done so that if they have
done poorly, they are not unfairly labelled as ‘unintelligent’
and thus discouraged from further study.Other teachers and
parents aren’t made aware of a child’s IQ score for similar
reasons; except perhaps in special circumstances when identifying
children with learning difficulties, and then teachers
and parents would be made aware of a low score – though
not necessarily the actual score.So,we must consider to what
extent an IQ score is important to pupils, teachers and parents,
when the scores are mostly kept secret.
Given these two particular considerations, we can see
that within education and the workplace, personality and
intelligence scores may have predictive strength; but in the
context of modern education and workplaces, there is little
opportunity for teachers or employers to use this information.
Despite the strength of personality and intelligence
tests in predicting aspects such as job performance, it is easy
to see why employers and educators may not consider the
tests as central to the process of education and work.
So, what role does personality and intelligence research
play in the modern workplace? In the remainder of this
chapter, we are going to look at some personality, intelligence
and individual differences theories and practices that
have been met with more enthusiasm and interest in the
education and workplace. To some extent, in considering
these theories, we are now asking you to see a direct link
between education and work. In today’s society, experiences
in education (for example, school and university)
and work are similar. Many skills that are learnt at school
or university are designed to prepare you for adulthood
and the workplace. Further, more and more workplaces
encourage additional education of their staff members
through staff development programmes.
The particular theories and practices we are going to
focus on concentrate on successful learning, leadership and
self-development in education and work. You will see what
we mean by each of these concepts as we go through the
chapter, but here it is worth pointing out a couple of things:
These theories tend to concentrate on developing skills
among individuals once they are in education and the
workplace, rather than on selecting and assessing people
and their potential. Therefore, the emphasis is on improvement
rather than assessment.
When we use the term ‘leadership’, we mean it in a very
wide sense. Today, leadership is not just considered in the
context of leading a company, organisation or political
party. Rather, modern ideas of leadership extend from
these traditional ideas of leadership to everyday situations:
such as a teacher showing leadership quality to
their class by demonstrating the importance of patience,a
parent showing leadership qualities to their child by being
responsible,or an adolescent showing a leadership quality
among their friends by displaying strength of character.
In the rest of the chapter we are going to introduce you to
these topics:
Kolb’s learning styles model and experiential learning
theory;
emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and
leadership;
developing successful intelligences: creativity and
wisdom;
theories of giftedness;
working with those with learning disabilities.
Learning styles and experiential
learning theory
In the 1970s US educational psychologist David A. Kolb
introduced the concept of learning styles within his experiential
learning theory (Kolb and Fry, 1975; see also Kolb,
1984). Kolb’s theory uses ideas from some theorists we
have already covered in this book, including Jung, Rogers,
Guilford and Gardner. The important aspects to Kolb’s theory
are learning processes and learning styles.
Learning processes
In his experiential learning theory (ELT), which emphasises
learning relating to or derived from experience,
David Kolb (1981) suggests there are four main aspects in
learning:
Concrete experience (also known as feeling) – Occurs
when we learn through being involved in a new experience.
For example, we might learn how to use a new
416 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 417
word processing package on the computer by loading it
up and playing around with it.
Reflective observation (also known as watching) – Occurs
when we learn through thinking about our own
experiences, or watching others, or learning from the
experiences of others. For example, where we watch
someone using the new word processing package and
learn how to use the package by watching what they do.
Abstract conceptualisation (also known as thinking) –
Occurs when we learn by creating theories to explain
our observations and behaviours. For example, we
might have been using the new word processing package
for a little while, seeing what it can do, and come to realise
it is pretty much like all the other word processing
packages we have used. The idea that our new word processing
package is pretty much like all the other word
processing packages would be our theory.
Active experimentation (also known as doing) – Occurs
when we learn by using theories to solve problems and
make decisions. For example, we want to know how to
do something on our new word processing package. We
don’t know how to do it; but our theory is that the new
word processing package is pretty much like all the other
word processing packages we have used. So, what we
would do is hunt around until we find the operation or
button that allows us to do what we want to do.
Kolb saw these four aspects of learning as a learning
cycle (Figure 16.1). He suggested that the best learning experience
occurs when you move from one aspect to another.
Therefore, concrete experience is best followed by
observation and reflection, which then leads to abstract
conceptualisation, which then leads to active experimentation
and then back to concrete experience to form a continuous
cycle.
Learning styles
Using these four descriptions of learning processes, Kolb
identified individual differences in the way we prefer to
learn. Kolb identified four learning styles: diverging, assimilating,
converging and accommodating. Each learning
style was made up of a combination of two of the learning
processes described earlier and is best illustrated by the following
matrix (Figure 16.2).
Kolb suggested the following four learning styles:
Accommodating – This learning style combines the
concrete experience and active experimentation learning
processes, or feeling and doing. People who use an
accommodating learning style (accommodators) tend
to prefer to take a practical, hands-on approach. They
will take risks, enjoy new experiences and work well in a
role requiring action and initiative. An accommodator
would work well in sales or marketing, as they go out
and actively sell other people’s products or information.
Diverging – This learning style combines the concrete
experience and observations and reflection learning
processes, or feeling and watching. Divergers (as they
are known) are people who are able to examine things
from several different perspectives. They work best
when they are watching situations and gathering information;
then they use this information to generate
ideas and suggest solutions to problems. They are emotional,
creative and enjoy working with people. Divergers
are best when working in groups and excel in
Concrete
experience
(feeling)
Abstract
conceptualisation
(thinking)
Active
experimentation
(doing)
Observation and
reflection
(watching)
Figure 16.1 Kolb’s four learning aspects, presented
in a cycle.
Concrete experience
(feeling)
Accommodating
Converging
Diverging
Assimilating
Abstract
conceptualisation
(thinking)
Active
experimentation
(doing)
Observation and
reflection
(watching)
Figure 16.2 Four types of learning styles: diverging,
assimilating, converging and accommodating – based
on combinations of learning processes.
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Concrete
experience
Accommodating Diverging
Converging Assimilating
Abstract
conceptualisation
Active
experimentation
Observation and
reflection
brainstorming situations. A diverger would work well
in counselling.
Converging – This learning style combines the active
experimentation and abstract conceptualisation learning
processes, or doing and thinking. Convergers are
problem solvers who are interested in solving practical
issues. Convergers do well at applying ideas and theories
to practical situations and coming up with answers.
They tend not to be emotional and prefer working with
‘things’ rather than other people. Convergers would
work well in physics or areas using mathematics.
Assimilating – This learning style combines the observation
and reflection and abstract conceptualisation
learning processes, or watching and thinking. Assimilators
prefer a logical approach and prefer concepts over
emotion. They are able to understand a lot of information
and organise and integrate it into a logical format.
They enjoy theorising rather than practical application.
Assimilators work well in areas where things are
planned, such as political or social policy.
Figure 16.3 shows Kolb’s four learning processes, presented
as a cycle with his learning styles displayed on the
outside.
Application and measurement of
learning processes and styles
Kolb suggested that successful learning comes from engaging
in all four learning processes. He felt that this would
help individuals develop different learning styles. Kolb’s
work has been used extensively in schools and the workplace,
because it clearly addresses the way that people learn
and work together. It is suggested that the ideal teaching
situation, such as a lecture at university, involves all the
learning processes; the lecture not only visits the full learning
cycle but also captures the whole audience through
using all the learning processes. You can also see the advantage
for employers in assessing people for their learning
styles to see whether they fit the demands of the job. For
example, there would be no use, according to Kolb’s theory,
in placing a person who has an assimilating learning style
(someone who is logical and lacks emotion) into a counselling
role.
Kolb argued that people sometimes rely too heavily on
one learning style and don’t look to develop their other
learning processes or styles. Donna Smith and David Kolb
(Smith and Kolb, 1986) have suggested that we might rely
too heavily on a particular learning style for these reasons:
Personality – A person who is high in extraversion may
be drawn to those learning styles that emphasise action
(accommodating) or working with people (diverging).
Schooling – At school people learn to learn in different
ways, and your learning styles may depend on the teaching
approach used at that school.
Current job or task – Your current job demands may
lead you towards a certain learning style. For example, if
you are a physicist you may have to rely on the converging
or assimilating learning style.
418 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Figure 16.3 Kolb’s four learning processes, presented as a cycle, with his learning
styles displayed on the outside.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 419
Kolb’s 12-item Learning Style Inventory (Smith and
Kolb, 1986) is used to measure learning style, which is now
in its third version (Kolb Learning Style Inventory –
Version 3.1 [LSI3.1]). This scale quite simply asks people
for their preferred way of learning. Respondents are asked
to answer very simple forced-choice questions. For example,
here is an item from the Learning Style Inventory.
Respondents are asked to choose the description that best
suits them.
When I learn:
_____ I like to deal with my feelings (concrete
experience learning).
_____ I like to watch and listen (observation and
reflection learning).
_____ I like to think about ideas (abstract
conceptualisation learning).
_____ I like to be doing things (active
experimentation learning).
As you can see, these questions are measuring Kolb’s
learning processes. Then, individuals’ scores on each learning
dimension are used to categorise them into a particular
learning style (either diverging, assimilating, converging or
accommodating).
Critical consideration of Kolb’s theory
UK educationalist James Atherton (Atherton, 2002) suggests
that Kolb’s theory has produced one of the most useful
models of learning because it gives tutors a way to
ensure that teaching and learning are effective. Other commentators,
such as UK educationalist Peter Jarvis (Jarvis,
1995), have suggested that Kolb’s theory has had an important
impact on educational and work theory and practice
because it emphasises the learner, not just the instructor, as
important in the learning process.
However, there are some criticisms of Kolb’s theory and
approach. For example, educationalist Alan Rogers (Rogers,
1996) suggests that the theory is too narrow. It does not account
for many factors in an individual’s learning, such as
their goals, their purpose for learning, their intentions and
whether they are in fact learning. Jarvis also suggests that
Kolb’s theory suffers because it doesn’t take account of culture
or particular conditions that surround teaching. Furthermore,
empirical support, by way of research studies
supporting the model, is weak (Jarvis, 1995; Tennant, 1997).
Emotional intelligence in
education and the workplace
In Chapter 15 we mentioned Daniel Goleman’s theory of
emotional intelligence. As you may not have studied this,
or may need a reminder on it, we will briefly summarise the
main elements of the theory here and then discuss the application
of emotional intelligence to education and the
workplace (however, if you want more detail, we suggest
you go back to Chapter 15. Please note that we detail a
number of studies looking at the relationship between
emotional intelligence and achievement in education and
workplace in that chapter as well.)
Goleman’s theory of emotional
intelligence
Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence (Goleman,
2001; Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, 2002) comprises four
elements:
Self-awareness – the ability to identify one’s own emotional
states.
Self-regulation/management – the ability to manage
one’s own emotional states.
Social awareness – the ability to assess and influence
others’ emotions.
Profile
David A. Kolb
US educational theorist David A. Kolb was born in 1939.
He received his BA from Knox College in 1961, his MA
from Harvard in 1964 and his PhD in Social Psychology
from Harvard in 1967. Since 1976 he has worked at
Case Western Reserve University, where today he is in
the Weatheread School of Management.
He has received four honorary degrees, received
several awards (including two by the Council for
Adult and Experiential Learning), worked on the editorial
board of five occupational and educational
journals and has published nearly 100 books, book
chapters and journal articles. Besides his work on
experiential learning and learning styles. Kolb writes
on thinking around organisational behaviour, conversational
learning and innovation in professional
education.
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Social skills/management – the ability to sustain good
interpersonal relationships.
Goleman made two distinctions between these four
emotional intelligences.
The first distinction is between personal and social competencies.
The first two aspects, self-awareness and selfregulation,
are personal competencies, while social
awareness and social skills are social competencies.
The second distinction is between recognition and
regulation. Self-awareness and social awareness are emotional
intelligences that are defined by recognition (the
ability to identify one’s own emotional state and those
of others). Self-regulation and social skills are emotional
intelligences that are defined by regulation (the ability
to manage one’s own emotional states and good personal
relationships).
In this section of the chapter we are going to give you two
examples of how this model has been used in education
and the workplace. The first is in leadership; the second is
in self-learning.
Emotional intelligence and leadership
Goleman et al. (2002) used Goleman’s model of emotional
intelligence and the distinctions between personal/social
and recognition/regulation competencies to show how the
model could be shown in leadership skills. In all, Goleman
et al. suggested a good leader in the workplace would show
the emotional intelligences listed in Table 16.4.
Much of Goleman’s research is making the world of
work aware of the importance of emotional intelligence.
One particular area that Goleman emphasises is in developing
and encouraging the heads of organisations to develop
emotional intelligence competencies.
Emotional intelligence and self-learning
However, Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence
does not just lend itself to leadership of companies. Recently,
theory and practice suggests that emotional intelligence
ideas can be extended throughout the
workplace and used to encourage us all to adopt leadership
qualities.
A central figure in this development is US psychologist
Richard E. Boyatzis, who alongside others including Daniel
Goleman and the aforementioned David Kolb, developed
a programme that guides individuals in the workplace
through a process of self-discovery. This process is called
self-directed learning (Boyatzis, 1994; Boyatzis, Cowen and
Kolb, 1995; Goleman et al., 2002).
420 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Table 16.4 Emotional intelligence in leadership.
Personal competencies Social competencies
Recognition Self-awareness Social awareness
Assessing and recognising one’s own
emotions.
Understanding and taking an interest in
others.
Source: Based on Goleman et al. (2002).
Accurately knowing one’s strengths and
limitations.
Recognising and meeting people’s
needs.
Having self-confidence. Showing an awareness of relationships
within the workplace.
Regulation/management Self-regulation/management Social skills/management
Adaptability and flexibility in dealing with
situations that change.
Able to provide guidance to people.
Ability to control emotions when working
with people.
Helps others improve their
performance.
Inspiring to others.
Initiates change.
Active, emphasises achievement, strives
to do better, is trustworthy, has integrity
and is optimistic in the workplace.
Able to resolve conflict.
Builds relationships with the
organisation.
Encourages teamwork.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 421
There are five aspects to Boyatzis’ theory of self-directed
learning (outlined in Figure 16.4):
a consideration of an ‘ideal self’;
a consideration of the real self and how this relates to
the ideal self;
the development of a learning plan designed to close the
difference between the real self and the ideal self;
acting on the learning plan to close the difference between
the real self and the ideal self;
the individual’s self-directed learning both supports and
is supported by other people.
Boyatzis and his colleague Ellen Van Oosten (2002) suggest
that you can build emotionally intelligent workplaces
based on this theory, and suggest the five aspects of the selflearning
theory represent five ‘discoveries’. We will now
outline these five discoveries so you can see how self-learning
theory could be used.
The first discovery is the discovery of the employee’s
‘ideal self’. The employee would consider who they want
to be, what they want from work and life – for example,
what their aspirations are.
The second discovery is the discovery of one’s ‘real self’.
Here, the individual would use Goleman’s measure of
emotional intelligence, the Emotional Competence
Inventory. The Emotional Competence Inventory is a
360-degree instrument with which other people (for example,
a manager or a colleague) evaluate the individuals
within an organisation. The evaluator is asked to rate
the person based on how characteristic the person is of
the abilities listed in the emotional intelligence model.
Example statements for rating the individual would include
‘Presents self in an assured, forceful, impressive,
and unhesitating manner’; ‘Respects, treats with courtesy,
and relates well to people of diverse backgrounds’;
‘Accurately reads people’s moods, feelings or nonverbal
cues’. Then the individual, with the evaluator, examines
differences and overlaps between the person’s concept of
their ideal self (who they want to be) and their real self
(what they have achieved).
The third discovery is the development of a learning
plan. This plan sets out the focus for the person’s development.
Each plan is centred on all of the individual’s
needs, including their job, their learning style preferences,
their flexibility, their aspirations and the structure
of their work and lifestyle. In all, this plan focuses on
building on the person’s strengths so they can close the
gap between the real self and the ideal self.
The fourth discovery is the discovery of new behaviour,
new thoughts and new feelings when carrying out the
learning plan. By acting on the learning plan, and experimenting
in new practices, the individual will learn
more about their self.
The fifth discovery is the process of discovery encountered
throughout the whole exercise. In working with someone
else in the workplace, by engaging in reflection and in new
behaviours, the employees are engaging in a process that
will lead to the workplace becoming a better place.
Consideration of emotional intelligence
in education and the workplace
Using emotional intelligence in understanding leadership
and the self-directed model has had some success in education
and workplace settings. Goleman (1998) argued
that numerous studies have shown that successful and
4. Acting on the plan of action
to close the difference between
the real self and the ideal self
1. A consideration of an ideal self
5. The individual’s self-directed
learning both supports and is
supported by other people
3. The development of a plan of
action to close the difference between
the real self and the ideal self
2. A consideration of the
real self and how this relates
to the ideal self
Figure 16.4 Boyatzis’ theory of self-directed learning.
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effective leaders use emotional intelligence more than
others in leadership positions (Goleman, 1998). Goleman,
Boyatzis and Mckee (2002) have shown how promoting
emotional intelligence using the self-directed learning
model has been useful among postgraduate business and
management students.
We have covered many of the criticisms of emotional intelligence
in Chapter 15. The criticisms of emotional intelligence
models in education and the workplace discussed
in this chapter echo much of what we discussed in the previous
chapter.
The first concern is directed at the fact that Goleman’s
model of emotional intelligence is a mixed model of emotional
intelligence (those models that mix emotional intelligence
and personality variables). Eysenck (2000)
described the tendency to mix aspects of intelligence with
personality factors as an unscientific approach. That is, if a
mixed model of emotional intelligence is being applied to
work and learning situations, we will never be sure whether
the key variables in the development of leadership and selflearning
are personality or emotional intelligence. Without
such a distinction, this approach can be considered as
rather unscientific. However, Goleman points out there is a
priority in work and occupational psychology to identify,
and encourage, the sort of competencies that are found in
people who are leaders and high achievers without being
overly concerned about the true nature of these variables.
That is, what is important is knowing that these concepts
work, not finding out whether they are truly personality or
emotional intelligence variables.
A second concern arises from the lack of empirical research
or comparison surrounding these self-development
programmes. While it is true that the emotional intelligence
and leadership – and the self-directed model – have had
some success, there has been little comparison of these
models with other emotional intelligence or learning models.
For example, reviewing your abilities, talking to someone
about that review, coming up with an action plan and
acting on it occurs in most education and workplaces today.
What is different about Goleman’s and Boyatzis’ work is
that they emphasise emotional intelligence. However, it
simply hasn’t been examined to consider the extent to
which emotional intelligence provides a better framework
over other development programmes that use a similar
methodology but emphasise different abilities. For example,
would a self-directed learning model that emphasises extraversion
traits, rather than emotional intelligence, work just
as well? Such an examination is hard to test because businesses
and teaching establishments do not have the time or
the inclination to test and compare the success of different
models amongst their workforce and students. Rather, they
want something that improves their workforce. On the face
of it, programmes using Goleman’s emotional intelligence
models and Boyatzis’ theory of self-directed learning suggest
that emotional intelligence programmes seem to do
this (Goleman, 1998; Goleman et al., 2002).
422 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Stop and think
Learning processes, learning strategies and emotional intelligences
Here are three brief descriptions of three different job advertisements.
Assess which learning processes, learning
strategies and emotional intelligences are required for
each job.
Vacancy 1: Project manager in a
multinational organisation
The External Relations team requires an experienced
and enthusiastic professional to develop and implement
communications projects. With a minimum of two years’
communications experience, you will be a highly effective
project manager with the ability to forge strong links
internally and externally. You will be an excellent written
and verbal communicator and have the ability to work to
tight deadlines.
Vacancy 2: Data archivist in a physics lab
We are looking for an outstanding individual to manage
the extensive data acquisition, storage and archiving
systems on our computer system and to ensure that
they are maintained and upgraded to meet the growing
demands of this world-class science facility. Job
requirements:
Take responsibility for the operation, use, access and
security of online data store and upgrade the system
as required.
Predict computational and hardware requirements to
capture, process and analyse data arising from future
enhancements for the evolution of the data acquisition
and storage systems.
Vacancy 3: Psychometric tester
Your major role in this post is to undertake the psychometric
testing of children. You will also be providing
sessional nursing support in each of the participating
centres. You will be highly organised and have excellent
communication skills. Previous experience in
using developmental psychological tests and research
experience is an advantage.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 423
Successful intelligence and
leadership: creativity, intelligence
and wisdom
In the last section we began to look at emotional intelligence
and the concept of leadership. Much of this work has
occurred in the workplace and some in universities. However,
other intelligence theorists have emphasised the
notion of encouraging leadership qualities throughout
education.
Robert Sternberg (Sternberg, 2003, 2005) introduced a
model of positive leadership called wisdom, intelligence
and creativity, synthesised (WICS). In the WICS model,
Sternberg argues that positive leadership can be developed
from a set of attributes that we can all consciously develop.
This means that they don’t simply reflect some sort of
natural ability or disposition, but rather that we control
them and can learn them.
We will introduce you to wisdom and creativity synthesised
in a moment. However, the second part of the
WICS model, intelligence, has already been discussed extensively
as part of Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence
in Chapter 12. To summarise, you will remember
that in his model of intelligence Sternberg suggested three
elements:
The componential subtheory, sometimes referred to as
internal aspects of intelligence. This subtheory refers
to the mental mechanisms that underlie intelligent
behaviour.
The contextual subtheory, sometimes referred to as external
aspects of intelligence. This subtheory describes
how mental mechanisms interact with the external
world to demonstrate intelligent behaviour.
The experiential subtheory relates to aspects of experience
and was referred to as creative intelligence. This
subtheory describes how experience interacts with the
internal and the external world to form intelligence
behaviours.
We are now going to concentrate on the other two
elements of the WICS – creativity and wisdom.
Creativity
Psychologists have studied creativity from a number of
psychological perspectives. Though not directly linked to
education or the workplace, we feel it is worth digressing a
little and spending some time outlining some of the main
theories of creativity, before outlining a theory of creativity
that is directly focused on leadership, because it (1) provides
you with some of the main theory and findings in the creativity
literature and (2) show you some examples about
how creativity is linked to intelligence theory.
The most worthwhile distinctions in individual differences
was made by Rhodes (1961/1987), and later
used in a review of the area by Runco (2004), who have
suggested four different approaches in the study of creativity:
namely the 4 P’s; Person, Process, Press and
Product. The use of person, process, press and product
by Rhodes is a way of conceptualising all studies on creativity.
We will now briefly describe each category and
give you examples of theory and research which fall
under each category.
Person
The person category of creativity includes theory and research
that concentrates on the personal characteristics of
the person; for example, a theory or research that looked at
the motivation or particular traits as core characteristics of
creative persons.
In terms of motivations that underlie creativity, good
examples would be psychoanalytic theory or the work of
Maslow. Within psychoanalytic thought it is suggested
that creativity results from successful sublimation (a defence
mechanism [see Chapters 2 and 3 of this book]
which converts unconscious desires into constructive
behaviours) of instinctual demands (Freud, 1936). Also,
Maslow, whose hierarchy of needs we covered in Chapter
6, defined two aspects of creativity (Maslow, 1967):
primary creativity, creativity involved in the person finding
self-fulfilment (for example, painting a picture) and
secondary creativity, those aspects of creativity that
allow the person to be recognised in their chosen field (for
example, putting on an art exhibition). So for example
Maslow’s primary creativity, in which the person finds
self-fulfillment, would fall under the person category as a
motivation.
In terms of personality, research has looked at the personality
traits creative individuals typically possess by
looking at a number of creative domains, such as art, literature
and music. This has led to the development of
traits measures such as the composite creative personality
scale (Harrington, 1972, 1975). In measures like these
a number of traits would be listed that would define
creativity such as: active, artistic, assertive, clear thinking,
clever, curious, demanding, enthusiastic, idealistic,
imaginative, independent, insightful, inventive, original.
Today the measurement of creativity can be found on the
International Personality Item Pool (IPIP; Goldberg et
al., 2006; http://ipip.ori.org/ipip/). One scale on the site
that measures Creativity contains the following items:
Have a vivid imagination.
Am full of ideas.
Love to think up new ways of doing things.
Have excellent ideas.
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Process
The process category focuses on the thought, actions and
behaviours that underpin the creative process. For example,
how does an individual come up with ideas? Theory
and research in the process category typically look at cognitive
processes.
In terms of formal theories of creativity that describe
the process of creativity, one of the first to be published was
by Graham Wallas (Wallas, 1926). In this model Wallas described
creativity as a process comprising five stages arising
when a problem is presented:
1 Preparation: Here the individual focuses first on the
problem, explores the parameters of the problem and
prepares to work on the problem.
2 Incubation: Here the individual internalises the problem
into their unconscious.
3 Intimation: Here the person begins to‘feel’ a solution to
the problem.
4 Illumination or insight: Here the creativity emerges
from the unconscious into conscious awareness.
5 Verification: This is where the idea is present in the person’s
consciousness, and they start thinking about the
creative idea and apply it.
Another theory that describes the process to creativity is
perhaps one of the most influential in the literature on creativity.
Guildford (1967), an intelligence theorist we outlined
in Chapter 12, worked in the area of creativity and made the
distinction between convergent and divergent production,
which has been later recognised as convergent and divergent
thinking. Convergent thinking is when an individual tries to
develop a single and correct solution to a problem. Divergent
thinking is a thought process that involves the generation of
ideas to a problem.So examples of divergent thinking include
being able to brainstorm, breaking problems into parts,
showing great thinking, understanding causality, identifying
importance with topics, being able to appreciate known and
unknown qualities. For many psychologists, divergent thinking
is the best example of creativity (Glazer, 2009).
Other more recent models include Finke, Ward and
Smith’s (1992) ‘Geneplore’ model, in which creativity comprises
two phases:
A generative phase: This is where the individual constructs
mental representations regarding being creative
that are called preinventive structures, and
An exploratory phase, where the preinventive structures
are used to come up with creative ideas.
Press
The press category focuses on the relationship between the
creative individual and their environment. Press refers to
the pressures on the creative process or on creative persons.
Therefore this category considers environmental influences
such as cultural, organisational or family or peer pressures.
For example are the individual’s friends creative and influence
the person to be creative? Or does being creative result
from the state of interpersonal relationships, e.g. being in
love or a relationship breaking up? (Runco, 2004). This category
originates from the work of Murray et al. (1938) who
distinguished between alpha and beta pressures. Alpha
pressures are pressures that are obvious and measureable to
all and therefore objective (it might be time allowed to be
creative, e.g. one week to create something). Beta pressures
are the individual’s own interpretation of the pressure (i.e.
some people might feel that one week is not enough time
to be creative, while others will see one week as ample time
to be creative).
A list of situational influences has been developed by a
number of authors (Amabile and Gryskiewicz, 1989; Wiit
and Beorkrem, 1989; Runco, 2004). This list is usually broken
down into those situational influences that promote
creativity and those situational influences that inhibit (restrict)
creativity.
Those situational influences that promote creativity
include:
freedom
autonomy
good role models and resources (e.g. funding, time)
encouragement that specifically focuses on creativity
freedom from criticism
environments in which creativity is rewarded and failure
at being creative is not fatal.
Those situational influences that inhibit creativity
include:
lack of respect (specifically when related to creativity)
red tape (excessive regulation or rigid conformity to
formal rules within the environment)
lack of freedom, autonomy and resources
environments in which creativity is not rewarded or
discouraged
negative feedback
time pressures
competition
unrealistic expectations.
One interesting series of studies highlighted by Runco is
the work of Mednick (1962) and Gruber (1981, 1988).
Mednick highlighted the importance of time to creativity.
He argued that original ideas are often very distant and
apart from the original problems or an initial creative idea,
and that to arrive at an idea took time as the person moves
from a first idea to the final creative idea. Research confirms
this view of the influence of time on creativity, rather
than creativity comprising a ‘lightbulb’ moment when the
idea suddenly emerges, the person needs to devote time to
424 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 425
thinking and coming up with ideas, and even spending
time away from thinking about the problem is important
to creativity (Gruber, 1981, 1988).
Product
The product category focuses on outcomes or results of the
creative process. So this might be studies of decisions made
or ideas by the creative person or it may be publications,
art, writing of the creative person. Often the study of eminent
persons (e.g., great artists or thinkers) is a large feature
within this category.
There is a wealth of literature that looks at the study of
eminent persons and creativity. In the book Genius and the
Mind, Andrew Steptoe examines the lives and works of several
eminent individuals and examines how their creativity
emerged (Steptoe, 1998). In this book Steptoe explores
Mozart’s precocity (early development or maturity),
Byron’s mania (excessively intense enthusiasm) and Shakespeare’s
literary brilliance and examines them as explanations
of creativity. Another example of the study of
eminent persons was carried out by Diamond, Scheibel,
Murphy and Harvey (1985) who examined the brain of
Albert Einstein (German-born theoretical physicist who
made many contributions to physics including his special
theory of relativity). Diamond and his colleagues examined
the brain of Albert Einstein and found there was a significantly
smaller ratio of neuron cells (nerve cells that transmit
nerve signals to and from the brain) to glial cells (cells
that provide support, nutrition and protection for neurons,
known as the glue of the nervous system) compared to
other ‘control’ scientists. Diamond et al. argued that this
implied that Einstein’s cortex (the structure within the
brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual
awareness, thought, language, and consciousness) may have
had a different ‘metabolic need’ (a higher need for chemical
reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain
life) and this produced greater levels of creativity from
associative thinking and the development of new concepts.
A more recent example of this type of study was carried
out by Caroline Murphy who looked at the link between
artistic creativity and psychopathology in the work of Salvador
Dalí (a surrealist artist who was renowned for his
outlandish art and persona). Murphy looked at Dalí’s behaviour
and art from various sources, including his autobiography,
published interviews with himself, friends and
family, information on his family history. Using such data,
Murphy used two psychiatric assessment procedures: a
computer program investigating the presence of psychotic
disorder and a personality disorder questionnaire. On
these assessment criteria Murphy found Dalí met the diagnostic
criteria for several personality disorders (personality
styles which deviate from expectations of one’s own society),
as well as for psychotic illnesses. For more on the
creativity and psychopathology debate, see the Stop and
think box later in this chapter on page 435.
Clearly the extent to which these different theories of
creativity are associated with education and the workplace
varies. In the next section we are going to go into the detail
of Sternberg’s model of creativity because he sets creative
leadership within the modern context of intelligence theory
and education and the workplace.
Sternberg’s creative leadership theory:
What constitutes creativity?
Sternberg argues that creativity is not limited only to great
thinkers and artists, but is an ability anyone can have,
develop and use. Sternberg (2005) defines creative leadership
as being any of the following (see Figure 16.5):
Redefining problems – This is the ability to take a problem
and not just look at it from all angles but also ‘turn
it on its head’. Poetry and art are good examples of this.
For example, in poetry, people use meaning and what
they know to create new situations and descriptions;
phrases such as ‘falling snow bouncing on the ground’
and ‘lions gathering to speak about economics’ are creative.
Snow doesn’t bounce, nor do lions speak about
economics, but these phrases inject imagery to help us
describe what is happening as well as how it is occurring.
Perhaps it was a particularly strong flurry of snow,
or the lions that gathered did so in a particularly organised
and intense way.
Questioning and analysing assumptions – Creativity
can emerge from individuals questioning assumptions
and then leading others to question those assumptions.
Sternberg uses the example of Nicolaus Copernicus, an
astrologer, astronomer and mathematician, who went
against the thinking that the earth was at the centre of
the universe and discovered that in fact it is the earth, as
well as other planets, that go around the sun.
Realising that creative ideas do not sell themselves – It
is perhaps not good enough to be creative with your
ideas; you also need to sell them. You may be a talented
songwriter or politically brilliant, but you must also
convince others that your ideas are good. If you are a
songwriter, you must try selling yourself, touring, working
on your self-image and approaching people in the
industry. Equally, you may have great political ideas; but
if you confine your views to the pub or dinner parties,
then you are not going to become known for your political
thinking.
Realising knowledge is a double-edged sword – All creativity
is built on knowledge. For example, you cannot
come up with the theory about the earth revolving around
the sun (as opposed to the other way round) unless
you understand the laws of astrology, astronomy, and
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Redefining problems
Courage
Willingness to delay
gratification
Finding what one loves
to do
Self-efficacy
Willingness to grow
Willingness to take sensible
risks
Willingness to surmount
obstacles
Recognising knowledge
is a double-edged sword
Tolerance of ambiguity
Questioning and
analysing assumptions
Creativity
Realising that creative ideas
do not sell themselves
mathematics. However, Sternberg also notes that having a
lot of knowledge may blind you to certain ways of thinking,particularly
creative ideas.Many experts in a field may
prefer certain ideas, because they are so used to them.
However, this may cause them reject new and creative
ideas because they feel that they know all there is to know
about the area. Therefore, creativity stems both from having
knowledge and from not thinking you know it all.
Willingness to surmount obstacles – Sternberg suggests
that people who are creative often meet resistance
to their ideas. Either they are ignored or laughed at. Creative
leadership, then, is the ability to continue believing
in your ideas, even when others ignore or laugh at them.
Willingness to take sensible risks – Often in this
world, the tendency is to do whatever everyone else
is doing in order to succeed; for example, to do what one
is told to do. However, eventually, creative leadership
demands that the person comes up with new ideas. Creative
ideas needn’t have a large amount of risk or be outlandish,
but to some extent they must have a degree of
risk that other people admire and respect, constructively
building on what is known or thought.
Tolerance of ambiguity – We can be all uncomfortable
with ambiguity, which occurs in situations where there
is doubt or uncertainty. We like to know things for certain.
We don’t like to be faced with moral ambiguity; we
like the idea that certain acts of crime will be punished
appropriately and equally (we would not agree with the
proposal that some people should be punished for a
crime while others go unpunished). However, the world
is full of ambiguity, and creative leaders are able to deal
well with it.
Willingness to grow – Creative leadership is not just
about having one or two good ideas; it is about continually
coming up with new ideas and conquering new
challenges over a lifetime.
Self-efficacy – An individual’s personal judgement of
their own ability to succeed in reaching a specific goal is
the trait of self-efficacy. Creative leadership requires the
person to believe they can be creative, and to believe in
what they are creating.
Finding what one loves to do – For a person to be a
creative leader, they must find what they love to do.
Sternberg suggests the best creative leaders excel in
what they do because it is what they enjoy most in the
world.
Willingness to delay gratification – Being creative
doesn’t bring immediate rewards. There will often be a
certain amount of time between someone coming up
with a new idea, a new product or strategy and people
eventually accepting it. Therefore, being creative does
not bring immediate rewards; creativity demands some
patience.
Courage – Finally, being creative means going against
what is accepted and can be unpopular. Therefore, to be
creative sometimes takes a certain amount of courage.
426 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Figure 16.5 Sternberg’s examples of different types of creativity.
Source: Based on Sternberg (2005).
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 427
How does creativity occur? The 5 ‘r’s’
and the 1 ‘f’
Sternberg suggests that it is important for teachers, educators
and workplaces to allow creativity in order to encourage
creative leadership. To do this, there is the need to
recognise the different types of settings that allow the encouragement
of creative leadership. Sternberg suggests
there are three such settings: creative leadership that (1) accepts
current paradigms, (2) rejects current paradigms,
and (3) integrates current paradigms.
Types of creative leadership that accept current
paradigms
Types of creative leadership that accept current paradigms
are those that accept current assumptions, concepts, values
and practices. Sternberg suggests three types of creative
leadership that accept current paradigms: replication, redefinition
and forward incrementation.
Replication – This is minimal creative leadership. It is
where the person comes in and maintains the level of
creativity. For example, a manager may come into an
organisation and keep the same assumptions, concepts,
values and practices of that organisation. Therefore,
the person may still show a level of creative
leadership, but it is no more or no less than that of
their predecessor.
Redefinition (appearing to be different) – This is
where the person comes in and maintains the level of
creativity, but may give the impression of changing
things. Therefore, a manager may come into an organisation
and keep the same assumptions, concepts, values
and practices of that organisation, but may suggest different
ways of doing things in order to look creative.
Forward incrementation – This is where the creativity
propels an area forward, but within the assumptions,
concepts, values, and practices that already exist.
Therefore, a manager may come into an organisation
and keep the same assumptions, concepts, values and
practices of that organisation but propel the organisation
forward through creative ideas or speed up creativity.
An example of this may be a manager who
starts work for an organisation selling a particular
product through sales representatives. This manager
suggests a policy to continue selling the product
through their sales representatives, but they also add a
website for the company to sell their product through.
Types of creative leadership that reject
current paradigms
Types of creative leadership that reject the current paradigm
are those that seek to undermine or change current assumptions,
concepts, values and practices. These three types of
creative leadership are redirection, reconstruction/
redirection and reinitiation.
Redirection – This is when the person takes an area in
an entirely new direction. In an organisation this might
be changes in their sales strategy, for example, moving
from selling the product through their sales representatives
on the road, to making it entirely web-based.
Reconstruction/redirection – This is where the person
revisits a previous point in creative development and
then starts again by taking the area in a new direction.
An example of this is when you’re writing an essay. You
have your notes as a starting point, and then you start to
write your essay. However, halfway through writing
your essay, you find that the approach you have used is
not working. So, you start the essay again from your
notes, taking it in a new direction.
Reinitiation – This is where the person moves an area
in a new direction from a new starting point. So for example,
let us suggest that the current thought in an organisation
is to expand a sales strategy from selling the
product through their sales representatives in one country
to hiring more salespeople across several countries
to increase their market in those new countries. However,
someone who was being creative through reinitiation
might suggest moving all advertising onto the web
so as to allow all the existing and new markets to come
to them. Therefore, the person is not only taking the organisation
in a new direction but also starting from a
new point.
Type of creative leadership that integrate
current paradigms
The final type of creative leadership seeks to integrate two
sets of assumptions, concepts, values and practices. This
creative leadership neither accepts nor rejects current paradigms
but aims to synthesise, unify and relate the paradigms
to each other. So, for example, in a school where
education of young people in terms of preparing them for
their future is paramount, a creative leader might bring in a
practice that is used in the world of work to improve young
people’s experiences of their future during education. This
new idea doesn’t reject the old idea that education of young
people should prepare them for their future, but it brings
together a number of ideas in a new setting.
Wisdom
The definition of wisdom is to judge what is true and right
and have some unique insight. To some extent, wisdom
represents common sense, good judgement and the insight
of generations. Sternberg, however, has written a series
of papers on wisdom (Sternberg, 2001b, 2003, 2005) and
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designed them to show what wisdom comprises as well as
how it can be taught and developed so individuals can
begin to show wise leadership.
Balance theory of wisdom
In Sternberg’s theory of wisdom, the key term is ‘balance’;
hence the name, balance theory of wisdom. For Sternberg,
wisdom is the need to achieve a common good while balancing
several different factors (see Figure 16.6).
Therefore, in making a decision to achieve a common
good, a wise person will:
Balance the intrapersonal (self-interests such as money,
ambition in one’s work, the desire to educate oneself
more), the interpersonal (interests of others, such as
their interest in money, their work ambitions, their need
for good education) and the extrapersonal (the environment
within which one lives, such as one’s family,
their community,one’s country) when making a decision.
Balance the short-term and the long-term consequences
of any decision.
Seek balance among existing environments when making
the decision. To understand how the decision stands
in the context of adaptation to existing environments
(the individual being able to adapt to the world around
them), shaping of existing environments (the individual
also shaping the environment in some way) and the
selection of new environments (being able to select
one environment over another).
It is quite hard to see this process in operation, so let us
use an example, perhaps the most classic and accepted case
of wisdom, the act of King Solomon.
Two women bring a baby to Solomon. Each woman
says that the baby is her child. As a test, Solomon
decrees, ‘Cut the baby in half and give half of the
baby to each woman.’ ‘No!’ screams the real mother.
‘Give her the baby. Do not kill him.’ Then Solomon
knows who the real mother is because of the way
she showed her love for the baby. He then gives the
baby to the real mother.
Let us put this example within the terms of Sternberg’s
theory. First, there is the need to balance the intrapersonal,
the interpersonal and the extrapersonal factors. Solomon
has to balance his need to be seen as making a good and fair
decision (intrapersonal) with the interests of each mother
to keep the child (interpersonal) and the needs of his community
and his kingdom for him to act like a king by providing
a good and fair decision (extrapersonal).
Second is the need to consider both the short and long
term. Here, Solomon considers the short-term outcome by
coming to a quick decision because that is what the mothers
are demanding (it would not be wise to say, ‘let us wait
until the child grows up and see who they look most like’
before making the decision). He also considers the longterm
outcome of making the correct decision so the child
can be with its real mother.
428 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Sometimes creative behaviour comes from a willingness to surmount difficult
obstacles.
Source: Christoph & Friends/Das Fotoarchiv/Alamy Images
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 429
Third is the need to find balance among existing environments.
Clearly, Solomon balances these needs. He decides
that he cannot simply adapt to the current situation
and join in the argument; he has to somehow shape the
current environment. In ordering that the child be cut in
half, he thinks of new ways of reaching the truth; this allows
him to arrive at a fair and just decision, thereby
shaping the current environment.
Teaching and encouraging wisdom and
wise leadership
Sternberg (2005) suggests we can encourage and develop
wisdom both in education and the workplace by encouraging
wisdom in decisions, ideas and communications. In regard
to developing and teaching wisdom, Sternberg
suggests five issues that educators and employers need to
be aware of:
Differences in the balancing of goals – In Sternberg’s
model of wisdom, a central feature of the model is the
desire to reach a common good. However, as individuals
differ in their goals, they may differ in their desire to
reach a common good or may believe in a different
common good.
Differences in the balancing of responses to environmental
contexts – In this model of wisdom there are
three ways in which we balance the environment: adaptation,
shaping and selection. Of course, people are different,
and they differ in their balance of responses to the
environment. Therefore, for some people a wise decision
may involve adapting to the environment; for others, it
involves shaping or selecting their environment.
Differences in the balancing of interests – Again, all
people have different sets of interests. They themselves
are balancing a series of interests when they have
prioritised what is important to them. In the workplace,
some people will work mainly to earn money so
they can support their family, or way of life, while for
others work will be an important part of who they are.
Differences in the balancing of the short term and the
long term – People differ in the priorities they give
to the short term and long term. For some people, the
short term is most important (‘you have to live for
the moment’); for others, the long term has priority.
Differences in the balancing of procedure and values
– This aspect concentrates on something called tacit
knowledge (knowledge based on understanding procedures
rather than facts). The concern here is that people
differ in the way they think decisions should be made.
For example, some people may prefer a central individual
to make the decision, while others may prefer to seek
other’s views first and discuss the issue openly.
In some ways you could consider these factors as suggesting
a weakness in Sternberg’s balance model of wisdom.
These are fairly broad differences between people
(goals, consideration for the long term, how people believe
things should be carried out). However, you might also
think that on consideration, these factors pinpoint the issues
surrounding wisdom, so that we might better understand
how people can arrive at wise decisions. Why? Well,
because if you balance all these different concepts and
ideas, strengths and weaknesses, and still think it is important
to teach wisdom, it is perhaps a wise thing to do!
Giftedness
We have so far discussed how people can develop abilities,
be it in a learning style, emotional intelligence, creativity or
wisdom. However, some people, from an early stage, show
Balancing intrapersonal,
interpersonal and
extrapersonal
Balancing adaptation,
shaping and selection
of the environment
Common
good
Considering the short
and long term
Figure 16.6 Sternberg’s balance theory of wisdom.
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430 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
tremendous natural intelligence abilities, better known as
giftedness. We are now going to outline how intelligence
theorists have helped us understand giftedness.
Giftedness, termites and IQ scores
You will remember that one of the first developments in intelligence
testing was made by Lewis Terman of Stanford
(see Chapter 12). Terman introduced the Stanford-Binet
test and went on to use it with over a thousand children.
Terman also introduced Stern’s idea of IQ in conjunction
with the Stanford-Binet test.
Terman (Terman, 1925; Terman and Oden, 1947, 1959)
is also known for one other development in the intelligence
literature – his termites. From his PhD work, Terman wrote
‘Genius and Stupidity: A Study of the Intellectual Processes
of Seven Bright and Seven Stupid Boys.’ Terman studied intelligence
in a group of children from an early age into
adulthood. This group of children became known as
Terman’s termites. Terman wanted to know whether children
scoring higher on intelligence tests in childhood went
on to achieve greatly in adulthood. He argued that special
attention should be paid to those with high scores in intelligence
tasks, and certainly to those falling within the top 1
per cent of IQ scores. Terman argued that gifted children
should be identified as early as possible, be accelerated
through school and be given a different curriculum and
specially trained teachers. He also argued that such children
should be viewed as a national resource, allowed to
develop and direct their talents in any way that they
emerge. Terman went on to study children and adults in
their giftedness.
In later studies Terman went on to suggest that individuals
scoring two standard deviations above the mean IQ
score for their sample were found to be superior in physical,
moral and behavioural dimensions (Terman and Oden,
1947, 1959). With these findings, Terman pushed for intelligence
tests and estimates of IQ to be used among children
so US society could identify and stimulate the most gifted.
US intelligence theorist and researcher Carolyn Callahan
(2000) stresses that this ‘IQ’ definition of giftedness tends
to be accepted by most schools and businesses today. Traditionally,
individuals seen as high achievers are often
deemed so because they fall into the top 3 to 5 per cent of
students as measured by intelligence tests.
Overall, recent findings suggest that IQ scores might
be a good indicator of giftedness. For example, gifted children
score significantly higher than non-gifted children
for measures of overall intelligence on the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children – Third Edition, Stanford-Binet
Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (SB-IV) and the
Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (Rizza,
McIntosh and McCunn, 2001; Simpson et al., 2002).
Modern conceptions of giftedness:
not just high IQ?
However, many psychologists, researchers and educationalists
have revisited what is meant by giftedness and have
tried to expand the view of giftedness. In modern times we
have a sense of what we mean by gifted. Or do we? Some
people refer to highly intelligent people, particularly children,
as gifted. Normally, it is always assumed that something
unique about the individual has led to their
giftedness. However, research suggests that giftedness may
be influenced by several factors.
In 2005, French psychologist J. Louis and colleagues
(Louis, Revol, Nemoz, Dulac and Fourneret, 2005) looked
at a number of factors in high intellectual potential in 412
French children aged from 8 to 11 years. The researchers
split this sample into two groups, and 195 children were
in a gifted group. These were children who had scored 130
IQ points or above on the Wechsler test. They placed another
217 children in a control group; these children were
randomly selected from schools. Louis et al. found that
some psychophysiological variables were related to giftedness.
Those children falling into the gifted group tended
not to be children of parents who had abnormal pregnancies
or perinatal (5 months before and 1 month after
birth) stress and presence of migraine. Furthermore,
Louis et al. found a link between parents living together
with a good and superior level of education and giftedness
in children.
In 2001, US educational psychologist Spyros Konstantopoulos
and his colleagues (Konstantopoulos, Modi and
Hedges, 2001) used the National Education Longitudinal
Study of 1988 to describe how gifted American students
differ from their non-gifted counterparts. The National
Education Longitudinal Study is a nationally representative
sample of US eighth-graders (12 to 13 years old) who
were first surveyed in the spring of 1988 and then resurveyed
through four follow-up studies in 1990, 1992, 1994
and 2000. On the questionnaire, students reported on a
range of topics including school and home experiences;
characteristics of their neighbourhood; educational support
and resources; their perceived role of parents and
peers in their education; educational and occupational aspirations
as well as a number of other attitudes and behaviours.
Konstantopoulos et al.’s findings indicate that
students who are self-reliant and spend more time on
homework assignments and leisure reading per week are
much more likely to be academically gifted than other
students. In addition, high levels of parental educational
aspiration (wanting their children to do well), as well as
high levels of family socioeconomic status (high income,
good professional occupations) are important predictors
of academic giftedness.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 431
Findings of this sort have led commentators to spread
their conceptions of giftedness more widely to encompass
dimensions other than very high IQ scores. The Council
on Exceptional Children in 1990 (using information from
Russell, Hayes and Dockery [1988] and Sisk [1990]) described
the general characteristics of a gifted child. The
Council for Exceptional Children based in Arlington,
Virginia, in the United States is the largest international
professional organisation dedicated to improving educational
outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities,
students with disabilities and/or the gifted. The council
suggested that the following factors typically indicate giftedness,
though no gifted child is expected to be outstanding
in all of them (Council for Exceptional Children,
1990):
shows superior reasoning powers and marked ability
to handle ideas; can generalise readily from specific
facts and can see subtle relationships; has outstanding
problem-solving ability;
Stop and think
If wisdom shows leadership, why are some leaders foolish?
Are all leaders necessarily wise? It would be wrong to
assume that just because wisdom reflects leadership
qualities, it necessarily means that all leaders are wise.
Sternberg (2002) notes that people who are placed in
power – or gain positions of leadership – do not necessarily,
or automatically, demonstrate wisdom. In fact,
they can often be foolish. Sternberg suggests there are
five reasons why as leaders, we can show ourselves as
foolish.
Unrealistic optimism – Leaders tend to use optimism
to help people along. Optimism is a tendency to
expect the best possible outcome in many, or all, situations.
(You can read more about the different forms
of optimism in Chapter 18.) You can see how instilling
confidence in people in the future can be a leadership
quality. However, though being optimistic is
generally a good thing, being unrealistically optimistic
is not a sign of wisdom. In being unrealistically
optimistic, you begin to believe that no matter what
you do, things will always have the best possible
outcome. People who are unrealistically optimistic in
their attempt to be wise will always believe they can
do no wrong: therefore, this doesn’t lead to wisdom,
as there will be times when things don’t work out for
the best.
Egocentrism – Egocentric individuals believe they
are the centre, object and norm of all experience;
they care only about themselves. Often great leaders
see themselves at the centre of a particular world,
and the people around them are followers. However,
if you are egocentric, then you lose sight of all others’
interests. You will thus be unable to balance other
people’s interests and the common good and undermine
your attempts at wisdom.
Omniscience – Omniscience is having total knowledge,
knowing everything. To some extent, we expect
our leaders to have a certain level of knowledge
above ours. But if, as a leader, you believe you know
everything, you know you are always right, then how
can you take account of everyone and everything
and balance different factors? As a leader, you may
be an expert in one area; however, believing that you
are an expert in all areas is not a sign of wisdom, but
foolishness.
Omnipotence – Omnipotence is having unlimited or
universal power, authority or force. Many leaders
have a great deal of power, be it as the president of
a country or as a manager at work. However, leaders
must be careful not to lose sight of the limitations
of their power and not to abuse it. A company
manager may believe they can order people around
unfairly because in their job description they are
given the power to reprimand staff members who
do not do what they say. But if their staff complains
to the company’s managing director, then the manager
may find themselves being reprimanded. As
such, omnipotence does not lead to wise decisions,
but to decisions that serve the interests of the individual
over those of other people and those that
represent your community (for example, an organisation
or a country).
Invulnerability – Invulnerability is the tendency of a
person to believe they are immune from hurt or attack,
in this case against the position they currently
hold. People may believe they are too clever or too
important – that if they do anything wrong, they will
get away with it. History has many tales of politicians
or important people resigning because they
originally felt they could get away with an indiscretion
or something illegal, but then didn’t. Believing
that you are invulnerable, believing that your thinking
or actions are above those of other people, are
not indicators of wisdom, because you are serving
your own rather than others’ interests (for example,
an organisation or a country).
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432 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
shows persistent intellectual curiosity; asks searching
questions; shows exceptional interest in the nature of
man and the universe;
has a wide range of interests, often of an intellectual
kind; develops one or more interests to considerable
depth;
is markedly superior in quality and quantity of written
and/or spoken vocabulary; is interested in the subtleties
of words and their uses;
reads avidly and absorbs books well beyond their years;
learns quickly and easily and retains what is learned; recalls
important details, concepts and principles; comprehends
readily;
shows insight into arithmetical problems that require
careful reasoning and grasps mathematical concepts
readily;
shows creative ability or imaginative expression in such
things as music, art, dance, drama; shows sensitivity and
finesse in rhythm, movement and bodily control;
sustains concentration for lengthy periods and shows
outstanding responsibility and independence in classroom
work;
sets realistically high standards for self; is self-critical in
evaluating and correcting his or her own efforts;
shows initiative and originality in intellectual work;
shows flexibility in thinking and considers problems
from a number of viewpoints;
observes keenly and is responsive to new ideas;
shows social poise and an ability to communicate with
adults in a mature way;
gets excitement and pleasure from intellectual challenge;
shows an alert and subtle sense of humour.
Though we would recognise many of the attributes, here,
as behaviours that we see in intelligence tests, this view very
much widens out the range of what comprises giftedness.
Psychological models of giftedness
Callahan (2000) suggests there are five main psychological
theories of conceptions of giftedness:
Sternberg’s triarchic model of giftedness.
Gardner’s model of multiple intelligences and gifted-
ness.
Renzulli’s three-ring definition.
Tannenbaum’s psychosocial definition.
Feldman’s developmentalist position.
You will probably recognise two of the names, Sternberg
and Gardner. We are not going into depth regarding these
two theories of giftedness, because these models are largely
extensions of their intelligence models as presented in
Chapter 12.
Sternberg’s triarchic model of giftedness (Sternberg,
1997a) is based on his triarchic theory of intelligence (this
we also mention briefly earlier in considering his wisdom,
intelligence and creativity, synthesised theory). Sternberg
suggests there are three distinct types of giftedness:
Analytical giftedness – This type of giftedness arises
from mental mechanisms that underlie intelligent behaviour
(componential intelligence); for example, a
great scientist (such as Einstein), good at solving abstract
problems and generating theories.
Practical giftedness – This type of giftedness arises from
mental mechanisms interacting with the external world
(contextual intelligence); for example, a great practical
problem solver, such as a brilliant businessman).
Creative giftedness – This type of giftedness arises
from experience in interacting with internal and the external
world (experiential intelligence); for example,
someone who has intuition and insight and works well
with novelty, such as a great writer like Shakespeare.
Similarly, Gardner’s model of giftedness (Gardner,
1983, 1993) is based on his theory of multiple intelligences
and is based on excellence in any one of nine dimensions
of intelligence (linguistic, logico-mathematical, spatial,
musical, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
naturalist and existentialist) being allowed to emerge and
fully develop by encouragement from family, teachers and
friends.
We are going to concentrate in this chapter on these
three conceptions of giftedness: three-ring definition, Tannenbaum’s
psychosocial definition and Feldman’s developmentalist
position.
Renzulli’s three-ring definition
Joseph S. Renzulli, an American educational psychologist,
suggested that giftedness can be conceptualised within
three rings (Renzulli, 1978; Renzulli and Reis, 1997). Renzulli
sought to promote a broadened conception of giftedness
outside that which is usually determined by measures
of intelligence and high IQ.
The important point to Renzulli’s concept of giftedness
is that giftedness comprises gifted behaviours rather than
gifted individuals. These gifted behaviours are composed
of three elements (rings):
above-average ability
task commitment
creativity.
Within Renzulli’s theory, above-average ability, at a
general level, represents high levels of abstract thought,
adaptation to novel situations and the ability to rapidly and
accurately retrieve information. At a specific level, aboveM16_MALT2908_02_SE_C16.QXD
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Above-
average
ability
Task
commitment
Area for
most-gifted
behaviours
Creativity
CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 433
average ability comprises a high degree of applying general
abilities to specific areas of knowledge, a capacity to sort
out relevant from irrelevant information and a capacity to
acquire and use advanced knowledge and strategies while
pursuing a problem. Task commitment is the ability to
show high levels of interest and enthusiasm for tasks, hard
work and determination in a particular area, self-confidence
and drive for achievement and setting high standards for
one’s own work. Creativity is the ability to show fluency,
flexibility and originality of thought; be open to new experiences
and ideas and be curious and willing to take
risks.
Renzulli conceptualises giftedness within these three
categories by using a diagram (see Figure 16.7), with the
area in the middle representing most-gifted behaviours.
Renzulli argues that giftedness represents a balance of all
three areas. So, for example, someone who is creative and
has above-average ability is not likely to succeed or produce
unless there is task commitment. Take, for example, a songwriter.
This person can write songs (creativity); and when
they write a song, it is considered a very good song that people
enjoy (above-average ability). However, unless there is
task commitment (the ability to produce many songs for
successive albums), the songwriter is unlikely ever to be
considered very gifted. For example, compare John Lennon
and Paul McCartney of the Beatles with Hy Zaret and Alex
North. ‘Who’, you say? Zaret and North wrote ‘Unchained
Melody’, the most covered song of all time, which has been
released 697 times and has been recorded by Bing Crosby,
Elvis Presley – and the biggest-selling, Robson and
Jerome(!). We can see how, in the case of Lennon and
McCartney, all these three elements of giftedness came
together; though for Zaret and North, they did not.
Tannenbaum’s psychosocial
definition of giftedness
US psychologist Abraham Tannenbaum (Tannenbaum,
1986) took a similar position to Renzulli in suggesting that
the key to giftedness is the ability to produce, rather than
consume information (Callahan, 2000). Tannenbaum suggests
that developed talent exists only in adults, and that
giftedness refers to a potential for becoming a great thinker,
performer or producer of ideas that enhance many aspects
of humanity (for example, physical, intellectual, emotional
and social aspects of life). Tannenbaum referred to four
types of talents:
Scarcity – Talents that allow people to make breakthroughs
in their field.
Surplus – Talents that allow people to add to the beauty
of the environment.
Quota – Talents related to excellence in providing business,
goods and services.
Anomalous – Practical talents.
Whereas Terman had previously linked giftedness to
adulthood as an eventual development of giftedness, Tannenbaum
defined the sorts of talents that gifted individuals
possess. Tannenbaum also emphasised those factors
that link childhood giftedness to the four dimensions of
talent in adulthood, including superior general intelligence
(this is ‘g’ as measured by IQ tests), exceptional special
aptitudes, non-intellective facilitators (e.g., high
motivation, high self-esteem), environmental influences
and chance or luck.
Feldman’s developmentalist view on
giftedness: coincidence
US developmental psychologist David Feldman’s view of
giftedness rests on the concept of coincidence (Feldman,
1986; Feldman and Goldsmith, 1986). He argues that giftedness
in adulthood is a coincidence of forces that have
combined and worked together to produce the talented individual.
He views these forces as:
Biological and psychological – Factors lying within the
brain and the mind that predispose the individual to
giftedness (e.g., good cognitive processing skills).
Social and environmental – Factors in the environment
that are critical to the development of giftedness (good
parents and good teachers).
Historical – Reflects opportunities in the individual’s
life span to achieve this giftedness (for example, is the
Figure 16.7 Renzulli’s theory of giftedness.
Source: Reprinted from Renzulli, J. S. (1986). The three-ring
conception of giftedness: a developmental model for creative productivity.
In R.J. Sternberg and J. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of
giftedness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Reproduced
with permission from Cambridge University Press.
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434 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
area of the child’s giftedness in the education curriculum
of their country?).
Evolutionary – Cultural and biological factors that support
or hinder the development of giftedness.
Crucial to demonstrating Feldman’s theory is the comparison
of occasions when giftedness in adulthood emerges
from childhood to other occasions when it does not. Morelock
and Feldman (1991) use the example of many women
who may not emerge as gifted in adulthood, though they
have been identified as having the potential in childhood.
These authors suggest that additional barriers are raised by
stereotypes of female roles and behaviour in society preventing
the coincidence of forces to produce giftedness. For
example, domestic and child-rearing responsibilities have
historically interfered with females being able to express
their ability in the arts and sciences. More recently there are
attitudes with society that may impede career and academic
development among women, such as a ‘fear of success’
or ‘being viewed as unwomanly’. Morelock and
Feldman have suggested that for female children to become
gifted in adulthood, it is important that parents become
aware of the possibility that their daughters might be gifted,
that the daughters have teachers who identify and value
achievement in young women, and that their society facilitates
and encourages female giftedness at all levels.
Summary of giftedness
The psychology of giftedness started with Terman’s emphasis
on excellent performance in measures of intelligence
(i.e., high IQ). Later concepts of giftedness have expanded
on this view, suggesting that biological as well as family-,
education- and society-based factors all influence giftedness.
Theorists such as Renzulli, Tannenbaum and Feldman
have sought to expand on Terman’s work by providing
models of the key aspects of giftedness.
Working with those who have
learning disabilities
So far in this chapter, we have talked about theories of excellence
and improvement in education and the workplace,
including learning styles, emotional intelligence, creativity,
wisdom and giftedness. However, to this point we have
neglected one core area. How do we translate some of the
attempts to improve and reach our potential to teaching
those who have learning difficulties?
To fully understand the context of present approaches
to teaching those with learning disabilities, it is important,
first, to outline the history to such approaches. In this section
we are going to introduce you to two historical lines in
the work with learning disabled individuals: (1) the darker
historical line and (2) the positive historical line. We will
then see how the positive history underlies the most dominant
and well-recognised work in learning disabilities
today, the work of Reuven Feuerstein.
Working with those who have learning
disabilities: the darker historical line
In Chapter 14 we spoke about a darker side of intelligence
testing from the early part of the twentieth century to the
Second World War. We noted that the consideration of
people’s intelligence, and intelligence testing, had been
linked to the development of eugenics, first starting with
Galton; and we discussed how eugenics views had made
their way into social policy, politics and the law.
During that time, people with learning disabilities were
seen as mentally retarded. For example in 1921, the American
Association of Mental Retardation defined three levels
of ‘mental retardation’: ‘moron’ (for those with an IQ score
of 50–75), ‘imbecile’ (for those with IQ scores of 25–50)
and ‘idiot’ (for those with an IQ score of less than 25)
alongside strongly recommending using the Binet intelligence
test as a method of assessing IQ.
In the United States, in 1922, a member of the US
House of Representatives Committee on Immigration
and Naturalization (H. H. Laughlin) published the Model
Eugenical Sterilization Law. This formed the basis of state
sterilisation laws; and in it, Laughlin listed the types of
people who were to be subjected to mandatory sterilisation
(including those considered mentally retarded). In
1927, the US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Buck v
Bell and supported a new legislative law in the state of
Virginia. The law concerned a 17-year-old woman named
Carrie Buck, who was a resident at the Virginia Colony for
the Epileptic and Feebleminded – an asylum home for
epileptics, the mentally retarded and the severely disabled.
Carrie had the IQ score of a 9-year-old; her mother,
also resident at the Colony, had a mental age of less than
8. Carrie Buck had given birth to a daughter who at one
year old was given an infant IQ test and found to be less
than normal. In response to this finding, the State of Virginia
wanted to have the child sterilised against her will.
The US Supreme Court ruled in favour of the enforced
sterilisation. In writing up the decision, Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes wrote,‘three generations of imbeciles are
enough’. By that part of the twentieth century, 29 US
states had laws allowing the compulsory sterilisation of
individuals thought to be mentally retarded, alcoholic or
‘having a criminal nature’. In 1945, information from the
Journal of the American Medical Association suggested
that between 1941 and 1943, over 42,000 people were
sterilised in the United States.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 435
Stop and think
Creativity, giftedness and ‘psychopathology’
In the last few sections of this chapter we have outlined
theories of creativity and giftedness which give accounts
of creativity in the context of both everyday
thought and in high levels of creativity representing giftedness.
Within psychology there is another side to creativity
and other indicators of immense creativity such
as giftedness. Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher (384 –
322 BC said ‘No great genius was without a mixture of
insanity’, and since then it is well documented that great
creative figures in history have shown signs of psychopathology.
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853–1890)
was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist and some of his
paintings are now among the world’s best known and
most expensive works of art. Van Gogh cut off the lobe
of his left ear in1888 and it is recognised that he was
affected by increasing mental problems, particularly in
the last years of his life, but the causes are often debated.
John Forbes Nash, an American mathematician,
economist and Nobel laureate whose published key
idea in game theory was recognised as genius, has
struggled with schizophrenia all his life. Recently in the
Independent, John Walsh (Walsh, 18 March 2007)
looked at examples of madness and creativity in modern
creative figures. He highlighted Stephen Fry (a British
comedian) who in a TV documentary The Secret Life of
a Manic-Depressive talked about how many highly
intelligent, creative people (e.g. Robbie Williams being
one) have been diagnosed with manic-depression (a
condition with mood swings from overly ‘high’ (manic)
to overly ‘low’ (depressed) moods. In this documentary
Fry said that many victims of the condition preferred
to endure the aching chasms of depression without
therapy or drugs, because of the creative high they
experienced in the manic stage.
Within psychology, the associations between high
ability or higher levels of thinking (be it creativity or giftedness)
and different forms of psychopathology are
best examined within the creativity and psychopathology
literature. Creativity has been long associated with
different types of mood (high and low levels of anxiety
and depression), neuroses (anxieties, compulsions, obsessions
and phobias), mental rumination (reflection
that may become persistently worrying), schizophrenia,
psychosocial problems and suicide (Nettle, 2001).
In 2009, University of Oxford UK psychologist Emilie
Glazer (Glazer, 2009) provided an excellent summary of
modern psychological debates regarding the association
between creativity and psychopathology. In this
summary Glazer first highlights how researchers have
conceptualised the causal relationship (which concept
causes which concept) between creativity and
psychopathology. First Glazer points to Richards and
Kinney (2000) who have argued there are five possible
relationships:
Psychopathology directly causes creativity
Psychopathology indirectly causes creativity
Creativity directly projects (being placed) onto the
psychopathology
Creativity indirectly projects onto the psychopathology
A third factor influencing the relationship, such as a
family disposition for the psychopathology.
Glazer also points to Ludwig (1995) who has argued that
there are four ways to conceptualise the relationship
between creativity and psychopathology:
Psychopathology causes a decrease in creativity
Psychopathology causes an increase in creativity
Creativity enhances the psychopathology
Creativity alleviates the psychopathology.
Glazer suggests that perhaps the best way to conceptualise
the relationship between creativity and psychopathology
is as complex and the relationship
depends on the individual being studied, the type of
psychopathology and the types of environmental factors
involved. Glazer suggests three possible models for
understanding creativity in terms of psychopathology as
follows:
The existence of different kinds of creativity each associated
with specific types of psychopathology
Creativity operating as a continuum
Creativity as a single entity.
1 The existence of different kinds of creativity each associated
with specific types of psychopathology.
Glazer considers whether there are different types of
creativity based on the type of psychopathology,
drawing on the distinction between schizophrenia (a
mental disorder characterised by abnormalities in the
perception or expression of reality) versus affective
disorder (mental disorder characterised by dramatic
changes or extremes of mood). Here Glazer uses
Sass’ (2001) analysis to draw the distinction between
different kinds of creativity in terms of ‘normal’ creativity
and ‘revolutionary’ creativity. Sass argues that
individuals with affective disorders are preoccupied
with the cultural norms around them. Therefore in
manic (highs) states in the affective disorder individuals
claim great grandiosity within a social hierarchy,
and when depressed, they have a heightened sensitivity
to social phenomena, feeling themselves overly
attached to the world. Therefore Sass argues that
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436 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
affective disorder is related to creativity limited to the
‘normal’, observations around everyday life, concentrating
on feelings. This may be why comedians with
affective disorder, such as Stephen Fry, and notably
Tony Hancock, produce comedy that is often concerned
with the absurdity of everyday life. Moreover
Sass argues that the person with schizophrenia, who
is suffering from altered states of perception or expressions
of reality is further detached from the
world, works free of social boundaries, and considers
alternative views of the world, or perceives things
differently and this predisposes them to ‘revolutionary’
creativity. In the art world for example, they distinguish
between depressive art, which tends to
focus on emotions and feelings, and schizophrenic
art, which tends to be emotionally distant and sometimes
surreal (bizarre or dreamlike). For researchers
in creativity and psychopathology, such as Claridge
(1998), the distinction between affective disorder and
schizophrenia, provides useful parameters for any researcher
looking at the relationship between creativity
and psychopathology.
2 Creativity operating as a continuum. The second
way Glazer suggests we examine creativity is as operating
as a continuum. There are two parts to this
model which are both illustrated in Figure 16.8. Axis
A corresponds to the extremities of creativity ranging
from everyday creativity to the genius work of
the eminent, and then outsider art and then unrecognisable
creativity. Outsider art means ‘raw art’
or ‘rough art’ and was a description created by
French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created
outside the boundaries of official culture. Dubuffet
argued that art created by insane-asylum inmates
and that of the mentally ill are the best examples of
outsider art (Glazer, 1999). Glazer notes that unrecognisable
creativity comprises remote creative
associations that extend past culturally recognisable
work. Glazer argues that as the axis extends from
the everyday to the work of the eminent, to outsider
art, and then unrecognisable creativity there is an increasingly
higher likelihood of psychopathology or
psychopathological tendencies. That is not to say
that all people on this axis are likely to have a psychopathology,
but that there is a great probability
that individuals higher up on this axis will have a
psychopathology. Axis B represents creativity of the
sciences to creativity harnessed in the arts and
therefore creativity and psychopathology can be understood
within the interaction of these two axes
forming four quadrants.
3 Creativity as a single construct. The final model presented
by Glazer is creativity as a single construct:
divergent thinking. We talked about this earlier in
the chapter under creativity as a process and Guildford’s
initial work. However, to remind you, divergent
thinking is a thought process that involves the
generation of ideas. So an example of divergent
thinking might be the ability to brainstorm, breaking
problems into parts, showing great thinking, understanding
causality, identifying importance with topics,
being able to appreciate known and unknown
qualities. Glazer maintains that divergent thinking is
a feature of all the main theories of creativity. For
examples of this see the models of creativity and
giftedness outlined in the main text of this chapter,
e.g. Sternberg, Gardner, Renzulli, Tannenbaum and
Feldman. All these models describe thinking that
could be described as divergent thinking. Glazer argues
that the relationship between creativity and
psychopathology may be best understood within a
single construct of different levels of divergent
thinking.
Axis A
ArtsScience
Everyday Creativity
Eminent Creativity
Outsider Art
Unrecognizable Creativity
Axis B
Figure 16.8 Creativity operating as a continuum
(Based on Glazer, 2009).
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 437
This is a commonly told story of the relationship between
intelligence and people with learning disabilities.
However, it would not be fair to assume all people working
in intelligence worked within that perspective.Another historical
line, which stretches as far back as the beginning of
intelligence theory in psychology, has a much more positive
side to it. That line leads us to modern-day thinking
and practice in working with those who have learning
disabilities.
Working with those who have learning
disabilities: the positive historical line
The positive historical line of those working with learning
disabilities starts with a French physician called Jean-Marc
Gaspard Itard (1775–1838) and a young boy who became
known as the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’ (Itard, 1801/1962).
In 1799, a young boy, thought to be around 11 or 12
years old, was found in a wood in Southern France. He
was naked, filthy and didn’t speak. Very quickly he was
placed in care and eventually was taken to Paris where he
could be studied. At that time, Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard
was a chief physician with the National Institution for
Deaf-Mutes in Paris. While other physicians declared that
the boy was not wild, but rather had been abandoned by
his parents due to being mentally deficient, Itard believed
his mental deficiency was entirely due to a lack of human
interaction. Furthermore, Itard believed that as the boy
had survived alone in the woods for at least seven years,
he was not without intelligence. Itard named the boy‘Victor’
and devoted the next five years to an intensive educational
programme in which Itard tried to get Victor interested in
the social world, improve his awareness of stimuli, extend
his experiences (for example, culture, games, groups of
people), teach him to communicate using pictures and
words and teach him to speak. After five years Victor
could read and speak a few words, but Itard was disappointed
in this lack of progress. However, the key idea
from this story is that Itard tried to make things better for
Victor. This work is often cited as the beginning of modern
special education.
Within this positive historical line, it is also useful to acknowledge
how intelligence tests played a positive role.
Though intelligence tests and IQ scores were used, by
some, to advance eugenic ideas, US intelligence expert
Douglas K. Detterman suggests that the IQ testing before
the SecondWorldWar did have a positive impact (Detterman,
1987; Detterman, Gabriel and Ruthsatz, 2001). Detterman
shows that, before intelligence testing at the start of the
twentieth century, those individuals who had learning disabilities
were treated no differently from those who were
mentally ill – assuming that people with learning disabilities
were simply uneducable, they were often institutionalised
in mental asylums. Therefore, the introduction of intelligence
testing, and the ability to identify those people who
experienced learning disabilities, opened up new
possibilities.
Detterman suggests that these possibilities came after
the Second World War. After the war, the policies that had
been born from eugenics fell into disrepute. Nazis involved
in the Second World War and the Holocaust were tried at
Nuremberg, revealing to the world the Nazis’ genocidal
practices. Clearly, governments couldn’t condone those
policies that had been advocated by Hitler, and many reexamined
their eugenics-based policies. What then followed
was a research agenda, particularly during the 1960s
and 1970s, that sought to explore the nature of learning
disabilities. Detterman et al. (2001) point to a body of research
that looked at people with learning disabilities.
Much of this research explored different aspects of memory,
including short- and long-term aspects of rehearsal
and their attention among individuals with learning difficulties.
There was also research into autistic savants.
Autism is characterised by extreme problems in communication
and social interaction, displays of repetitive acts
and excessive attachment to certain objects. Autistic savants
are people who have autism; but they also have one
extraordinary mental ability, more often in numerical calculation
but sometimes also in music or art. Examples of
extraordinary abilities among autistic savants include
being able to remember extensive lists of facts or statistics,
re-creating in detail a particular scene from a painting,
or having exceptional musical ability but no musical
education.
Detterman argues that all this research shows that people
with learning disabilities are capable of learning and remembering
complex materials and that those with learning
disabilities have much more potential than previously
thought. In the next section we are going to outline the
work of one person who typifies the attempts to work with,
rather than to exclude, those with learning disabilities. That
person is Reuven Feuerstein.
Feuerstein and Structural Cognitive
Modifiability
Reuven Feuerstein is an Israeli educational cognitive psychologist.
He began his work in the period from 1945 to
1948, when he was a special education teacher and counsellor
in youth villages in Israel; there, he worked with
young survivors of the Holocaust, who were severely traumatised.
Among the children that Feuerstein worked
with, one common factor was that before coming to
Feuerstein’s attention, the children were thought to be
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438 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
beyond psychological help of any kind. Over his career
Feuerstein extended his work to other children with learning
disabilities. The central idea in all of Feuerstein’s work
was that all children with learning disabilities – regardless
of the nature, cause or severity of their disability – are
capable of learning far more than is usually assumed. Over
time, Feuerstein developed his theory and programme of
Structural Cognitive Modifiability.
Theory and programme of Structural
Cognitive Modifiability
There are three assumptions underlying Feuerstein’s
theory and programme of Structural Cognitive Modifiability
(Feuerstein, Falik, Rand and Feuerstein, 2002;
Feuerstein, Falik, Rand and Rafi, 2003; Feuerstein, Rand
and Hoffman, 1979). The assumptions of this model are
as follows:
People’s abilities and behaviours are dynamic and modifiable,
not static or fixed. That is, we are able to change
or alter their skills.
Individuals have to want, or need, to modify.
Cognitive abilities, particularly intelligence, play a central
role in the ability to modify one’s self.
The theory and programme of Structural Cognitive
Modifiability includes three major elements:
Mediated Learning Experience (MLE).
The Learning Propensity Assessment Device (LPAD).
Instrumental Enrichment (IE).
Mediated learning experiences
Feuerstein et al. (2002, 2003) describe Mediated Learning
Experience (MLE). For Feuerstein there are two types of
learning: (1) direct learning and (2) mediated learning.
Direct learning – This type of learning is a direct interaction
between the learner and an environmental learning
factor; for example, reading a book, using a computer
or attending a lecture.
Mediated learning – This is a different form of learning,
where a mediator is placed in the middle of the
learning process. Here, the mediator is able to interpret,
change, emphasise and select the environmental
learning factor to help the learner to learn. Therefore,
using the direct learning examples, the mediator
would help the learner with their reading when reading
the book, they would work with them in using the
computer or they would help them to understand the
lecture.
Feuerstein focuses on using the second form of learning
for individuals with learning disabilities (mediated learning
experience). The mediator is there to help the learner
interact more productively with the learning environment.
At school you may have had classes where someone with a
learning disability had a classroom assistant working directly
with them while the class went on. This is an example
of mediated learning.
For Feuerstein, mediated learning experience can be
used for all people with learning disabilities. The dedicated
and individualised attention from the mediator can be
Profile
Reuven Feuerstein
Professor Reuven Feuerstein was born in Israel. Between
1940 and 1944 Feuerstein attended Teachers
College in Bucharest, Romania. From 1945 to 1948 he
was a special education teacher and counsellor in
youth villages in Israel, working with survivors of the
Holocaust.
From 1950 to 1955 he studied in the University of
Geneva, under Jean Piaget (a Swiss developmental
psychologist, famous for his work with children and his
theory of cognitive development). There, in 1952, he
completed his degree in General and Clinical Psychology;
in 1954, he gained his licence to practise in Psychology.
In 1970 Feuerstein obtained his PhD in Developmental
Psychology at the Sorbonne, a prestigious university in
Paris, France. From 1970 until the present day, Feuerstein
has worked as a professor in the School of Education at
Bar Ilan University, Israel. He is also currently the director
of the Centre for Development of Human Potential in
Jerusalem, Israel.
Feuerstein’s research and work have included Holocaust
survivors, Down’s syndrome children, brain-injured
individuals and children with autism among many
others. He has received a number of honours and
recognition, including the Canadian Variety Clubs International
Humanitarian Award (1991) and the Distinguished
Citizen of Jerusalem and Israel Prize in
Education (1992). Feuerstein has published over 80
books, monographs, chapters and journal articles.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 439
used to improve the cognitive skills, particularly intelligence,
of the learner, leading them to be an independent
learner. Feuerstein says that the absence of a mediator leads
to underdevelopment of the child’s abilities.
The Learning Propensity Assessment
Device (LPAD)
The Learning Propensity Assessment Device (LPAD)
is a type of intelligence test that adopts what Feuerstein
terms an interactive or dynamic approach to assessing
people’s learning propensity – their natural potential or
tendency for learning (Feuerstein, Falik and Feuerstein,
1998).
The LPAD uses a set of instruments that identify the cognitive
functions, learning processes and problem-solving
strategies used by the learner. At the first glance, the LPAD
battery looks like any other intelligence test. It consists of
15 instruments aimed at assessing cognitive processes
related to perception, attention, memory, problem solving
and logical reasoning, including the Raven’s Progressive
Matrices and Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1938,
1962, 2004).
However, Feuerstein argues that whereas traditional
tests of ability, such as intelligence tests, seek to identify
where a person is (for example, their IQ), the LPAD focuses
on the person’s potential for learning in the future. Unlike
normal intelligence tests, which are administered over a
relatively short period of time (1 or 2 hours), the LPAD is
administered over a much longer period of time (over a
number of sessions). The assessor uses the LPAD to investigate
the learning-disabled person’s cognitive skills,
processes and learning strategies. However, rather than just
seeing how well the person does on LPAD tasks, the test administrator
looks for cognitive changes in the person while
doing different tasks.
Overall, Feuerstein describes the LPAD as painting a
picture, or creating a profile, of the person’s learning potential.
When the profile is created, this leads to the Instrumental
Enrichment programme.
Instrumental Enrichment
Instrumental Enrichment (IE) is a programme of cognitive
learning that follows the Learning Propensity Assessment
Device (LPAD) and is guided by mediated learning experiences
(Feuerstein, Jackson and Lewis, 1998a). Feuerstein
states that Instrumental Enrichment enhances the skills
that are needed for independent thinking and learning by
the individual. The programme seeks to enhance the cognitive
and intelligence skills of that person by:
addressing deficiencies in the individual’s learning
skills;
teaching them new operations and techniques for
learning;
increasing their motivation;
developing student learning strategies and approaches.
Each programme is tailored to the individual. Its
implementation is directed by the mediator, who interprets,
changes, emphasises and selects the environmental learning
factors. The most important aspect of Instrumental Enrichment
is the quality of the interaction between the learner
and the mediator. Feuerstein estimates that an Instrumental
Enrichment programme takes about 330 hours, comprising
three 1-hour sessions a week, with a teaching time of over
18 months to 2 years.
Instrumental Enrichment has been used in over
60 countries through 2,000 projects. It is applied in several
different ways, including programmes for special needs
children, children with disabilities and programmes for the
Stop and think
Encouraging emotional intelligence, creativity and wisdom
Look over some of the theories in this chapter, particularly
the attributes listed in the discussion of emotional
intelligence and Sternberg’s descriptions of creativity
and wisdom.
What attributes described in these theories do you
think you already have?
What attributes described in these theories do you
think you might do well to develop?
How might you, yourself, go about developing the attributes
you identified in the previous question?
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440 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Summary
Commonly known measures of personality and intelligence
have found to be good indicators of achievement
in education and work. A series of findings
suggest IQ predict performance at school and work.
Of the five-factor model of personality, conscientiousness
and neuroticism are consistently related to
several indicators of job performance.
Personality and intelligence fare relatively well against
various predictors of job performance. However, there
are two considerations: first, intelligence and personality
variables don’t provide very adaptable constructs
within which to assess educational and work
factors. Second, commonly known personality and
intelligence variables aren’t a first consideration in the
minds of educators and employers, as there are many
more important factors to be considered.
In his experiential learning theory, which emphasises
learning relating to, or derived from, experience,
David Kolb (1981) suggests four main aspects in
learning: concrete experience, reflective observation,
abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation.
Based on these four aspects of learning, Kolb
identified four learning styles: diverging, assimilating,
converging and accommodating.
Emotional intelligence informs ideas of education as
well as leadership in the workplace. Leadership is
based on skills arising from self-awareness, selfregulation/management,
social awareness and social
skills/management and from distinctions between
personal and social competencies and recognition
and regulation. Education is based on Boyatzis’ theory
of self-directed learning.
Research on creativity is best understood within the
4 p’s: Person, Process, Press and Product.
Sternberg considers two aspects of leadership: creativity
and wisdom. Creative leadership can comprise
various abilities including redefining problems,
questioning and analysing assumptions, realising
that creative ideas do not sell themselves and willingness
to take sensible risks. Creativity can be grouped
into types of creative leadership that (1) accept current
paradigms (replication, redefinition and forward
incrementation), (2) reject current paradigms (redirection,
reconstruction/redirection and reinitiation) and
(3) integrate current paradigms.
Sternberg’s balance theory of wisdom is the need to
achieve a common good, whilst balancing several
different factors: (1) intrapersonal, interpersonal and
extrapersonal, (2) the short term and the long term
and (3) adaptation, shaping and selection.
Giftedness is commonly used in referring to individuals
who are thought to possess great natural intelligence.
Findings suggest that IQ tests might be a
good indicator of giftedness. However, there are
other conceptions of giftedness, including Renzulli’s
three-ring definition, Tannenbaum’s psychosocial
definition and Feldman’s developmentalist view.
There are two interpretations of the history of working
with those who have learning disabilities. The
darker history emphasises eugenics while the more
positive history emphasises particular interventions
with people who have learning disabilities. From the
positive history, the theory and programme of Structural
Cognitive Modifiability includes three major elements:
Mediated Learning Experience, the Learning
Propensity Assessment Device and Instrumental
Enrichment.
rehabilitation of brain-injured individuals. There are also
programmes for immigrant and cultural minority students,
who may experience learning difficulties.
Final comments
In this chapter we presented a general overview of how
some common personality and intelligence ideas have informed
our understanding of education and work. As a result,
you should now understand the role and values of
common personality and intelligence tests in predicting
education and work achievement. However, it is also important
to realise that personality and intelligence ideas in
education and work extend beyond commonly known
personality and intelligence measures. Therefore, we also
described Kolb’s theory, emotional intelligence, ideas
around creativity and wisdom and work with people who
have learning disabilities.
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CHAPTER 16 THE APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE WORKPLACE 441
Connecting up
If you need more information on the theories of emotional
intelligence, you can look back at the second part of
Chapter 15 which is on the subject of emotional intelli-
gence.
Critical thinking
Discussion questions
• In this chapter we looked at several ideas of leadership.
What qualities do you think makes a good leader in
these roles?
– Politician
– Managing director of a company
– Teacher
– Parent
• Do you think Kolb’s theory of learning is a good explanation
of how you learn? If not, why not?
• Think about situations when you are creative. How are
these examples of creativity best understood within
Runco’s 4 ‘p’s; Person, Process, Press and Product?
• Should gifted children be given as much support as
children with learning disabilities?
• What is the best way of selecting the best people for
jobs? Do personality and intelligence tests have a role in
the selection process for jobs?
• Should we use personality and intelligence tests in
education?
Essay questions
• Critically discuss the view that commonly known
measures of personality and intelligence are not useful
to the world of education and work.
• Critically compare Kolb’s and Boyatzis’ theories of how
we might best learn.
• Critically discuss the main psychological models of
creativity.
• Critically examine the view that wisdom and creativity
can be considered alongside more traditional conceptions
of intelligence.
• Critically compare models of giftedness.
• Critically examine theories of how we can best understand
and work with children who have special needs in
education.
Going further
Books
Arnold, J. M. et al. (2004). Work psychology (4th edn.).
London: Pearson Education.
Ormrod, J. (2005). Educational psychology: Developing
learners (5th edn). London: Pearson Education.
Subotnik, R. F. and Arnold, K. D. (1994). Beyond Terman:
Contemporary longitudinal studies of giftedness and talent
(Creativity Research Series). New York: Ablex.
Journals
Hough, L. M. and Oswald, F. L. (2000). Personnel selection:
Looking toward the future – remembering the
past. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 631–664. In this
article you will get an overall idea of the literature relating
to personnel selection in work. Annual Review of
Psychology is published by Annual Reviews, Palo Alto,
California.Available online via Business Source Premier.
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442 PART 2 INTELLIGENCE
Runco, M. A. (2004). Creativity. Annual Review of Psychology,
55, 657–687. Published by Annual Reviews, Palo
Alto, California. Available online via Business Source
Premier.
Gersch, I. S. (2004). Educational psychology in an age of
uncertainty. The Psychologist, 17, 142–145. In this article,
Gersch looks at the factors that surround and are
needed to inform present and future educational psychology
practice. It is freely available online. You can
find The Psychologist on the British Psychological Society
Website (http://www.bps.org.uk/).
Walsh, S. (1999). Shame in the workplace. The Psychologist,
12, 20–23. Sue Walsh presents the case that linking
psychodynamic and organisational perspectives can
offer new insights into emotional experiences at work. It
is freely available online at the British Psychological Society
Website (http://www.bps.org.uk/).
Sternberg, R. J. (2005). WICS: A model of positive educational
leadership comprising wisdom, intelligence,
and creativity synthesized. Educational Psychology Review,
17, 191–262. Educational Psychology Review is
published by Kluwer Academic Publishers.Available online
via Kluwer and Swets Wise.
Articles on personality and intelligence in education and
work discussed in this chapter are often found in the
following journals. Use‘personality’,‘intelligence’,‘emotional
intelligence’,‘special needs’,‘learning difficulties’,‘educational
achievement’ and ‘work performance’ as your search terms
on library databases such as Web of Science and PsycINFO.
British Journal of Occupational and Organization
Psychology. Published by the British Psychological Society.
Available online via IngentaConnect and Swetswise.
British Journal of Educational Psychology. Published
by the British Psychological Society. Available online via
IngentaConnect and SwetsWise.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Published
by the British Psychological Society. Available online
via IngentaConnect and SwetsWise.
Intelligence: A multidisciplinary journal. Published
by Elsevier Science. Available online via Science Direct.
Personality and Individual Differences. Published by
Elsevier Science. Available online via Science Direct.
Web links
There are industrial-organisational psychology links
(http://www.socialpsychology.org/io.htm) at the Social
Psychology Network (http://www.socialpsychology.org).
The International Center for the Enhancement of
Learning Potential is at http://www.icelp.org/asp/
main.asp. This site outlines a lot more about the work
of Professor Reuven Feuerstein and his theory and programme
of Structural Cognitive Modifiability.
If you want to read more about some of the initiatives
being undertaken within the European Union, then go
to the link http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm. Two areas
that might interest you are ‘Education, Training, Youth’
and ‘Employment and Social Affairs’. If you want to see
what is being done today by the UK government’s
Department for Education and Skills resource to support
the education profession, this is at http://www.
teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/.
Film and literature
In this chapter we covered the theory of individual wisdom.
The Wisdom of Crowds (2005, James Surowiecki)
is a book that challenges the notion of why the conventional
wisdom of the individual expert is sometimes inferior
to that of group wisdom. Don’t treat this as an
academic book for your work; you might have some fun
reading this analysis of how wisdom arises, and doesn’t
arise, from group thinking together.
In this chapter we spoke about working with people
who have special needs, both in terms of giftedness
and learning difficulties. The following two films deal
with the issues surrounding special needs. Little Man
Tate (1991, directed by Jodie Foster) is a film about
Dede, a lone parent who’s trying to bring up her son
Fred. When she discovers that Fred is a genius, Dede is
determined to ensure that he has all the opportunities
he needs and that he is not taken advantage of by people
who forget that his extremely powerful intellect is
harboured in the body and emotions of a child. I am
Sam (2001, directed by Jessie Nelson) is a story of a
man with learning disabilities who fights for custody
of his 7-year-old daughter.
The Usual Suspects (1995, directed by Bryan Singer) explores
some of the themes outlined in this chapter,
though we won’t say exactly what themes, because it will
give the ending away.
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Miss Potter (2006, directed by Chris Noonan). This is a
film about the creativity of English author Beatrix Potter
who was able to combine scientific intellect and observation
(she was a mycologist, which is a branch of biology)
with an ability to write and draw best-selling
children’s books.
Explore the website accompanying this text at www.pearsoned.co.uk/maltby for further resources to help
you with your studies. These include multiple-choice questions, essay questions, weblinks and ideas for
advanced reading.
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