Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence

Although almost all of us believe we are clear about the concept of intelligence, There have been numerous definitions along the history. There are many experts who have developed a theory about intelligence, such as Binet, Weschler, Spearman, Catell or Sternberg, among others.

In this case, we are going to focus on the perspective of Robert Sternberg, psychologist and professor at Yale University. Sternberg defines intelligence from the point of view of cognitive psychology as “the tomental activity directed toward the intentional adaptation, selection, or transformation of real-world environments relevant to one’s life“.

In this way, we can say that Sternberg conceives intelligence as a relationship between the individual and the context. at a cognitive level with the objective of both adapting to it and transforming it, depending on the circumstance.

Now, the author went much further and developed a theory known as the triarchic theory of intelligence, according to which there are three types of intelligence:

Analytical intelligence. Creative intelligence. Practical intelligence.

Fundamental aspects of the triarchic theory of intelligence

As we have mentioned, Sternberg talks about three types of intelligence: analytical, creative and practical. Each of them It is part of three partial subtheories that complement each other: the componential, the experiential and the contextual.

Below we will rely on the description of Elizabeth, JR and Gregorio, P. (2008) to develop and explain Sternberg’s theory. Let’s dig deeper.

The relationship of intelligence with the internal world of the individual: the components of intelligence

The triarchic theory of intelligence describes the relationship of intelligence with the internal world of the individual through the components or mental processes that are involved in thinking. These components are of three types:

Metacomponents: These are the executive processes used to plan, control and evaluate the solution of problems or tasks.Execution components: They are the lowest level processes of all those involved in making effective or executing the mandates of the metacomponents.Components of knowledge acquisition: are those processes used, in the first place, to learn to solve problems.

These types of components are highly interdependent and Together they form what the author calls analytical intelligence.

The relationship of intelligence with individual experience: facets of human intelligence

The three types of information processing components apply to tasks and situations that vary in levels of individual experience with them. When a task is presented for the first time it is novel, but through successive experiences it becomes automated..

This type of intelligence is what Sternberg calls creative intelligence.

The context of intelligence: functions of mental self-government

In this theory, everyday intelligence, every day, is defined as the selecting and modifying real-world environments that are relevant to our lives and our abilitiesalways under an adaptive purpose.

First the adaptation is chosen and, if this fails, selection or molding is chosen. It is the last type of intelligence defined by Sternberg in his theory: practical intelligence.

The intelligent person looks for the experience they want to have

We wanted to highlight this beautiful phrase by Aldous Huxley because it relates intelligence to the personal desire of each of us. Something that should be taken into account in the educational field. In fact, one of the main objectives of this context should be the search and development of intelligence multiple, emotional intelligence and triarchic intelligence.

These intelligences constitute the main factors that They help us generate and develop emotional and cognitive skills and many more that are dormant on many occasions in each of us.

The fact of being able to have theories about intelligence that provide us with different methods of studying it can be very useful to us, as long as we use them correctly. What’s more, if education professionals are aware of them, it would be highly recommended for use in educational contexts, so that, later, they can be applied on a daily basis.

You might be interested…