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andexperience.Sternbergemphasisestheroleofanaccurateself-assessmentofone’s
abilities.Ashepointsout:"theintelligentpersonisonewhofiguresoutwhathisorher
strengthsandweaknessesareandthencapitalisesuponthestrengthswhilecompensating
forandremediatingtheweaknesses”(Sternberg,1997,p.351).Thiscontroversialtheo-
ry,notonlyindicatesthedynamic,continuousprocessofabilitydevelopment,butalso
minimiseshereditaryinfluencesonhumanintelligence.Animportanteducationalimpli-
cationofSternberg’stheoryisthatabilitiesarepliableandmodifiableratherthanfixed
and,assuch,canbetaught
6.Consequently,Sternbergcriticisestraditionalintelligence
testsasunfairandunsatisfactorymeasuresofhumanintellectualpotential.Asheargues:
"thegeneralfactorofintelligenceisprobablyrelevantonlywhenafairlynarrowrange
ofabilitiesismeasured,asistypicallythecasewithconventionaltests”(2002,p.34).
However,mostcontemporarypsychologistsconsidertraditionaltestingofintelligenceto
beapracticalandvalidmethodofassessment(cf.Nęcka,2003).Themeasurementof
cognitiveabilitieswillbethefocusofthesubsequentsection.
1.3.Measurementofcognitiveabilities
Thedevelopmentofknowledgeonthesubjectofhumancognitiveabilitieshasbeen
accompaniedbyitspracticalapplication.Themaingoaloftestingintelligenceandother
abilitiesistoobtainadiagnosisofanindividual’spotentialformilitary,educational,
occupational,clinicalandacademicpurposes.Thefirsttestofintelligencewasproposed
byBinet(Binet&Simon,1905).Binet’smodelofintelligencewasbasedonanassump-
tionthatmeasuresofintelligenceshouldfocusonindividualdifferencesinhigherpro-
cesses,namelymemory,imagination,judgementandcomprehension.TheBinet-Simon
testofintelligencewasrecognisedasamajorcontributiontotheassessmentofintelli-
genceinEuropeandtheUnitedStatesanditsadaptedversionsgainedenormouspopu-
larityamongcognitiveabilityresearchers(cf.Lautrey&Ribaupierre,2004).Neverthe-
less,inthefieldofintelligencetestingitistheWechslerIntelligenceScale(1997)that
hasaleadingposition.
Since1934WechslerhadworkedondesigningandstandardisingIntelligenceScale
tomeasureadultintellectualpotential.Wechslerproposedanalternativetothedominat-
ingpsychometricmodelafunctionalmodelofintelligence.Hechallengedthetradi-
tionalpsychometrictheoryofintelligencebyclaimingthatintelligentbehaviourmust
includefactorsbeyondpurelyintellectualabilities.Hestressedthenecessityofextend-
ingtheconceptofintelligencewhichhedefinedasaglobalfactorincludingparticular
abilitiesandconnectedwithpersonality.Therefore,heconsideredsingleabilities,or
groupsofabilities,tobeabasisforintelligencemeasurement.Factoranalysesofintelli-
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6Sternberg’smodelofFLaptitudeisdescribedinChapterTwo,section2.4.3.
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