Researchers have concluded that there are two types of intelligence: fluid intelligence, and crystallized intelligence.
What is fluid and crystallized intelligence? Well, the main debate here is that fluid and crystallized intelligence differ only slightly but also greatly. If you are good at memorizing information, as an example, such as a set of numbers, you have high fluid intelligence, which focuses more on the ability of cognition supported by information processing and reasoning abilities, as well as memory. More genetic than environmental, you will know if you have this kind of intelligence if you can organize a series of letters based on a formula.
Crystallized intelligence, on the other hand, is supported by experience meets intellect. This is more of a learned form of intelligence, where experience and life lessons teach us how to do the same thing as fluid intelligence, but using a different cognitive process. If you can do a crossword puzzle, you have crystallized intelligence, because you are not recalling upon information you memorized; you are recalling on information you have memorized for a reason. Experience, again, is the essence of crystallized intelligence.
So what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Both are useful, yes, and it can easily be speculated that by holding both forms of intelligence, one is capable of just about anything and everything. However, in this novelist’s opinion, fluid intelligence has a bar set for you; there is only so much you can do with trivial memorization.
In other words, anybody can memorize a series of numbers. It almost seems as if those who are subject to crystallized intelligence will not fair well in a closed environment such as school, but if given the right opportunities, will succeed just as quickly and easily. The individual with fluid intelligence has a knack for memorization and problem solving, but only if they have learned how to memorize information to begin with.
It took me a good three months to solidly memorize a guest lecture I did at a multimedia college on video game psychology and its ties to individual aggression and Type A/Type B personalities. The lecture was thirty minutes. Even during the lecture, I required note cards to keep myself on track.
But take a look at this problem more carefully. I was able to memorize the information, yes, but was this fluid intelligence or crystallized intelligence at work? One would say fluid, because it requires memory. I say crystallized, because though it took effort to memorize the lecture, how would I have built this lecture to begin with if I had not memorized dozens already?
In this scenario, it does not mean either intelligence is more important. In fact, both seem necessary for the world we live in. Rather, I was able to put the lecture together due to experience I had gained throughout life, thus meaning someone with fluid intelligence would have been able to successfully memorize the lecture, yes, but would they know what they were talking about? Would they retain the information differently, or would they simply memorize based on a set rule they have or a mnemonic device?
Tell me what your thoughts are!
