Practical Intelligence in Everyday Life

by Robert J. Sternberg , George B. Forsythe , Jennifer Hedlund , Joseph A. Horvath , Richard K. Wagner , Wendy M. Williams , Scott A. Snook , Elena Grigorenko

• ISBN13: 9780521659581
• ISBN10: 0521659582
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book reviews psychological research on practical intelligence and describes its importance in everyday life. The authors reveal the importance of tacit knowledge - what we have learned from our own experience, through action. Although it has been seen as an indispensable element of expertise, intelligence researchers have found it difficult to quantify. The data shows that practical intelligence is psychologically and statistically distinct from academic intelligence, and is distinct as well from personality and styles of thought. The data also indicates that practical intelligence predicts job performance and even aspects of school performance as well as or better than does academic intelligence. This volume thoroughly examines studies of practical intelligence in the United States and in many other parts of the world as well, and for varied occupations, such as management, military leadership, teaching, research, and sales.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
What Is Practical Intelligence?	1	(10)
Conceptions of Intelligence	1	(2)
Conceptions of Expertise	3	(6)
Theories of Expertise	4	(2)
The Acquisition of Expertise	6	(3)
Practical Intelligence as a Form of Developing Expertise	9	(2)
The Nature of Intelligence	11	(21)
History of Intelligence Testing	11	(4)
Theories of Intelligence	15	(17)
Implicit Theories	15	(3)
Explicit Theories	18	(14)
The Specificity of Practical Intelligence: Its Nature and Development	32	(33)
Academic Versus Practical Intelligence	32	(14)
Research on Practical Problem-Solving Ability	34	(4)
The Fun of Growing Older: Do Age-related Patterns in Practical Intelligence Resemble Those in Conventional Intelligence?	38	(8)
What Develops in Practical Intelligence?	46	(10)
Context of Practical Problem Solving	47	(3)
Content of Practical Problem Solving	50	(1)
Goals of Practical Problem Solving	51	(1)
Practical Problem Solving Strategies	52	(2)
Problem Interpretation (Definition)	54	(2)
Prototypic Forms of Developed Practical Intelligence	56	(9)
Intuition	57	(2)
Wisdom	59	(6)
Practical Intelligence in the Workplace	65	(12)
Rational Approaches to Management	65	(5)
The Rational Manager	66	(2)
The Proactive Manager	68	(2)
Applying Practical Intelligence in the Workplace	70	(7)
Thinking While Doing	70	(2)
Nonlinear Problem Solving	72	(2)
Reflection in Action	74	(3)
Approaches to Studying Practical Intelligence	77	(27)
Social Intelligence	77	(10)
Cognitive--Verbal Measures of Social Intelligence	79	(1)
Behavioral Approaches to Measuring Social Intelligence	80	(2)
Nonverbal Approaches to measuring Social Intelligence	82	(5)
Emotional Intelligence	87	(4)
Comprehensive Frameworks of Abilities	91	(1)
Greenspan and Driscoll's Model of Personal Competence	91	(1)
The Living Systems Framework	92	(1)
Sternberg's Theory of Successful Intelligence	92	(12)
Subtheories	93	(4)
Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test	97	(6)
Measures of Practical Intelligence	103	(1)
Understanding Practical Intelligence: The Role of Tacit Knowledge	104	(15)
Tacit Knowledge as a Theoretical Concept	105	(2)
The Characteristic Features of Tacit Knowledge	107	(3)
Tacit Knowledge Typically Is Acquired with Little or No Environmental Support	107	(1)
Tacit Knowledge Is Procedural	107	(2)
Tacit Knowledge Is Practically Useful	109	(1)
Tacit Knowledge Involves Coherent Relations among Its Features	109	(1)
What Tacit Knowledge Is Not	110	(2)
Tacit Knowledge Is Not Synonymous with Job Knowledge	110	(1)
Tacit Knowledge Is Not a Proxy for General Intelligence	111	(1)
Tacit Knowledge Is Not Sufficient for Effective Performance	111	(1)
Describing Tacit Knowledge at Different Levels of Abstraction	112	(7)
A Cognitive Representation of Tacit Knowledge	113	(4)
Identifying and Measuring Tacit Knowledge	117	(2)
Measuring Tacit Knowledge	119	(25)
Methods of Measuring Real-world Competencies	119	(4)
Critical Incident Technique	119	(1)
Simulations	120	(2)
Tacit Knowledge Approach	122	(1)
Tacit Knowledge as a Measurement Construct	123	(2)
Developing Tacit Knowledge Inventories	125	(13)
Knowledge Identification	126	(7)
Item Selection	133	(3)
Instrument Construction	136	(1)
Summary of Tacit Knowledge Inventory Construction	137	(1)
Establishing the Validity of Tacit Knowledge Inventories	138	(5)
The Content Aspect	138	(2)
The Substantive Aspect	140	(1)
The Structural Aspect	140	(1)
The Generalizability Aspect	141	(1)
The External Aspect	141	(1)
The Consequential Aspect	142	(1)
Summary	143	(1)
The Role of Practical Intelligence in Civilian Settings	144	(18)
Academic Psychologists	145	(2)
Business Managers	147	(1)
Center for Creative Leadership Study	148	(2)
Salespeople	150	(1)
Air Force Recruits	151	(2)
Managers Across Organizational Levels	153	(2)
College Students	155	(1)
Conclusions from the Tacit Knowledge Research Program	156	(6)
Tacit Knowledge and Experience	156	(1)
Tacit Knowledge and General Intelligence	157	(2)
Tacit Knowledge as a General Construct	159	(1)
Tacit Knowledge and Performance	160	(2)
Practical Intelligence: An Example from the Military Workplace	162	(45)
Apprroaches to Understaing Leadership	163	(3)
Trait-based Approaches	163	(1)
Behavioral Approaches	164	(1)
Contingency Approaches	164	(1)
Transformational Approaches	165	(1)
Limitations of Existing Approaches	165	(1)
Leadership Versus Management	166	(2)
Tacit Knowledge in Military Leadership	168	(39)
Identifying the Tacit Knowledge of Military Leaders	169	(15)
Developing a Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Military Leaders	184	(7)
Validating the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Military Leaders	191	(9)
The Role of Tacit Knowledge in Military Leadership	200	(7)
Practical Implications	207	(14)
Identification	207	(3)
Tacit Knowledge Tests	208	(1)
Tacit Knowledge Acquisition Skills	208	(2)
Development	210	(7)
Enhancing Tacit Knowledge Acquisition	212	(4)
Developing the Practical Abilities to Acquire Tacit Knowledge	216	(1)
Assessment	217	(2)
Summary	219	(2)
Conclusions	221	(4)
References	225	(30)
Appendix A: TKIM™: Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers	255	(10)
Appendix B: Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Salespersons: Written	265	(9)
Appendix C: Tacit Knowledge for Military Leaders	274	(5)
Index	279