Much of the excitement among investigators in the field of intelligence derives from their trying to determine exactly what intelligence is. Different investigators have emphasized different aspects of intelligence in their definitions. 【F1】
For example, in a 1921 symposium on the definition of intelligence, the American psychologist Lewis M. Terman emphasized the ability to think abstractly, while another American psychologist, Edward L. Thorndike, emphasized learning and the ability to give good responses to questions.
In a similar 1986 symposium, however, psychologists generally agreed on the importance of adaptation to the environment as the key to understanding both what intelligence is and what it does. Such adaptation may occur in a variety of environmental situations.【F2】
For example, a student in school learns the material that is required to pass or do well in a course; a physician treating a patient with an unfamiliar disease adapts by learning about the disease; an artist reworks a painting in order to make it convey a more harmonious impression.
【F3】
For the most part, adapting involves making a change in oneself in order to cope more effectively, but sometimes, effective adaptation involves either changing the environment or finding a new environment altogether.
Effective adaptation draws upon a number of cognitive processes, such as perception, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. The main trend in defining intelligence, then, is that it is not itself a cognitive or mental process, but rather a selective combination of these processes purposively directed toward effective adaptation to the environment.【F4】
For example, the physician noted above learning about a new disease adapts by perceiving material on the disease in medical literature, learning what the material contains, remembering crucial aspects of it that are needed to treat the patient, and then reasoning to solve the problem of how to apply the information to the needs of the patient.
Intelligence, in sum, has come to be regarded as not a single ability but an effective drawing together of many abilities.【F5】
This has not always been obvious to investigators of the subject, however, and, indeed, much of the history of the field revolves around arguments regarding the nature and abilities that constitute intelligence.