Week 5

I’d like to start with a quote from the end of the Esters and Ittenbach article: “It may be that the contemporary theories of intelligence and the next generation of intelligence tests will help us answer some of the most fundamental questions about students’ success in school and in life. It may also prove true that so many other factors enter into the equation, that a measure of intelligence is not as predictive of success as some believe. In either case, armed with a more thorough understanding of intelligence assessment instruments and theories from which they were developed, school counselors will be able to communicate more knowledgeably with students, parents, and teachers about what intelligence tests can and cannot tell us regarding the students we serve.” (1999)

This summed up our readings this week in many ways for me. While we do know a lot about intelligence and many different researchers have come up with various testing instruments over the years, the truth is that there is still much we do not know. This is humbling. The human brain is still a mystery and I respect that.  Intelligence testing is another tool that we have to understand a student. While it can yield much information, it is one piece of the puzzle. Esters and Ittenbach write that school counselors can benefit from a theory of intelligence, “only if it leads to a better understanding of how children learn or if it assists in predicting future performance.” (1999)

I enjoyed reading about the various intelligence theories, and Gardner’s theory of “multiple intelligences” intrigued me the most. (Neisser et.al., 1996). It felt more comprehensive and took into account a broader definition of intelligence. I also found the section in Neisser’s article on Environmental Effects on Intelligence  interesting as it made me think about my cousin John. The first 2 ½ years of my life were spent in Vietnam where my parents and my Dad’s sister and her family were working to help rebuild from the war. My Dad’s sister is a medical doctor (a psychiatrist actually but she worked a lot with medical needs at the time). There was a baby boy who was a few weeks old in the hospital where she worked. He had been abandoned by his mother. He was very malnourished and covered in sores. My Aunt brought him back to our house so she and our servants could care for him as she knew he probably wouldn’t make it in the hospital. She soon fell in love with him and after a difficult and long adoption process; he came to his new home in the United States and became a US citizen at age three. John went on to live a privileged life in many ways and decided to go to medical school. He is now a successful Emergency Room doctor living on the West coast. At 46, he also is in such amazing physical shape that he competes in the extremely strenuous Ironman triathalons. I have often thought about how his life might have turned out if he had stayed in Vietnam. I doubt he would still be alive. It is amazing to me that such a malnourished baby living in a war torn country could become a medical doctor living a yuppie lifestyle in Seattle. The potential was there. He just needed the opportunity. It makes me think about the students I will encounter in the future. Whatever their intelligence test scores may be, everyone has potential to succeed in their own way. Each person is so unique and so will be their story. John has always been an inspiration to me and makes me remember to never underestimate the human brain and what people are capable of doing.

 Esters, I., & Ittenbach, R. (1999). Contemporary theories and assessments of         

            intelligence: A primer. Professional School Counseling, 2(5), 373.

Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T.J., Boykin, A.W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern,    

            D.F., Loehlin, J.C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R.J., & Urbina, S. (1996). Intelligence:

                Knowns and Unknowns. American Psychologist, 51(2), 77-101.