Fluid and crystallized intelligence

Fluid and crystallized intelligence is a concept in psychology that defines two separate but related aspects of how people gather, store, access, and use information. The ideas address both the flexible way people can reason through new situations as well as the bank of knowledge a person acquires on an ongoing basis throughout life. The two concepts were identified in the 1940s, and researchers recognized that while they are separate, liquid and crystallized intelligence work together to allow people to acquire, process, and apply information.

Background

Fluid and crystallized intelligence were identified and named by British psychologist Raymond Cattell. Cattell was working as a college professor in America in the 1940s when he developed his theories related to intelligence. While Cattell is credited with developing the idea of two separate but interrelated forms of intelligence, its origins are unclear. Cattell himself gave several different years for its development. In addition, some sources note its similarities to another theory of two types of intelligence developed around the same time by Donald O. Hebb, and Cattell wrote publicly that Hebb originated part of the theory. However, Hebb called the two aspects of intelligence “A” and “B,” while Cattell named them fluid and crystallized intelligence. This is why Cattell is more commonly associated with the concepts.

Cattell was among a small group of psychologists who began applying an innovative approach to research. While many psychologists up until that time analyzed aspects of human behavior in isolation, Cattell and some others looked at the whole individual and how different aspects of human behavior interacted. This approach uses multivariate analysis, or the study of two or more variables or factors at the same time. His work enabled psychologists to analyze aspects of human psychology in non-laboratory settings and develop his theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence as part of a person’s general intelligence. Cattell and one of his students, John Horn, refined Cattell’s original theory of individual intelligence to further explain how the different forms of intelligence worked together.

Overview

At one time, people believed that intelligence was largely a fixed ability and that little could be done to change it. Once people understood about heredity and how some traits are genetic and passed down from previous generations, it was thought that intelligence was one of these traits. However, more contemporary research has shown that while there are some aspects of intelligence that are related to genetics, other aspects can be improved with training and practice. Researchers also began to identify that intelligence has multiple dimensions that are independent but related. The overall ability to gather, store, access, and use information is known as general intelligence. Cattell and his colleagues called the two main aspects of intelligence fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is related to a person’s ability to reason and respond to situations with flexibility. It is the ability to process and apply new information and to reason, especially when existing information the person already has does not apply. People who are problem solving or solving puzzles are using fluid intelligence because they are dealing with new information and applying it to a new situation.

The intelligence or knowledge that a person has acquired throughout his or her life is what Cattell called crystallized intelligence. It includes the facts an individual has learned and the experiences he or she has had in the past. Most standardized tests require a person to draw on crystallized knowledge.

Each form of intelligence is distinct and different from the other. However, the two forms of intelligence often work together as a person goes through the day. For example, a person assembling a piece of furniture for the first time may have crystallized knowledge of how to use the tools that are involved and what the furniture should look like when it is completed. Finishing the task will also require the application of fluid intelligence to understand the illustrations in the instructions and transfer that understanding to the pile of parts that need to be assembled.

New experiences and knowledge that are reasoned out through fluid intelligence became part of a person’s base of knowledge. However, crystallized intelligence is not just fluid intelligence that has been “hardened” into more permanent knowledge. Fluid intelligence is the ability to grasp and apply information more so than the information itself, while crystallized intelligence is the facts and remembered experiences that are acquired through fluid intelligence and other sources, such as rote memorization, reading, etc.

Each type of intelligence grows and develops from childhood and the teen years. Some people believe that intelligence generally declines as people age. However, psychologists say this is not completely true. They note that there appears to be a decline in fluid intelligence after young adulthood, beginning around the age of thirty. This is because of an overall slow decline of some of the mental skills needed for fluid intelligence. However, crystallized intelligence increases as a person ages and gains more knowledge and experience. The skills used for this do not decline in the same way, and the longer a person lives and has different experiences, the more fact-based knowledge and learned skills the person acquires.

The two skills work together, with crystallized intelligence helping a person identify how new experiences, problems, and challenges are alike or different from things he or she has previously experienced. At the same time, fluid intelligence helps a person work through new challenges so that these experiences can become part of crystallized intelligence. Therefore, psychologists believe that a person can improve intelligence by actively using both. Activities such as learning new things, trying new skills, and shaking up routines to invite new experiences and other challenges help to develop both forms of intelligence.

Bibliography

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