New Concepts of Intelligence
By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler
Pioneer Brain/Mind Researcher
© 2006 All Rights Reserved

If there is anything close to a consensus among those studying human intelligence, it is that "IQ" does not wholly account for one’s success or failure in life. In fact, most experts estimate that IQ accounts for only 20 to 30 percent of what we call “intelligence.”

Redefining Intelligence
In the early 1980s, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner wrote a book entitled “Frames of Mind. ”He suggested that intelligence is a wide range of talents – the measure of which is absent from traditional IQ tests. His theory of Multiple Intelligences considers musical, kinesthetic or spatial intelligences (and a number of others) alongside the more traditional verbal and mathematical skills.

Yale psychologist Robert Sternberg published an article suggesting a similar idea – what he called the “Triarchic Theory of Intelligence.” Sternberg feels there are three main areas of intelligence: practical, analytical, and creative. Like Gardner , he produced some very compelling data in defense of his theory.

Then in 1995 New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman wrote a popular book called “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.” The concept idea of emotional intelligence caught on immediately.

The idea of emotional intelligence assumes several basic principles: Emotionally intelligent people, Goleman says:

The Biology of Emotion
The recent boom in brain imaging technologies has allowed the mapping of the brain's circuitry.

Scientists knew for some time that the prefrontal lobes are involved in the processing of emotion. This was the basis for a procedure we know as prefrontal lobotomy – which was eventually abandoned because it left patients with no emotional life at all.

But not until recently have scientists understood the precise role of the prefrontal cortex. It turns out it is not the place emotion is formed – but rather where it is reasoned and processed.

We now know that prefrontal cortex interacts with an evolutionarily older part of the brain called the limbic system – the "emotional brain." A part of limbic system called the amygdala has been identified as “the seat of all passions."

The amygdala and the rest of the limbic system is in a way a remnant of the days when emotions like anger, lust or anxiety were far more useful to human survival.

What is Emotional Intelligence?
A major study was done in the 1990’s at AT&T's Bell Labs – a New Jersey “think tank” full of engineers who all scored very high on IQ tests. Both the managers and peers nominated the top 15 percent they felt were exceptional. The research team then observed the nominated people at work and also interviewed them – trying to determine why they stood out.

The researchers discovered that the nominated people were what they called “superior collaborators.” They were socially adept- at work and at play. They are the type of people we all enjoy being with because their emotional skills make us feel good.

The researchers concluded that these people had a more subtle control over their emotional brain – their brains seem less likely to be dominated by emotional impulses.

Today’s conclusion: Although EQ is obviously not an exact science – it at least presents a realistic and more practical view of the human intellect than IQ.

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