IQ and Learning Achievement
Spearman, intelligence is the capacity for constructive thinking, which involves a discovery of appropriate qualities and relations of the ideas, that
are before us and bringing in of the other relevant ideas. All these definitions define intelligence in their own way, in view of
this problem many psychologist have accepted a definition by Weschler. He said Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of an induvidual to
think rationally, to act purposefully, and to deal effectively with his environment
11
. Commonly IQ is not only uses in educational field, it also uses as a
reference in worklife. In educational field IQ tests are given to diagnose students at school. Usually it helps school and stake holders to diagnose
students who have difficulty in learning, so it may help the teachers to evaluate through teaching and learning activites.
Every individual in a society will have some amount of intelligence. Some may harder to solve something, some may be average, and some
other people maybe more intelligent. There are some students who taking time to study and facing problem
in some subjects and also having lower score. There are students who learn easier rather than others and almost have no problem during learning.
There are also some students who learn normally and have stabil achievement with some subjects at school. Those cases usually can be
proven by the score of IQ. Another function is that the IQ is to classify student to the next level
or next grade in school. For some schools in Indonesia reaching next grade year at junior high school there is a classification. And score of IQ is used
as reference for school to classified students to those kind of classes. As the writer mentioned before IQ test is also used in some big companies for
the purpose of job interview.
11
Aman Sharma, www.psychologydiscussion.netessaysintelligence-essay-on- intelliegence-940-words608.
If we measure the intelligence of a large number people and plot the IQ score of people it can be seen by classification table below.
Based on Weschler level intelligence of people can be calssified by the IQ score as follows:
Table 2.1 Classification of IQ
IQ Range Defiation IQ IQ Classification
130 above Very Superior
120-129 Superior
110-119 High Average
90-109 Average
80-89 Low Average
70-79 Borderline
69 and below Extremely Low
2. The Theory of Intelligence
While Intelligence is one of the most talked about subjects in psychology, there is no standard definition of what exactly constitutes
„intelligence‟. Some researchers have suggested that intelligence is a single, general ability; while other believe that intelligence encompasses a
range of aptitudes, skill and talents. The term of “Intelligence Quotient”, or IQ was first coined in the early
century by a German Psychologist named William Stern. Psychologist Alfred Binet was the first to introduce about children‟s ability owned by
certain age
12
.
12
Kendra Cherry, Psychology.about.comodcognitivepsychologypintelligencehtm Theories of Intelligence
Different researchers have proposed a variety of theories to explain nature of intelligence. The following are some of the major theories of
intelligence:
Charles Spearman – General Intelligence
The British Psychologist who described a concept general intelligence or the g-factor. He concluded that intelligence is general cognitive ability
that could be measured and numerically expressed. He uses a technique known as factor analysis to examine some mental aptitudes tests,
Spearman believes that people who performed well on one cognitive test tended to perform well on other test while those who score badly on one
test tended to score badly on others
13
.
Louis L. Thurstone – Primary Mental Abilities
This Psychologist offered a differing theory of Intelligence. Instead of viewing intelligence as a single, general ability, he focused on seven
different “primary mental abilities”. The ability described as followed: 1.Verbal Comprehension
A person‟s capacity to comprehend the language utilized by other people, as certained by their receptive vocabulary and linguistic abilities.
2. Reasoning The process of thinking about something in a logical way in order to
form a conclussion or judgement. 3.Perceptual Speed
Perceptual speed is the ability to quickly and accurately compare letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. In the test of perceptual speed the
things to be compared maybe presented at the same time or one after another.
4.Word Fluency The ability to speak easily and smoothly.
13
Ibid
5. Associative Memory The ability to learn and remember the relationship between unrelated
items. 6. Spatial Visualization
Is the ability to mentally manipulate 2-dimensional and 3 diemnsional figures. It is typically measured with simple cognitive test and is predictive
ofuser performance with some kinds of user interfaces.
Robert Stenberg – Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Robert defined intelligence as mental activity central to one‟s life in real world environments. He unfolded the theory of succesful in three
phases; first phase is the validation of the fundamental importance of different abilities and the collection of supporting evidence from different
cultures. Second phase included studies designed to develop valid and reliable methods to asses analytical, practical and creative abilities. The
last phase was designed to apply the theory of value pedagological to develop analytical, practical and creatives ability.
14
Edward L. Thorndike
Thorndike divided intelligence into three elements, the three elements are:
1. Social Intelligence; the capacity to effectively negotiate complex
social relationship and environment. or the ability to communicate with people, understand and perform in social relations.
2. Abstract Intelligence; is a human enquiry of both natural and
artificial intelligence at the reductive embodying levels of neural, cognitive, functional and logical from the bottom up.
14
Elena Grigorenko, http:www.education.comreferencearticletriarchic-theory-of-
intelligence- , December 23,2009.
3. Mechanical Intelligence; the ability to visualize relationship among
objects. Or the ability to effectively to control body and manipulate objects
15
. Stenberg‟s triarchic theory named in the other named, those are :
1. Practical Intelligence is the ability to do well in informal and formal
educational settings; adapting to and shapings one‟s environment, street smarts.
2. Experential Intelligence is the ability to adapting in novel situations;
the ability effectively automate ways in dealing so they are easily handled in the future; the ability to think in novel ways.
3. Componential Intelligence is the ability to process information
effectively. These include metacognitive, executive, performance, knowledge-acquisition components that helps to steer cognitive
process.
16
3. The Strength and The Weakness of IQ Score
However IQ score has its strength and its weakness. It is not 100 accurate to measure or to
predict someone‟s intelligence. Here are some details about the strength of IQ score
17
: a.
They produce pretty reliable result b.
Whichever IQ test is used, it turns out that score on all the subtests, although their various items seen so different, shows positive
correlation with one another. c.
Score on subtests tend to cluster together in groups, which seems to be taping recognize able abilities or factors.
15
Triantoro Safaria,Interpersonal Intellegence. Yogyakarta : Amara Books, 2005, hal.20
16
http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiintelligence-quotient
17
Richard Fox, Teaching and Learning: Lesson from Psychology, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. p.185-187
d. The test do manage to asses abilities that people associate with the
term “intelligence” e.
The test predict academic achievement quite well with typical correlation between +0.5 and +0.8
And the main weaknesses of the same test, from teacher‟s point of view :
a. Although the result are stable when one looks at large group of
people, or individual child will on a given day produce one score, which is only a sample of intelligent behaviour.
b. Although one does indeed obtain a profile of scores for a child,
across the range of subject, the profile is not terribly informative. c.
There is more basic objection to calling these test evaluation of humans intelligence.
d. One can argue that the cultural effects of the test are generally
malign. e.
Another argument often launched against IQ test is that they are culturally unfair.
IQ test sometimes used to detect whether children should be put into special education classes or accelerated learning programs. IQ test can be
valuable tool for assessing intelligence, but they also have several drawbacks and weakness as mentioned above.
To sum up, the main strength of IQ test is the ability to provide a rough estimate of the raw intellectual ability of a test taker. The result of test can
be used to estimate future performance of test taker, but IQ test are limited in scope and therefore are not always good predictors of academic or job
performance. And the main weaknesess of IQ test is that designing a test to interprate
intelligence presumes that intelligence can be adequately defined and tested by using a simple paper-and-pencil, multiple choice exam. IQ test
often contain logical word problems or problems involving shapes and
numbers, but such problems may not necessarily form an accurate picture of intelligence.
Another failing of IQ test is the inability to evaluate characteristic that are important to achievement in the world that may not be directly related
to IQ Scores. And next problem with IQ test is that the results can vary considerably from one test administration to another. Even a difference of
5 points in the result of an IQ test could move someone from what is considered a low IQ to well within the average range.
The result of the IQ can be changed especially in kid and adult. The highest score reached in adult age and can be decreased toward old age.
Eventhough there are some researchers were defined that the increasing of the IQ score more influenced by the increasing of physics ability in doing
the test than the increasing of the intelligence level.
4. The Wechsler Test
The new measurement instrument by American psychologist were developed by David Wechsler. He believed that intelligence involved a
number of different mental abilities, describing intelligence as the global capacity of person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal
effectively with his environment. There are scales divided by by six base on and five performances subtest, they are Verbal intelligence, the
component most associated with academic success, implies the ability to think in abstract terms using either words or mathematical symbols.
Performance intelligence suggests the ability to perceive relationship and fit separates parts together logically into a whole
18
. The purpose of the Weschler intelligence scales for children and
primary scale of intelligence are used as tools in school placement, in determining the presence of a learning disability, developmental delay, in
identifying giftedness, and in tracking intellectual development. They are
18
Juanita Shell, http:healthofchildren.comU-ZIntelligence-test.html
often included in neuropsychological testing to assess the brain function of individuals with neurological impairments.
The most distinctive feature of the Weschler test is their division into a verbal section and a nonverbal performance section, with separate scores
available for each subsection. The Wechsler Intelligence scales are standardized test, meaning that as
part of the test design, they were administered to a large representative sample of the target population, and norms were determined from the
results. The scales have a mean, or average, standard score of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The standard deviation indicates how far above
or below the norm the subject‟s score is. While the full scale IQ score provides a reference point for evaluation,
it is only an average of variety skill areas. A trained psychologist evaluates an interpret a c
hild‟s performance on the scale subtest to discover their strengths and weakness and offer recommendations based upon these
findings. The only known risk of the Wechsler intelligence test is that the result
are misused or are given undue weight. But, The Wechsler test have useful diagnostic capabilities that enable a skilled examiner to evaluate such
personal characteristic as general defense mode of handling life situation.
5. Definition of Learning
Learning is a process where people can gain an information, experience, or kind of thing like knowledge. Commonly learning is taking place in the
class room, at course, college or university. In fact people can learn everywhere, everyone can gain information, experience and knowledge
from everything that they see, they hear even from what they read. For a new thing that people gained through learning there is a changing such as
from nothing they know and then they know about something, from zero to something, from the wrong to the right, and etc.
Learning is not only mapping the knowledge or information gained but also how to involve individual actively and revise the learning into private
experience. In learning there is process needed on it. Learning is the act of acquiring new or modifying and reinforcing,
existing knowledge, behaviour, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different of information. The ability to learn is
possessed by humans, animals, and machines. Learning maybe viewed as a process, rather than a collection of factual
and procedural knowledge. Learning also produces changes in the organism and that changes produced are relatively permanent.
Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, schooling, or training. It may be goal oriented and may be aided by
motivation. Learning may occur as a result of habituation or classical conditioning. Learning also may occur consciously or without conscious
awareness. Behaviorists believe that learning is a conditioning aspect that refers to
target education. Teachers or educators learning process that includes a person‟s behaviour changing such a narrow one and prefer to focus on the
lerarner itself rather than the environment also the complexities of human memory.
19
. Cognitive theory is emphasized the process of learning rather than the
result of the learning itself. Learning is not only involve between stimulus and response, learning is an understanding. Changing of perception and
understanding is not always shaped as behavioural that can be seen. Jean Piaget sees the learning process as a gradually activity and
intellectual function from concrete into an abstract. The development of intellectual is not quantitative, but qualitative
20
. Based on Morgan Gino, he stated that learning is one of a relativity
from behaviour that comes from experience. It can be said that learning is
19
https:en.m.wikipedia.orgwikiLearning_Theory_education
20
Aristwn.staff.iainsalatiga.ac.id , Teori Blejar Kognitif. P.1
a conscious effort that human do through experience and exercises to gain new ability. Gerow assumed that learning is demonstrated by a relatively
permanent change in behaviour that occurs as the result of practice or experience
21
. Based on Winkel said that “Learning is all mental of physics activities
that take place in an active interaction in the environment and produce a changing in understanding
”
22
. The Condition of Learning a book by Gagne, he said
“Learning is a change that shown in changing of behaviour, and the condition is different from the individual before he is in learning
and after he was ”
23
. There are many ways of learning, it could be through learning process,
geetting information, or experience and excercise as James Patrick Chaplin in his book of Dictionary of Psychology mentioned “Learning is restricted
into two formulation. The first, learning is a changing in behaviour that is relatively stayed because of experience and excercising. The second
formulation learning is a process of getting responses beacuse of certain excercises.
”
24
. In the book of “Theories of Learning 1975”, Hilgard and Bower
explained learning as “Learning is related with changing of someone‟s behaviour into certain situations caused by the experience, where the
changing of the behaviour can not be explained or based on personality, maturity, or the condition of the individual such as tired, medicine effect
and et c.”
25
. In “Educational Psychology” Wiherington also explaind learning as
“Learning is a process of changing inside of personality of a person which
21
Akhmad Solihin, http:Visiuniversal.blogspot.com201403pengertian-belajar
, March 2, 2014.
22
Haryanto, S.Pd 2010. Pengertian Belajar Menurut Ahli.
23
Ibid
24
Ibid
25
Drs. Ngalim Purwanto, MP 1992. Psikologi Pendidikan. PT. Remaja Rosda Karya. P.84
claimed as the new pattern from reaction such as ability, attitude, habit, intelligence or kind of understan
ding.”
26
. From statement of Wiherington if a person really learn something or he
obtain new information or knowledge there must be a changing which takes places on personality, attitude, habbit, intelligence and also
understanding. A person who is really learn something he must be AS. Hornby‟s explains that “Learning is gaining knowledge or skill by
studying from experience, from being tought, etc. Or becoming aware of something by hearing about it from somebody else or studying and
repeating something in order to be able to remember or gradually changing your attitudes about something so that you behave in different way
27
.
Some psychologist have different definition about learning, as follows: 1.
“According to Hilgard, Learning is the process by which an activity originated or it changes through training procedures whether in
laboratory or natural environment is distinguish from changing by factors not attributable to training.”
2. Based on Harold Spears “Learning is to observe, to read, to
immitate, to try something the mselves, to listen, to follow direction”
3. And based on James O. Whittaker “Learning may defines as a
process by which behaviour originates or is altered through training or experience
28
” Based on definition of learnimg above it can identified some necessary
elements of learning, they are: 1.
Learning is a changing process of behaviour, where that changes can lead into something good behaviour, but also leads into bad
behaviour. That change doesnt have to appears after learning process it can appears in future.
26
Ibid
27
AS. Hornby, Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, 6th ed Oxford University Press, 2000.
P.481
28
M. Alisuf Sabri, Psikologi Pnedidikan, Jakarta: Pedoman Ilmu Jaya, 1996. P.54
2. Learning is changing process by experience and trials
3. To be called learning, mostly the changes gained new ability
that stay in long time. 4.
The changing behaviour or habit usually related to personal aspect physically or psychologis.
Most of theories principally defines learning involved all changes in thinking, knowledge, information, appreciation and understanding as well.
Changing process exists because there is an effort from the individual, learning is an active process, cuase the activity through consciousness and
has purposes. So it can be summarized that learning is a kind of changing process
where there are increasing information, experiment and knowledge included on it.
6. Definition of Learning Achievement
In educational field to measure how far the learning goes there is a learning achievement. Usually learning achievement is written in the
report book or a report file. Learning achievement itself comes from accumulated numbers during certain time of learning process.
Achievement is something that gained through certain times, it also needs some efforts to help, sometimes achievement takes time to do. There
are some processes on it, it is also not easy for some people to reach. Qohar said “Achievement is something that achieved, result of work, a
result that makes a person happy and it gained through hard work .”
29
. W.J.S Purwadarminta “Something that have been reached through action
and something that have done called by achievement”
30
. As said above that learning achievement is something that need an
effort to do. It is in line with Arif Gunarso “Learning achievement is an
29
Dr. Hamdani, M.A. Strategi Belajar Mengajar. CV Pustaka Setia, 2011. p.137
30
Ibid
extra effort that has been reached through learning efforts by someone”
31
. There five kind of learning achievement classified by Gagne, Intelectual
ability, cognitive strategy, verbal information, behaviour, capability‟
32
. Intellectual ability includes is an ability about a person handle his mind, it
also an ability how they understand something, the way person understand process of something and also how person learn from examples or
experience. While cognitive strategy is related to human memory and how it works,
the way thinking of a judgment, the way of human solve the problem and making decision. Another achievement by Gagne is verbal information, it
is how do a person or people collect information or reach knowledge. Student‟s human level such as accepting, denying, making value from
information in learning process can be said as learning achievement
33
With learning evaluation teachers can summarized student‟s learning achievement. High or low
student‟s learning achievement is getting from the result of learning evaluation
34
. Ngalim Purwanto defines learning as some elements
35
: a.
Learning is changing in behaviour b.
Learning is process of changing that happens through exercise c.
To be called learning, it process should be constant. d.
Aspects that have been changing includes of personality physically yet psychology.
7. Factors Influencing Learning Achievement
In learning process there are some factors that can influence, generally there are two factors that may influence such as internal factor and external
factor
36
.
31
Id. at.138
32
Id. at.138
33
Id.at.138
34
Id. at.139
35
DRS. M Ngalim Purwanto, Mp. Psikologi Pendidikan. PT Remaja Rosdakarya, 1992 p.85
Internal and external factors are divided as
37
: a.
Internal Factor Factor that comes from students is called by internal factors. It
includes: 1.
Intellegency 2.
Physical and physiology 3.
Attitude 4.
Interest 5.
Talent
b. External Factor
External factors covered two points, they are social environment and non-social environment. Social environment such as;
teachers, headmaster, administration staff, classmates, home where students live, etc. While non-social environments are
school buildings, and time study. Others factor external are: 1.
Condition of family 2.
Condition of school 3.
Society environment Those factors above are supported by Ngalim Purwanto who explained
factors as followed
38
:
Chart 2.2 Factors Influence Learning Achievement
36
Hamdani, Op.Cit.,139
37
Hamdani, Op.Cit.,140
38
Drs. M. Ngalim Purwanto, MP. Psikologi Pendidikan. PT Remaja Rosdakarya, 1992. p.107