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Charles Spearman developed his two-factor theory of intelligence using factor analysis. [1] His research not only led him to develop the concept of the g factor of general intelligence, but also the s factor of specific intellectual abilities. [ 2 ]
Charles Edward Spearman, FRS [1] [3] (10 September 1863 – 17 September 1945) was an English psychologist known for work in statistics, as a pioneer of factor analysis, and for Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.
The psychologist Charles Spearman early in the 20th century carried out the first formal factor analysis of correlations between various test tasks. He found a trend for all such tests to correlate positively with each other, which is called a positive manifold. Spearman found that a single common factor explained the positive correlations ...
Initially, he developed a model of intelligence in which variations in all intelligence test scores are explained by only two kinds of variables: first, factors that are specific to each test (denoted s); and second, a g factor that accounts for the positive correlations across tests. This is known as Spearman's two-factor theory.
Spearman's work was expanded upon by Raymond B. Cattell, who broke g into two broad abilities: fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc). Cattell's student, John Horn, added additional broad abilities to Cattell's model of intelligence.
Intelligence theories date back to the 19th century and the early 20th century, such as Charles Spearman's concept of general intelligence factor, or g. Though there were exceptions (e.g., Thorndike), most theories of intelligence included g, a general index of cognitive ability.
The book traces the origins of the idea of individual differences in general mental ability to 19th century researchers Herbert Spencer and Francis Galton. Charles Spearman is credited for inventing factor analysis in the early 20th century, which enabled statistical testing of the hypothesis that general mental ability is required in all mental efforts.
Spearman's hypothesis has often been taken to imply natural differences in Black-White general intelligence, a conclusion that is rejected by a strong consensus within the scientific community. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] It has been used to justify pseudo-scientific racist theories .