Changing Conceptions of Intelligence, Article Critique Example

The article “Changing Conceptions of Intelligence” focuses on Norman Frederiksen, a research scientist at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and a skilled woodworker. Fredericksen pursued psychology in high school and then majored in psychology in college, “eventually I took all of the psychology courses that were offered. Looking back, I realize that what I learned had little resemblance to what is taught to undergraduates today…” (Brannigan, 1992). Fredericksen graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan with a BA in psychology but a small understanding of intelligence as it related to his field. Frederickson mentored under a man “who was to become one of the major figures in psychology because of his contributions to knowledge about intelligence. His name was Joy Paul Guilford, although he became known to his students and friends as just JP” (Brannigan, 1992).

JP moved to California after his mentorship with Frederickson to focus on factors of intelligence. There he developed the Structure of Intellect model of intelligence- a three dimensional approach to psychological intelligence.

After JP’s development, Frederickson applied for admission to Syracuse University, in pursuit of a Phd in psychology. Upon graduating, Frederickson received a position as a professor at Princeton University in their psychology department, teaching the fundamentals of social psychology to undergraduates.

World War II came along and Frederickson was offered a job working on war research- he accepted. The Navy wanted Fredricksen and his team of researchers to help the United States “improve their ability to make appropriate assignments of recruits to service schools and improve the instruction in service schools” (Brannigan, 1992).

Frederiksen was sent to Bainbridge, Maryland, the location of a military training camp, where he was asked to observe what normal instruction was like there. He developed performance tests and various drills to test the troops in the camps based on his own psychological training. Despite the troops being poor at incorporating Frederiksen’s techniques, the troop leaders were able to incorporate them effectively and eventually the troops caught on as well. After the performance tests done by Frederiksen were released, such tests were mandated for most service schools and training camps in the military during World War I and have continued to be implemented in the military since then. Although there were hundreds of success stories as well as hundreds of failures, the military did conclude that psychological intelligence could play an integral role in the United States armed forces.

Frederiksen proved that psychology can play an important role in many areas that such techniques have not currently been utilized yet. His use of intellectual psychology in military camps during World War II was instrumental in the field of psychology, and after numerous trials and errors, intellectual psychology has now become an integral part of military strategy. Both Frederiksen’s and “JP” wanted to challenge the concepts of psychology, particularly intellectual psychology, and in my opinion, they were both extremely successful in their mission. Their goal was to challenge the current concept of intelligence as well as the psychological concept of intelligence and by Frederiksen’s involvement with the military in World War II, I feel like they were both successful in this quest.