Introduction and Individual Differences in Human Functioning

• The study of individual differences forms a crucial part of psychology.
• Individual differences refer to variations and unique patterns in people’s physical and psychological behaviour and characteristics.
• Differing psychological attributes among people include but are not limited to intelligence, aptitude, interests, personality, and values.

Assessment of Psychological Attributes

• Psychologists employ various methods to assess psychological attributes, these include psychological tests, interviews, case studies, observations, and self-reports.
• These assessment methods serve to understand an individual’s potential and actual ability to solve problems and make decisions effectively.

Concepts of Intelligence

• Intelligence refers to the capacity of an individual to understand the world, think rationally, leverage resources effectively to meet life’s demands, and adapt to changes in the surrounding environment.
• Intelligence is a product of complex interplay of hereditary (nature) and environmental (nurture) factors.
• Intelligence measures include Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which gauges an individual’s cognitive abilities in relation to their age.
• At the extremes of intelligence lie the intellectually deficient and the intellectually gifted individuals.

Intelligence in Different Cultures

• Intelligence has different connotations in different cultures; western culture prioritizes ‘technological intelligence’, while non-western cultures value emotional competence and connectivity with people as signs of intelligence.
• Indian culture encourages ‘integral intelligence’, emphasizing the importance of relationships and connectivity to the larger social world.

Theories of Intelligence

• The Theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests there are eight different kinds of intelligences, each catering to a different potential of human ability.
• Triarchic Theory of Intelligence explains intelligent behaviour through three of its components – analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence.
• The Planning, Attention-arousal, and Simultaneous-successive Model of Intelligence (PASS model) posits that intelligent behaviour involves the independent functioning of three neurological systems: planning, attention and simultaneous and successive processing.

Emotional Intelligence

• Emotional intelligence pertains to the ability to perceive, manage and express emotions effectively and properly.
• It includes self-motivation, impulse control, mood regulation, and empathy for others’ feelings.

Special Abilities: Aptitude and Creativity

• Aptitude refers to an individual’s inherent or learned capacity for something; they are predictive of what an individual could learn or develop with adequate training and environment.
• Creativity, on the other hand, is the ability to produce novel, appropriate, and useful ideas, objects or problem solutions. A certain level of intelligence is necessary, but a high IQ doesn’t guarantee creativity.