Fluid Intelligence vs Crystallized Intelligence

When it comes to intelligence as we understand it, there are many different ways that it can be measured. One section in a text for one of my classes talks about intelligence as a multi-phase construct, rather than one single overarching entity, and it discusses the difference between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

Fluid Intelligence (Gf)

Hard-wired, dependent on central nervous system

Abstract reasoning

Pattern recognition

Decreases or becomes harder to access with age

Test: What shape comes next in this series of shapes? (Testing logic)

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc)

Related to life experience and education

Life-related skills

Ability to reason and consider real-life problems

Stable or increases over time, dependent upon life experience

Test: Select a word that means the opposite of this word. (Draws upon life experience and understanding of language.)

Both fluid and crystallized intelligence may be influenced by culture over generations, so our view of this may change over time.

There are a number of YouTube videos out there that summarize and debate the topic, but one of the most intriguing involves a young man and his grandfather, a retired math teacher:

There are several tests available for fluid intelligence:

1. Cattell Culture Fair IQ Test

2. Raven Progressive Matrices

3. Performance subscale of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

4. Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities: Concept Formation (test 5 in Standard) and Analysis Synthesis (test 15 in Extended)

Merriam, S.B. & Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.