Intelligence & Its Multi-Dimensional View • Topic 3 of 5

Spearman, Thurstone & Guilford

Before Gardner, psychologists argued over how many factors make up intelligence, and CTET likes to test who held which view. Charles Spearman proposed the two-factor theory: every intellectual task draws on a single general intelligence, the 'g' factor, that runs through all abilities, plus a 's' factor specific to that particular task. So 'g' explains why a child good at one thing tends to be good at others, while 's' explains the differences between tasks. Louis Thurstone disagreed with a single overarching 'g' and argued intelligence is made of several independent Primary Mental Abilities — typically listed as verbal comprehension, word fluency, number, spatial visualisation, memory, perceptual speed and reasoning — each relatively distinct. J. P. Guilford pushed this multi-factor view furthest with his Structure of Intellect (SOI) model, picturing intelligence as a large three-dimensional cube formed by combining three categories: operations (the mental process, e.g. cognition, memory, evaluation), contents (the kind of material, e.g. figural, symbolic, semantic) and products (the result, e.g. units, classes, relations). Crossing these dimensions yields a very large number of distinct abilities. The simple memory line CTET rewards: Spearman = one general 'g' plus specifics; Thurstone = several primary abilities, no single 'g'; Guilford = many abilities from a three-dimensional model.

✅ Solved examples

1. Which theory holds that all intellectual performance depends on a single general factor 'g' plus a task-specific factor 's'?
Spearman's two-factor theory of intelligence. The 'g' factor is common to all tasks; the 's' factor is unique to each particular task.
2. Thurstone rejected a single dominant general factor. What did he propose intelligence is composed of instead?
A set of several relatively independent Primary Mental Abilities (such as verbal comprehension, word fluency, number, spatial ability, memory, perceptual speed and reasoning), rather than one overarching g.
3. Guilford's Structure of Intellect model organises intelligence along which three dimensions?
Operations (the mental process), Contents (the type of material) and Products (the outcome). Combining these yields a large number of distinct intellectual abilities.
4. A child good at a wide range of unrelated mental tasks supports the existence of which factor in Spearman's theory?
The general intelligence factor, 'g' — the common ability that cuts across all intellectual tasks and explains why performance on them tends to correlate.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. In Spearman's theory, the factor that is specific to one particular task and not shared across tasks is the:
The other letter in his two-factor theory.
Pairs with 'g'.
Specific factor (s factor)
2. The theory of Primary Mental Abilities, which treats intelligence as several distinct factors rather than one, was given by:
American psychologist.
Disagreed with a single g.
Louis (L. L.) Thurstone
3. The Structure of Intellect (SOI) three-dimensional model of intelligence was proposed by:
Operations x Contents x Products.
A very large set of abilities.
J. P. Guilford
4. Operations, contents and products are the three dimensions in whose model of intelligence?
Pictured as a cube.
Multi-factor extreme.
Guilford's Structure of Intellect
5. The single common ability that, in Spearman's view, underlies performance on every intellectual task is called the ___ factor.
One letter.
General intelligence.
g (general) factor

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

Auto-graded with full solutions; saved to your dashboard. Use the calculator and formula sheet (top-right) any time.

Loading questions…
← Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences Sternberg's Triarchic Theory →