Mind in Context: Interactionist Perspectives on Human Intelligence

by Robert J. Sternberg (Editor), Richard K. Wagner (Editor)

The essays in Mind in Context serve as a bridge between the work of radical constructivists, who propose that all cognition depends on interaction with the outside world, and traditional cognitive scientists, who feel that all cognition resides in the mind. Here, concepts of distributed cognition and situated learning are translated into constructs and methodologies that are accessible to a broad range of psychology researchers and students. The volume is divided into three main parts, containing chapters by leaders in the fields of education, the study of intelligence, and psychometrics. Part I, dealing with performances in academic and test-like tasks, includes essays on novelty and intelligence, and the effects of context on cognition. Part II addresses everyday tasks, with essays on cognitive tests in job selection; and leader intelligence, interpersonal stress, and task performance. In Part III the essays move toward constructing an integrative framework for understanding the volume as a whole. This volume is essential reading for cognitive psychologists, social psychologists, educational psychologists as well as scholars interested in situated learning.

260 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1994

About the author

Robert J. Sternberg's spectacular research career in psychology had a rather inauspicious beginning. In elementary school he performed poorly on IQ tests, and his teachers' actions conveyed their low expectations for his future progress. Everything changed when his fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Alexa, saw that he had potential and challenged him to do better. With her encouragement, he became a high-achieving student, eventually graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University. In a gesture of gratitude, Dr. Sternberg dedicated his book, Successful Intelligence to Mrs. Alexa.

Dr. Sternberg's personal experiences with intelligence testing in elementary school lead him to create his own intelligence test for a 7 th grade science project. He happened to find the Stanford-Binet scales in the local library, and with unintentional impertinence, began administering the test to his classmates; his own test, the Sternberg Test of Mental Abilities (STOMA) appeared shortly thereafter. In subsequent years he distinguished himself in many domains of psychology, having published influential theories relating to intelligence, creativity, wisdom, thinking styles, love and hate.

Dr. Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of (Successful) Intelligence contends that intelligent behavior arises from a balance between analytical, creative and practical abilities, and that these abilities function collectively to allow individuals to achieve success within particular sociocultural contexts. Analytical abilities enable the individual to evaluate, analyze, compare and contrast information. Creative abilities generate invention, discovery, and other creative endeavors. Practical abilities tie everything together by allowing individuals to apply what they have learned in the appropriate setting. To be successful in life the individual must make the best use of his or her analytical, creative and practical strengths, while at the same time compensating for weaknesses in any of these areas. This might involve working on improving weak areas to become better adapted to the needs of a particular environment, or choosing to work in an environment that values the individual's particular strengths. For example, a person with highly developed analytical and practical abilities, but with less well-developed creative abilities, might choose to work in a field that values technical expertise but does not require a great deal of imaginative thinking. Conversely, if the chosen career does value creative abilities, the individual can use his or her analytical strengths to come up with strategies for improving this weakness. Thus, a central feature of the triarchic theory of successful intelligence is adaptability-both within the individual and within the individual's sociocultural context.