Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence

 If IQ rules, it is only because we let it. And when we let it rule, we choose a bad master. We got ourselves into the test mess; we can get ourselves out of it.

Robert J. Sternberg

Starting from his own bad experience with traditional IQ measurements, Robert J. Sternberg developed an alternative intelligence model, comprising three elements of thinking processes kept in balance by metacognition. 

Taking practical experience with highly intellectual people, who aren't exactly successful in life, into consideration Sternberg describes three different kinds of intelligence in his model:

• Analytical thinking which focuses on planing, monitoring, reflection, and transfer.
• Creative thinking which focuses on developing, applying new ideas, and creating solutions.
• Practical thinking which focuses on selecting and shaping real-world environments and experiences.

How successful a person can use these three different intelligences is not only a result of simply having high intelligence in one or more of these three intelligence domains, success also depends on how well they are balanced against each other. Through metacognition an individual decides what mode of thinking is appropriate under certain conditions.

Well aware that most people differ in their general ability to use the three intelligences Sternberg later on developed a typology of people based on his theory, differentiating seven types:

• The Analyzer fares well in academic environments, but isn't likely to make a creative contribution to the field.
• The Creator generates ideas easily, but is unable to analyze these ideas or to put them into practice. 
• The Practioner is persuasive and maybe entertaining, but lacks substance in thinking.
• The Analytical Creator is able to analyze created ideas, but doesn't easily communicate these ideas to others.
• The Analytical Practioner succeeds in conventional terms because high IQ is translated into practical work, but he is unlikely to make a lasting contribution.
• The Creative Practioner has the ability to come up with new ideas and can persuade other people of the value of these ideas, regardless whether those ideas are worth it or not.
• The Consummate Balancer is able to apply all of the three intelligences as needed, and is therefore in the best position to make a valuable contribution to society.

Sternberg's model has had less of an impact on the educational world than Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.

Further Information

• Sternberg, Robert J.: Cultural Explorations of Human Intelligence around the World at Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 

Sources

• Buttriss, Jacquie & Callandar, Ann: Gifted and Talented from A-Z; David Fulton Publishers, London 2005, p. 59
• Sternberg, Robert J.: Successful Intelligence - How practical and creative intelligence determine success in life; Penguin Putnam, New York 1997
• Sternberg, Robert J.: Patterns of Giftedness - A Triarchic Analysis in Roeper Review, June 2000, p. 231-235

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Matthias Giger, April 2006 (Update: 26-04-2006)
www.gigers.com