Primary Mental Ability (Thurstone)
In 1938, Louis L. Thurstone, an American Psychologist
proposed a group factor theory to explain the intelligence in terms of seven
primary Mental Abilities. He used the statistical
technique of factor analysis to identify and isolate the elements that make up
intelligence. The seven primary mental abilities identified by Thurstone are:
1.
Verbal comprehension: The
ability to understand the meaning of words. The test measures vocabulary, reading,
comprehension, verbal analogies, etc…
2.
Word fluency: The ability
to think of words rapidly , as in anagrams or rhyming tests.
3.
Number: The ability to
quickly and accurately carry out mathematical operations
4.
Space: The ability for
spatial visualizations as well as ability to mentally transform spatial
figures.
5.
Memory: The ability to
recall verbal stimuli such as word pair or sentences.
6.
Perceptual speed: The
ability to grasp visual details, similarities, and differences between pictured
objects.
7.
Reasoning: The ability to
find a general rule on the basis of presented instances. Involves skill in a variety
of inductive, deductive, and arithmetic reasoning tasks
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