High intelligence: signs, methods of development, tips

• November 13, 2018
• Psychology of Personality
• Irina Kotova

Topics about intelligence and its development are among the most popular today. One of the main differences between people is their intellectual abilities. Without intelligence there would be no scientific discoveries and various fields of activity. Any person can discover enormous potential and opportunities for development and self-development thanks to his mental activity. In this article, we will analyze the essence of high intelligence and consider ways to develop it.

What is human intelligence?

Translated from Latin, intellect means “knowledge”, “understanding”. Intelligence refers to people’s ability to perceive and remember various information, the tendency to solve complex problems and life situations with the help of brain activity, namely through logical deductions and conclusions.

There is an intelligence coefficient, which is an assessment of a person’s level of knowledge and is calculated using various special tests and techniques. The average IQ ranges from 90 to 110 points. Indicators at the level of 70 points indicate intellectual impairment in a negative direction. Individuals with above average intelligence are those whose scores exceed 110. According to experts, the main factor in the formation of such abilities is heredity.

Concept

From Latin this word is translated as understanding, knowledge. Intelligence is the ability of our brain to understand and solve certain problems.

Plato was the first to raise the idea of ​​the cult of intellect. In all his texts he attached great importance to thinking. He wrote that life without curiosity, the desire to learn new things, is impossible. Plato was fully supported by his student Aristotle, who developed the concept of the primacy of reason. He said that the one who has the inclination to rule should rule, and others should obey.

The level of mental abilities can be developed and increased, or it can be decreased. Academician Moiseev states that intelligence is the creation of a successful strategy, planning your steps, which will help you achieve your desired goal. This is the organization of one’s life and activities with the help of other abilities, which include: learning, thinking, the ability to classify, integrate, isolate unnecessary things, find connections and patterns.

The main properties of intelligence are:

• curiosity - the desire to learn something new, to explore phenomena;
• depth of mind - the ability to find the main and important things in a pile of information, and weed out the unnecessary;
• logic - consistency of reasoning, the ability to build reasonable and correct chains, taking into account relationships and details;
• mental flexibility - a person’s ability to use his capabilities, experience, knowledge, without using templates, but creating his own solutions to problems;
• breadth of thinking - the ability to fully study data, not lose information, see several solutions to a problem;
• critical thinking - the ability to evaluate the result of work, find the right ones and weed out the false ones, also the ability to change the path if it is not the true one;
• evidence of the mind is to find facts and use them at the right moment to make sure that the goal is correct.

In ordinary life, an individual always uses his thinking abilities to understand the world around him, take next steps and find the optimal solution. It is quite difficult to imagine even a day of life without the ability to analyze the situation and compare facts and objects.

Only through the thought process is there the possibility of self-development and personal improvement. Without intelligence, a person would not be able to make scientific breakthroughs, create cures for dangerous diseases, create music, or paint pictures.

Thinking and intelligence: what do they have in common?

In psychology, intelligence and thinking are similar processes of mental activity.

Thinking - a tendency to analyze, build logical conclusions, the ability to draw logical conclusions based on acquired knowledge. Intelligence is the ability to implement acquired knowledge, supported by rational actions. Reading several books and various encyclopedias does not indicate the presence of high intelligence, since it is necessary to correctly apply the information received in practice.

Peculiarities

The human brain is a “muscle” that needs to be exercised regularly. In other words, the more effort and time a person is willing to invest in his development, the sooner new prospects for further self-realization will open up for him.

For example, if a person is able to concentrate on specific things, for noticeable visible results he needs to expand the field of activity over a certain period of time.

What is emotional intelligence?

This concept is quite new in psychology and popular culture. The very existence of this phenomenon dates back to ancient times. According to experts, high emotional intelligence is characterized by the ability to manage the emotions of both others and one’s own. This ability consists of the following parts:

• the ability to analyze the feelings and emotions of others;
• the ability to control one’s own emotions and those of others;
• ability to compare tasks and emotions.

Artificial intelligence

A hot topic in the modern world is artificial or, in other words, synthetic intelligence. It is a human-created system that can analyze incoming information and reproduce thinking processes that are similar in action to impulses occurring during human brain activity. The creation and study of synthetic intelligence is classified as a branch of computer science.

Types of intelligence

Innate intelligence can become the basis for successful personal development, in choosing your favorite profession, and help you successfully realize your life plans. In the average person, several talents develop harmoniously, but only one, as a rule, is the leading one. The following main types of intelligence are distinguished:

• Natural. A person with this type tends to deeply feel all the beauty of nature. The field of activity in the field of animal husbandry, botany and agronomy is perfect for them.
• The musical type is manifested by high sensitivity to any rhythms and sounds. This type includes singers and musicians.
• The logical-mathematical type of intelligence helps in solving complex logical and mathematical problems. This type of intelligence is mainly observed in detectives, scientists and mathematicians. Such people are distinguished by their isolation.
• Representatives of the linguistic type of intelligence are poets, journalists, writers and public figures. As a rule, they like to do crossword puzzles, read and write stories.
• Thanks to the spatial type, a person can easily remember any event in life. Carriers of this type of intelligence are pilots, sailors, artists, sculptors and architects. They are distinguished by their orientation to terrain of various scales.
• Personal. A person with this type of intelligence has good self-knowledge, which allows him to competently and sensibly approach solving various problems of any complexity.
• Bodily-kinesthetic is associated with touch and tactile perception. Representatives of this type are mainly dancers and workers in applied professions.
• Existential. People with this type tend to think about human existence, as well as put forward theories about the meaning of life, the appearance of people on the planet, and so on.
• Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with other people. People with this type include actors, teachers, politicians and social workers.

You can check your affinity for one of the types using IQ tests.

Love of loneliness

Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa found in his research that smart people feel happier when they meet less often with their friends. Most people, on the contrary, feel better when they meet with friends more often. This is explained quite well, according to which the preference of more intelligent people for solitude is due to evolution. It so happened that for the sake of survival and prosperity, people are accustomed to cooperating, but the smartest ones quickly adapt to any changes (cultural, technological, etc.), and therefore prefer to develop independently.

How to increase intelligence?

Is it possible to increase intelligence? Experts have long answered this question positively. The development of intelligence is considered a systematic habit, one might say, a way of life. By increasing it, a person daily acquires new knowledge, applying it in practice, and trains his memory. This list contains ways and tips that will help increase your intelligence level:

• Solve logic riddles and puzzles.
• Play mind games and board games such as backgammon, chess, poker.
• Train your memory daily. There are many books that can help you in this matter.
• Reflect on difficult problems as often as possible.
• Love numbers and math problems. Mathematics helps train the brain, develops the ability to analyze and generalize, as well as find solutions and choose the best options for action.
• Studying foreign languages, according to experts, contributes to the development and maintenance of mental clarity even in adulthood.
• Exercise. Scientists have found that sport has a beneficial effect on intellectual abilities.
• And finally, get enough sleep. The quality and quantity of sleep directly affects learning ability.

Left-handedness

For most people, such a feature as left-handedness seems more like a hindrance than a convenience. Indeed, our entire life is designed for right-handers, and left-handers are forced to adapt to it. However, a clear connection has been established between the specifics of brain function that determine left-handedness and the level of intelligence development. Left-handers often show significant abilities in the field of physical and mathematical sciences, have a rich imagination and a large vocabulary.

Source: depositphotos.com

Meditation as a brain exercise

Not long ago it became known that through meditation you can increase your IQ. This method, in addition to increasing intelligence, has the following qualities:

• helps reduce stress;
• improves mood;
• has a positive effect on mental health;
• promotes emotional balance.

Psychologist Siegfried Othmer, who studied this issue for thirty years, found the following: people who practiced meditation subsequently demonstrated a 23 percent increase in their intelligence level.

The main reason for the increase in IQ during meditation is that during practice, brain activity slows down, its plasticity and ability to self-reorganize increase. During meditation, a person focuses on music, breathing or a mantra and thereby gives the brain a rest, in return it begins to work better. It is worth noting that the study involved ordinary people who had not previously practiced meditation, and positive results began to appear on the fifth day of classes.

Experts advise: to get positive effects on intelligence and health, you need to meditate for at least 12 minutes daily.

Many people know the benefits of meditation, but, as a rule, it is not so easy to start. There are many programs and applications for this.

You can develop your intelligence: 5 ways to maximize your cognitive abilities

Don't pursue goals that are easy to achieve. It is worth aiming at what you can do with difficulty, after making considerable effort - Albert Einstein

Even though Einstein was not a neuroscientist, he certainly knew everything when he spoke about the human ability to achieve anything.
He intuited something that we have only now been able to confirm with data: namely, what makes cognitive abilities perform at their highest level. Essentially: What doesn't kill you makes you smarter. Just recently, my teacher told me that people are bad at controlling their intellect. It was genetically assigned at birth. He explained that efforts made to develop intelligence in children (for example, through programs such as Head Start) met with little success once they were put into practice, and furthermore, once the “training” ended, they immediately returned to initial low level of cognitive abilities. Indeed, the data supported this, and he (along with many other intelligence researchers) concluded that intelligence could not be improved, or at least the changes would not be lasting. However, I objected. You see, before I began this phase of my research, I began working as a Behavioral Therapy Specialist, teaching young children with autism. These children had a range of cognitive impairments - my job was to educate them in areas that were underdeveloped to bring them as close as possible to the level of functioning of their peers. To achieve the goal, during the treatment process we used many methods, or Multimodal Training (when the maximum number of information input methods is used). One of my first clients was a little boy with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delay), a mild form of autism. When we started treatment, we tested his IQ and it was around 80, which is practically considered mentally retarded. After I worked with him for about three years - individually, teaching him in areas such as communication, reading, math, social behavior, play skills, entertainment and recreation - using multimodal techniques - he was retested. His IQ was now well over 100 (given that 100 is considered "average" compared to the average person). That's a 20-point increase, more than a one-level improvement for a child with autism!

This was not the only child who, before my eyes, progressed significantly during my medical practice. I have been very fortunate to see so many children develop rapidly - not by miracle, and even without taking medication, there is also data confirming their success. I thought - if these children with severe learning difficulties were able to progress so much and make such gains in every aspect of cognitive functioning - why couldn't the average person make the same progress? Or even achieve great success, given that he does not have the additional problems of autism?

Although the data from early studies did not give very accurate results, I did not give up. I still believed that there was a chance to significantly increase cognitive functioning by providing appropriate training - as I had seen this with my own eyes when I worked as a doctor.

Then in 2008, a stunning study was done, “Increasing Fluid Intelligence with Short-Term Memory Training” by Jaeggi, Bushkul, Jonides and Perrig. This study was somewhat of a breakthrough for those researching this topic. They were the first to show that it was actually possible to develop intelligence to a fairly high level through training. What did they do differently?

The people in Jaggie's study were trained using an intensive, multimodal (visual and auditory input) short-term memory task (n-back task) over time periods of varying lengths, over one or two weeks, depending on the group. After this training, they were tested to determine how much they had improved. Most likely, one could assume that after training their level increased. But they went even further. They wanted to see if progress could be transferred to a completely different test of cognitive ability, which would become an indicator of an increase in absolute cognitive ability. What did they find?

After training short-term memory using the n-back test, people were actually able to transfer significant increases in levels to a cognitive aspect that was completely irrelevant to others. It was a huge event.

Below is a graph of their results; you can read more about the entire study here.

What is "Intelligence"?

First of all, let me explain what I mean when I say the word intelligence.
To be clear, I'm not just talking about increasing the amount of facts or bits of knowledge you can accumulate, or what is called crystallized intelligence - this is not fluency or memorization training - in fact, it's almost the opposite. I'm talking about improving your fluid intelligence, or your ability to remember new information, retain it, then use that new knowledge as the basis for solving the next problem or learning another new skill, and so on. Now, while short-term memory is not synonymous with intelligence, it is very related to intelligence. To successfully make intellectual inferences, it is quite important to have a good short-term memory. So, to make the most of your intelligence, it's worth significantly improving your short-term memory - like using the best and most modern parts to help a machine perform at its highest level.

What can you learn from this? This study is significant because it found:

1. Hypothetical intelligence can be trained.
2. Training and subsequent success are dependent on dosage; the more you train, the more benefits you gain.
3. Every person can develop their cognitive abilities, regardless of their starting level.
4. Progress can be achieved by practicing on tasks that do not resemble questions on a test.

How can we put this research into practice and benefit from it?

There is a reason why the n-back task has been so successful in increasing cognitive abilities.
This training involves dividing attention between competing stimuli, that is, multimodality (one visual stimulus, one auditory stimulus). This involves focusing on specific details while ignoring irrelevant information, and this helps improve short-term memory over time, gradually increasing the ability to process information effectively in multiple directions. In addition, the stimulus was constantly switched, in such a way that the phenomenon of “practicing test questions” never occurred—there was something new every time. If you've never taken the n-back test, let me tell you about it: it's very difficult. It is not surprising that such an activity has so many benefits for cognitive abilities. But let's think from a practical point of view. Eventually, the cards in the deck or the sounds in the piece will run out (the experiment lasted 2 weeks), so it is not practical to think that if you want to continuously increase your intellectual abilities throughout your life, then one n-back will be enough. Besides, you will get tired of it and stop doing it. I'm sure I would do that. Not to mention the time you'll spend learning this way - we're all very busy all the time! So we need to think about how to model the same types of super-effective multimodal brain stimulation techniques that can be used in normal life and still get the maximum benefit in cognitive growth.

So, taking all this into account, I have developed five basic elements that will help in the development of fluid intelligence, or cognitive ability. As I noted, it is impractical to consistently perform the n-back task or variations of it every day for the rest of your life to reap cognitive benefits. But the practical thing is to make lifestyle changes that will provide the same—and even greater—benefit to cognitive abilities. This can be done every day to reap the benefits of intense whole-brain training, and should also translate into benefits for overall cognitive functioning.

These five basic principles are:

1. Look for innovation
2. Challenge yourself
3. Think creatively
4. Don't take the easy way out
5. Stay online

Each of these points is a great thing in itself, but if you really want to function at the highest cognitive level possible, it is better to do all five points, and as often as possible. In fact, I live by these five principles. If you accept these as fundamental guiding principles, then I guarantee that you will make the most of your abilities, exceeding even what you thought you were capable of - all without artificial enhancement. Great information: Science backs these principles up with data!

Look for innovation

It is not a coincidence that geniuses like Einstein were knowledgeable in many fields, or polymaths as we call them.
Geniuses are constantly looking for new things to do, exploring new areas. This is their individuality. There is only one "Big Five" trait from the Five Factor Model of Personality (Acronym: ODEPR, or Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Irritability) that is associated with IQ, and that is the trait Openness to Experience. People who have high levels of Openness are constantly looking for new information, new activities, new things to learn—new experiences, in general.

When you are looking for innovation, several things happen. First of all, you create new synaptic connections with every new activity in which you participate. These connections build on each other, increasing the activity of the nervous system, creating more connections so that new connections are created on their basis - thus learning occurs.

An area of ​​interest in recent research is neural plasticity as a factor in individual differences in intelligence. Plasticity refers to the number of connections made between neurons, how this affects subsequent connections, and how long lasting those connections are. This basically means how much new information you are able to take in, and whether you are able to retain it, making permanent changes in the brain. Constantly exposing yourself directly to new things helps put the brain in a prime state for learning.

Novelty also triggers the release of dopamine (I've mentioned this before in other posts), which is not only highly motivating, but also stimulates neurogenesis - the creation of new neurons - and prepares the brain for learning. All you have to do is satisfy your hunger.

Excellent condition for learning = New activity -> dopamine production -> promotes a more motivated state -> which promotes neuronal recruitment and creation -> neurogenesis can occur + increased synaptic plasticity (increased number of new neural connections, or learning).

As a follow-up to Jaeggi's study, researchers in Sweden found that after 14 hours of short-term memory training for 5 weeks, there was an increase in the amount of binding dopamine D1 potential in the prefrontal and parietal regions of the brain. This particular dopamine receptor, type D1, is associated with nerve cell growth and development, among other things. This increase in plasticity, by promoting greater consolidation of this receptor, is very beneficial in order to maximize cognitive functioning.

Follow the point at home: Be “Einstein.” Always look for new mental activities - expand your cognitive horizons. Learn the tool. Take a painting course. Go to a museum. Read about a new field of science. Be dependent on knowledge.

Challenge yourself

There is a huge amount of terrible work written and distributed about how to “train your brain” and “become smarter”.
When I talk about "brain training games", I mean memory and speed games, the purpose of which is to increase the speed of information processing, etc.; This includes games such as Sudoku, which are recommended to be played in “free time” (complete the oxymoron, taking into account the development of cognitive abilities). I'm going to debunk some of the stuff you've previously heard about brain training games. I'll tell you what: They don't work. Personalized learning games don't make you smarter - they make you more proficient at learning brain games. So, they do have a goal, but the results won't last long. To gain anything from these types of cognitive activities, one must appeal to the first principle of seeking innovation. Once you master one of these cognitive activities in the brain training game, you must move on to the next stimulating activity. Do you understand how to play Sudoku? Great! Now move on to the next type of stimulating games. There has been research that supports this logic.

Several years ago, scientist Richard Haier wanted to know whether it was possible to significantly increase cognitive ability through intense training in new types of mental activity over a few weeks. They used the video game Tetris as a novel activity, and used people who had never played the game before as research subjects (I know, I know - can you believe people like that exist?!). They found that after training for several weeks on the Tetris game, study subjects experienced an increase in cortical thickness, as well as an increase in cortical activity, as evidenced by an increase in the amount of glucose used in that area of ​​the brain. Basically, the brain used more energy during that period of training, and became thicker—meaning more nerve connections, or new experiences learned—after such intense training. And they became experts in Tetris. Cool, yeah?

Here's the thing: After an initial dramatic cognitive boost, they noticed a decrease in both cortical thickness and the amount of glucose used during the task. However, they were still good at Tetris; their skill did not deteriorate. Brain scans showed less brain activity during the game, instead of an increase as in previous days. Why the decline? Their brains became more efficient. Once their brain figured out how to play Tetris and really started to get the hang of it, it became too lazy to do anything. He didn't have to work as hard to play the game well, so the cognitive energy and glucose went in a different direction.

Efficiency is not your friend when it comes to cognitive growth. In order for the brain to continue making new connections and keeping them active, you must continue to move on to other stimulating activities once you reach the peak of mastery in a particular activity. You want to be in a constant state of slight difficulty, struggling to achieve something, no matter what it is, as Einstein noted in his saying. This keeps the brain in limbo, so to speak. We will return to this issue later.

Think creatively

When I say that thinking creatively will help you improve your nervous system, I don't mean painting a picture, or doing something fancy, like in the first point, “Seek innovation.”
When I talk about creative thinking, I mean direct creative cognition, and what it means while the process continues in the brain. Contrary to popular belief, creative thinking is not “right-brain thinking.” Both sides of the brain are involved here, not just the right. Creative cognition includes divergent thinking (a wide range of topics/subjects), the ability to make distant associations with ideas, switch between traditional and non-traditional perspectives (cognitive flexibility), and generating original, fresh ideas that are also relevant to the activity in which you are engaged. To do everything correctly, you need the right and left hemispheres to work simultaneously and together.

Several years ago, Dr. Robert Sternberg, former Dean of Tufts University, opened the PACE (Psychology of Ability, Competence and Excellence) Center in Boston. Sternberg tried not only to define the basic concept of intelligence, but also to find ways in which any person can maximize his intelligence through training, and especially through education in schools.

Here Sternberg describes the goals of the PACE Center, which was founded at Yale University: "The core concept of the center is that ability is not fixed, it is flexible, it can be changed, each person can transform his ability into his competence, and his competence into mastery." explains Sternberg. “Our focus is on how we can help people change their abilities so that they can more easily solve problems and cope with the situations they will encounter in life.”

Through his research, Project Rainbow, he developed not only innovative methods of creative teaching in the classroom, but produced assessments that tested students in such a way that they had to approach problems creatively and practically, as well as analytically, rather than simply memorizing facts .

Sternberg explains: “At Project Rainbow we assessed creative, practical, as well as analytical skills. A creative test could be, for example, like this: 'Here is a cartoon. Give it a title.' A practical assignment could be a film about a student who goes to a party, looks around, doesn't know anyone, and obviously feels awkward. What should a student do?

He wanted to see if teaching students to think creatively about assignments could make them learn more about a topic, enjoy learning more, and transfer what they learned to other areas of scientific endeavor. He wanted to see if, by changing teaching and assessment methods, he could prevent “teaching to pass” and get students to learn more in general. He collected information on this topic and still got good results.

Briefly? On average, students in the test group (those taught using creative methods) received higher final college course scores than the control group (those taught using traditional methods and assessment systems). But to make things fair, he gave the test group the same analytical test as the regular students (multiple choice test) and they also scored higher on that test. This means they were able to transfer the knowledge they learned using creative, multimodal learning methods and score higher on a completely different cognitive test on the same material. Does this remind you of anything?

Don't take the easy way out

I mentioned earlier that efficiency is not your friend if you are trying to increase your intelligence level.
Unfortunately, many things in life are designed to increase efficiency. Thus, we do more with less time, physical and mental effort. However, this does not have a beneficial effect on your brain. Consider one modern convenience, GPS. GPS is an amazing invention. I am one of those people for whom GPS was invented. I'm terribly bad at navigating the terrain. I get lost all the time. Therefore, I thanked fate for the advent of GPS. But you know what? After using the GPS for a short time, I found that my sense of orientation became even worse. When I didn't have it at hand, I felt even more lost than before. So when I moved to Boston—the city where the Lost Horror movies originate—I stopped using GPS.

I won’t lie – my suffering knew no bounds. My new job meant traveling all over the outskirts of Boston, and I was lost every day for at least 4 weeks. I was so often lost and wandering for who knows how long that I thought I would lose my job due to chronic tardiness (I was even complained about in writing). But over time, I began to find the right path thanks to the vast navigational experience that I acquired with only my brain and a map. I really began to sense where and what was in Boston thanks solely to logic and memory, and not GPS. I still remember how proud I was that I found the hotel in the city center where my friend was staying, based only on the name and description of the area - even without an address! I felt like I had graduated from a school of navigational education.

Technology makes our lives easier, faster, more efficient in many ways, but sometimes our cognitive abilities can suffer as a result of these kinds of simplifications and harm us in the future. Before everyone starts screaming and emailing my transhumanist friends about how I'm sinning against technology, I should warn you that that's not what I'm doing.

Look at it this way: when you go to work by car, it takes less physical effort, time, and is a more convenient and enjoyable way than walking. Everything seems to be fine. But if you only drive or spend your whole life on a Segway, even not for short distances, then you will not waste energy. Over time, your muscles will atrophy, your fitness will weaken, and you will likely gain extra weight. As a result, your general condition will worsen.

Your brain needs exercise too. If you stop using your problem-solving skills, your logical, cognitive abilities, then how will your brain always be in better shape, let alone improve your mental abilities? Consider that if you constantly rely only on useful modern conveniences, your skills in a particular area may suffer. For example, translator programs: wonderful, but my knowledge of languages ​​noticeably deteriorated as soon as I started using them. Now I force myself to think about a translation before I know the right one. The same applies to spell checking and automatic correction. In truth, automatic correction is the worst thing ever invented to improve your thinking process. You know that the computer will find and correct your mistakes, so you continue typing without even thinking about it. How to spell this or that word correctly. As a result, after a few years of stable autocorrect and automatic spell checking, are we the world's most illiterate nation? (I wish someone would do some research on this.)

There are times when the use of technology is justified and necessary. But there are times when it's better to say no to shortcuts and use your brain while you have the luxury of time and energy. To keep yourself in good physical shape, it is recommended to walk to work as often as possible or take the stairs instead of the elevator several times a week. Don't you want to keep your brain fit too? Put your GPS aside every now and then and do your navigation and problem-solving skills a favor. Keep it handy, but try to find everything yourself first. Your brain will thank you for this.

Stay online

And now we come to the last element on the path to increasing your cognitive potential: a computer network.
What's great about this last setup is that if you're doing the previous four things, you're probably already doing this one. If not, then start. Immediately. By interacting with other people, either through social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, or face-to-face, you expose yourself to situations that will make it much easier for you to achieve goals 1-4. By encountering new people, ideas, and new environments, you open yourself up to new opportunities for mental growth. Being around people who may not be in your field can help you see problems from a new perspective or discover new solutions you've never thought of before. Connecting with other people online is a great way to learn how to open yourself up to new things and absorb unique and meaningful information. I won't even get into the social benefits and emotional well-being that a computer network brings, but it's just an added benefit.

Steven Johnson, who wrote How Good Ideas Are Made, discusses the importance of groups and networks in promoting ideas. If you are looking for new situations, ideas, environments and perspectives, then the network is the answer for you. It would be quite difficult to implement the smarter concept without making the network a core component. The great thing about computer networks: It benefits everyone involved. Collective intelligence for victory!

I have one more thing to mention... Remember at the beginning of this article I told the story about my clients with autism spectrum disorder? Let's think for a moment about how to increase the level of flexibility in your intelligence in light of everything we've already talked about. What can these kids achieve at such a high level? This is not a coincidence or a miracle - it is because we incorporated all these training principles into their therapy program. While most other therapy providers are stuck with the Errorless Learning paradigm and slightly modified Lovaas Methods of Applied Behavior Analysis, we have embraced and fully embraced a multimodal approach to training. We pushed the kids to try their best to learn, we used the most creative methods we could think of, and we dared to set the bar seemingly well above their abilities. But you know what? They transcended time frames and made me truly believe that amazing things are possible if you have enough will, courage and persistence to set yourself on that path and stick with it. If these children with disabilities can live while continually improving their cognitive abilities, so can you.

My parting question is this: If we have all this supporting data showing that these teaching methods and approaches to learning can have such profound positive effects on cognitive growth, why don't therapy programs or school systems take advantage of some of these methods? I would like to see them as the standard in training rather than the exception. Let's try something new and shake up the education system a little? We would raise our collective IQ significantly.

Intelligence is not just how many levels of math you have completed, how quickly you can solve an algorithm, or how many new words with more than 6 characters you know. It's about approaching a new problem, recognizing its important components, and solving it. Then take what you have learned and apply it to solve the next, more complex problem. It's about innovation and imagination and being able to use it to make the world a better place. It is this type of intelligence that is valuable, and it is this type of intelligence that we should strive for and encourage.

About the author: Andrea Kuszewski is a behavioral therapist for children with autism based in Florida; specialist in Asperger's syndrome, or high-functioning autism. She teaches the basics of behavior in society, communication, as well as the impact of behavior on the home and society, training children and parents in therapy methods. Andrea's work as a researcher with the METODO Institute of Social Sciences, the US branch of the METODO Transdisciplinary Social Science Research Group, Bogota, Colombia, explores the influence of neuro-cognitive factors in human behavior - this includes aspects such as creativity, intelligence, illegal behavior, and diffuse-confuser disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. Also a creativity researcher, she is a painter herself and has studied various types of visual communication, ranging from traditional drawing to digital painting, graphic design, and 3D modeling, animation, health sciences and behavioral science. She blogs at The Rogue Neuron and is on Twitter @AndreaKuszewski.

Does intelligence depend on genetics?

Researchers from the University of Ulm in Germany found that intelligence is only 50 percent dependent on genetics. Some of the main factors influencing intelligence, which is formed in childhood, are the following:

• The degree of attachment to mother in preschool age. Research has shown that children who systematically played complex educational games with their parents were subsequently distinguished by increased intelligence, unlike most of their peers.
• Parental love. If a child before adolescence received from his parents the portion of love and attention that he needed, then the cells in his hippocampus increased by 10 percent than those who were emotionally distant from their mother.

From childhood, it is necessary to develop the child’s intelligence, solve logical problems and look for ways to solve them together, despite the fact that your children may be naturally highly intelligent. Plus, it helps you bond with your children.

Definition of mental disability

As the understanding of intellectual disability changes, so do the definitions of the disorder. For example, the characteristics of intellectual disabilities presented by WHO define them as follows: “A state of arrested or incomplete mental development, characterized, in particular, by impaired skills, manifested throughout the entire period of development, affecting all components of intelligence, i.e. cognitive, speech, motor, social abilities. The disorder may occur simultaneously with or without other physical or mental disorders.” (WHO, ICD-10).

Another definition refers to “the inability to achieve an adequate degree of intellectual development (less than 70% of normal) despite receiving appropriate educational stimulation.”

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) defines intellectual disability as follows: “Intellectual disability is a diminished ability characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, as reflected in conceptual, social, practical adaptive skills. The disorder appears before the age of 18.” In addition to the 18-year threshold (the onset of intellectual impairment in adolescents), some authors point to an earlier period - a 2-year threshold, and impairment developing after this age is called dementia.

AAIDD sets out 5 assumptions for applying the previous definition:

1. The decrease in current functionality must be judged in relation to the environment and society typical of the age and culture of the individual.
2. Recognizes cultural and linguistic diversity.
3. Takes into account individual differences in communication, perception, movement, behavior.
4. Each person, in addition to his limitations, takes into account his strengths.
5. Simultaneously with determining a person’s impairment, an individual target support system should be developed - with it, the quality of life of a person with intellectual impairment will be improved as a whole.

From this definition, it is clear that mental retardation is variable. It does not depend solely on the damage to the person, but also takes into account the influence of the external environment

Emphasizes the importance of targeted support based on the specific skills and needs of people with mental disorders

Signs of High Intelligence

Every person has different abilities. Scientists have presented a list of features that are characteristic of people with high intelligence:

• High level of anxiety. Experts explain this by saying that people with high IQs are able to analyze a situation and predict its outcome. Highly intelligent people most often suffer from depression and insomnia, which develop due to the ability to anticipate unpleasant situations and think about them.
• Change of daily routine. Most people live according to this routine: they wake up early in the morning and go to bed in the evening; this type is called “larks”. As for the opposite type, “owls,” they are more often susceptible to diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Nevertheless, such people show higher analytical results, have good concentration, and are also less tired. Most managers and people who hold other responsible positions are night owls.
• Sense of humor. The ability to understand humor is associated with a rich vocabulary and verbal development. Highly intelligent people have the talent to make fun of any topic, including themselves.
• Sloppyness. Experts believe that high intelligence is associated with a tendency toward creative disorder. In their opinion, an improperly organized place has a disciplinary effect and helps to activate mental processes, as well as enhance creativity.
• Self-criticism. People with this trait tend to doubt the quality of their knowledge. The more a person is aware, the more a range of questions are revealed to him to which he does not yet know the answers. And, on the contrary, less developed people are always confident in their knowledge and try not to torment themselves with “unnecessary” doubts. The connection between self-criticism and intelligence level is a scientifically proven fact, and is called the “Dunning-Kruger effect.”
• Laziness is a sign of high intelligence. Scientists have come to the conclusion that it is precisely this that is the hallmark of smart and thoughtful people. They are sure that more superficial people do not know how to use their free time rationally. According to research, highly intelligent people behave less actively than those who are not highly knowledgeable. Thus, experts came to the following conclusion: the higher the intelligence, the lower the activity.

Undoubtedly, signs of a high IQ include good memory, an analytical mind, and the ability to learn. But if a child’s natural gift begins to be developed from a young age, it will reveal itself in its entirety. In those families where parents are actively involved with their children, they grow up to be inquisitive, smart and sociable children.

Sense of humor

The ability to understand the humor in situations and make others laugh is usually based on the ability to decipher paradoxes. It is closely related to verbal development and the richness of vocabulary. Such talents are usually possessed by people with high intelligence.

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People with a high level of intelligence

There are such people, but they are few. All over the world, only three percent of people can boast of the highest intelligence, which reaches 130. Almost each of them devoted their entire life to a certain field of activity, where they were able to achieve considerable heights. Among people with a high level of intelligence there are famous personalities:

• Terence Tao - IQ 230.
• Christopher Michael Hirata - IQ 230.
• Nathan Leopold - 210.
• Kim Ung-Yong - IQ 210.
• Garry Kasparov - IQ 190.
• Albert Einstein - IQ 170-190.
• Andrew Wiles - IQ 170.
• Bill Gates - IQ 160.
• Stephen Hawking - IQ 160.

Intelligence capabilities

Scientists have proven that not all people fully use the potential reserve of their physiological capabilities.

If a person wishes, intelligence can be developed to a high level, and there is simply no limit to this. Constant daily training helps improve mental performance and subsequently gives good results.

Many people believe that you must already be born with talent. But this statement is not entirely true. Each of us has certain abilities, it’s just that not everyone can notice this in a timely manner, since it’s all about vital interests.