Intelligence is speed.
The faster you think, the faster you put things together, the faster you express the correct conclusion or answer questions and solve problems, the more intelligent you are.
Speed is highly valued in our society. People are honored for behaviors that result from neural speed.
Success in school represents fast-thinking. Data show people who complete college make more money over their lifetime than those who complete only high school. (My fast-thinking husband has suggested that intelligence should be measured by the amount of money one earns.)
People who are very fast at everything are rare and they are sometimes referred to as savants. We’ve noticed, however, some people are faster at some things and at the same time slow in other areas of their lives – like good at math but not at reading. Some experts have defined different types of ‘intelligences’. Another rare type of person is someone who is extremely fast in one isolated area (like music for example), but are basically disabled in all other areas of life.
On the opposite end of the scale of mental work is slowness. My career has spanned from the time when words like moron and imbecile were part of psychological vernacular to the current ‘person first’ terminology. I am frankly grateful that the former terms are no longer used.
I appreciate the subtle effect of saying ‘child with a disability’ as opposed to ‘disabled child’. Another term that people sometimes use as an epithet is ‘retarded’. Special Olympics has converted from defining their athletes as mentally retarded (MR) to adults and children with intellectual disabilities. However, MR continues to be an official label for receiving services and special education.
Another twist in the terminology for persons at the slow end of the mental scale is the use of ‘developmentally delayed’ or DD. Infants and young children who do not achieve developmental milestones in timing typical of most ‘normal’ children are delayed. And then when those same atypical children grow to be adults 21 years and older, they are again referred to as DD. DD seems to be more palatable than MR for very young children. Parents do not want their children to be MR.
We all want the speed of intelligence, or at least to be in the range of ‘normal’ people. The truth is that the persons with extreme speed and noticeable slowness are the smallest portion of all people. The rest of us are somewhere between the two ends of the scale (not discussing the bell curve today).
Where does intellectual speed come from?
Babies are born with a unique set of DNA or genetic potential for intelligence. The intelligence DNA either meets its potential or is inhibited by the lifestyle of the family into which a baby is born.
When DNA is complete and correct (at conception), and the gestation circumstances are optimum, the baby is physically primed to develop to his genetic potential.
The brain at birth has a built-in time-table for development, unique to the individual, but most of our brains have similar time-tables. The behavior called ‘talking’ begins its time-table with unique DNA combination, continues with ongoing nutrition (during gestation and after birth) and appropriate and frequent sensory experiences (auditory input or hearing adults talk being very important).
Intelligence is organically-based but built-upon by a rich learning environment. Both DNA and a nurturing environment influence neural speed or intelligence.
Yadda, yadda, right? What most parents really want to know is - how can I get my child to be intelligent (enough to reap the financial rewards)?
Some parents take classes to learn how to parent their child to think fast. Parenting classes now include lessons on brain development as a motivator to parents. Parenting experts are happy to quote science reports that support use of black and white mobiles in the crib over pastel Disney characters!
On a daily basis, parents decide on multiple, varied, and sometimes minute choices for their children. The parents who think about those daily and small decisions – like what kind of mobile to hang over the crib - are more likely to increase the neural speed of their children. The parents who do not think about the daily decisions in child care are still influencing their child’s mental development, but the results are more random.
I love neurophysiology. I’m fascinated by how the brain develops and functions. (Most people don’t know that therapists study a good bit of neurology to earn their credentials.)
The brain and nervous system are the drivers for moving the musculo-skeletal system. Understanding brain dysfunction helps therapists plan and implement therapy. Some of the same terms used for exercising muscles (which simultaneously strengthens bones) can be used for the brain, too.
Strengthening neural connections – like strengthening muscles - will improve neural speed for intelligent behavior. Like muscles, the brain needs good nutrition to develop strength. Deciding what to feed your child each day and every day is a decision that influences your child’s brain development and also intelligence.
To help your child meet his intelligence potential, create a lifestyle that will lay down a framework in his brain for speed. Children learn with repetition in their daily lives. By living in a regular routine, babies and young children learn quickly. With responsive adults and the security of needs being met, a child is free to learn from what is around him. Deciding the daily schedule for your child each day and every day is a decision that parents make that influences how intelligent their child becomes.
Safety is a third area for decisions that parents make daily for their children. Creating your child’s play area and choosing which adults you trust to care for your child have critical impact for preventing injury to your child. I’m not making reference to the mild ‘boo-boos’ that are quickly overcome in the life of a child.
Decisions parents make about safety in terms of play areas and caregivers influence intellectual development. Safety is easily understood for preventing injury. Serious injury can interrupt and leave a lasting impact on intellectual development – sometimes resetting that natural time-table for learning. But like a repeated but light blow daily, routine exposure to a poor play area or inattentive caregivers strikes at the essence of intellectual development.
With the repetition of routine, good nutrition, and a safe environment, children will learn quickly and seek-out new learning experiences.
The framework in a child's brain is strengthened for what he learns, even as some of the extra brain material he was born with fades away. Scientists call this pruning (great visual, eh?) Pruning or the dying-off of extra neural cells in the brain is important for the efficiency of the brain.
Neural speed or intelligence is enhanced if the brain has strong pathways that are not interrupted by excess routes. Some theorize that one cause of learning disability is lack of proper pruning early in life. Neural messages (thinking) go onto too many side trips in the brain, slowing learning and response time.
Another consequence of a strong and efficient brain framework is the ability to generalize. Generalization means you can use things you learned in one circumstance in other different but similar circumstances. Generalization contributes to neural speed because previously formed connections in the brain can be used with only slight additional growth. A completely new system of neuron connections does not need to be made with every new learning experience when a strong neural framework is in place.
Individuals who have mental slowness lack the ability to generalize. Consider the child who struggles to learn the whole toileting process at preschool, but eventually learns to complete every single step from closing the door to flushing the toilet. The same child may not be able to complete toileting in any other bathroom. If you know a child who is cognitively-impaired, you probably know that they are challenged by every new and unfamiliar situation. Children with MR need exponentially more routine in their daily lives compared to typically-developing children.
My last recommendation in this essay for parents who want to influence their children towards intelligence is this: pay attention to when it is time to upgrade the challenges and requirements for your child.
For the baby who is physically primed to develop to his genetic potential, be sure to take away the toys that are no longer appropriate when you provide new toys. I often see or meet parents who continue daily habits that their children have clearly outgrown.
Common evidence of intelligence is good grades in school. Good grades are a mostly-objective outcome resulting from DNA (potential) and parenting behaviors (nurture).
I am confident that most children will benefit from the suggestions I’ve made here. More information is readily available on the internet, such as this page with essential foundations for school readiness.
Some really good news on the topic of intelligence - the same recommendations that benefit children benefit all people. Try what I’ve said here to increase your own neural speed. And if speed is not what you think is important in life, I wish you happiness at the speed you choose.
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I read Marilyn vos Savant, who holds the record for the worlds highest IQ, in Parade Magazine. I read her column because she has provides common sense answers to interesting questions in her column.
In Marilyn's column published in the October 5, 2008 edition of PM. The first question in the column: "How does human intelligence today compare with that of people 5000 years ago, such as the ancient Egyptians?"
Marilyn's answer: "They were as smart as we are. No noticeable evolution in intelligence has occurred that recently. Scientists say that humans have had modern intelligence for tens of thousands of years. Some say our brainpower goes back even longer."
Brief and deft, her answers always answer the question without stringing into tangents like how intelligence came to humans.
Fast.
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