The concept of intelligence and its role in lifelong learning and success.

Abstract

I I This article proposes a definition of intelligence as com- prising the mental abilities necessary for adaptation to, as well as selection and shaping of any environmental context. According to this definition, although the behav- ior that is labeled as intelligent may differ from 1 envi- ronmental context to another, the mental processes un- derlying this behavior do not. An individual's ability to apply these processes may differ from 1 context to an- other, however. The abilities are applied to achieve exter- nal correspondence to the world and internal coherence among various knowledge and belief structures. The rele- vance of the definition for understanding current theo- ries, testing in the field of intelligence, as well as for understanding the role of inteUigence in lifelong learning is discussed.