The 4 differences between fluid and crystallized intelligence

One of the most important models that has influenced the understanding of what intelligence is is the Cattell-Horn theory, a theory in the that intelligence is presented as the combination and joint work of two components: fluid intelligence and intelligence crystallized.

Although these two intelligences are very important for our ability to solve problems, both new and those that we have lived before, they present a few differences.

Next we will see the differences between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

• Related article: "Theories of human intelligence"

Differences between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence, and their characteristics

Throughout history there have been different definitions of what intelligence is. Although each model has proposed its own concept, most agree on what are the essential capabilities that make up this idea, understanding as intelligence to the set of capacities that allow the understanding and comprehension of problems, solve them and that in one way or another are related with the acquisition of knowledge and new learning.

There are those who have considered that intelligence is a purely genetic and inherited component, something that you have and that cannot be improved in any way throughout life.

Others, on the other hand, have treated intelligence as something that can change during life, and that receives an important influence from the learning that takes place along the trajectory vital. By last, we have models that integrate both ideas, such as Raymond Cattell's theory.

The British psychologist Raymond Cattell is widely known in psychology for his particular model of intelligence. Together with the collaboration of John Horn, Cattell proposed a model in which two components are conceived for intelligence, which interact and work together to produce general individual intelligence: fluid intelligence and intelligence crystallized.

The Cattell-Horn theory combines the above ideas in which intelligence is conceived as something that depends on the genetics of the individual but that also feeds on the learning throughout the lifetime. Thus, there would be the intellectual component highly dependent on inherited factors, which would be intelligence. fluid, and the component that would depend more on the environment in which one grows up, which would be intelligence crystallized.

Fluid intelligence

According to the Cattell-Horn model, fluid intelligence relates to the ability to think and reason abstractly. This ability, which has an important genetic component, is the ability of people to adapt and face new situations in an agile way without learning or having experience previous.

Examples where this type of intelligence would be applied we would have them in solve puzzles, make a rubik's cube, develop a new strategy to solve a mathematical exercise or filter irrelevant information from a text.

The components of fluid intelligence are these:

• Ability to reason with abstract content
• Logic reasoning
• Ability to establish relationships or extract differences

You can understand why this intelligence is so related to the genetic component in the fact that is closely linked to neurophysiological variables such as the development of neural connections. Likewise, this does not mean that it depends exclusively on our genetics, since these same connections can be encourage living in culturally enriching environments, that is, the environmental factor also influences intelligence fluid.

Fluid intelligence acquires its most intense moment of development at an earlier age, moments in which there is a great development of brain structures. It could be said that it is during adolescence when the individual is as close as possible to having fully developed his fluid intelligence, although it has also been seen that we continue to develop it, albeit at a slower rate, until the 1940s.

It is just after 40 the moment in which this intelligence begins to decline. This decline in fluid intelligence, especially noticeable after the age of 60 and 70, is due to different factors that imply a reduction in functionality of brain structures, such as normal aging, suffering accidents, developing brain pathologies and / or consuming substances.

• You may be interested in: "Raymond Cattell's Theory of Intelligence"

Crystallized intelligence

Crystallized intelligence is the component of general intelligence related to the knowledge and learning of the individualor, that is, it is an intellectual component closely related to the experience and environment in which the person has developed. The situations in which this intelligence is involved are all those in which it is necessary to rescue information learned and put it to good use, such as on a language test, applying mathematical formulas, or giving a conference.

The components of crystallized intelligence are as follows.

• Language comprehension
• Assessment of experience
• Ability to make judgments and conclusions
• Mechanical knowledge
• Orientation in space

Crystallized intelligence, being based on experience, is technically improvable throughout life, in the sense that we will always be able to learn something new, unless we suffer from some type of pathology that prevents us from storing new knowledge. That is, this intelligence increases with age, since the more we live, the more experiences we get.

It should be said that this intelligence not only depends on the environment in which the individual has been able to develop, but also on factors related to his personality and motivation. An individual who is curious to learn something new every day, is motivated to investigate and discover things new, it will be a person whose crystallized intelligence tends to be greater than that of a person who does not share these same traits.

How to distinguish between both types of intelligence?

The main difference between these two types of intelligence is what they are for. Fluid intelligence is that ability that allows us to solve new problems, situations of which we have no experience previous or a ready-made learning and that we have to use our creativity to see how we can emerge victorious from the themselves. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence is one in which we make good use of the knowledge that we have already acquired to solve a situation that we have previously experienced.

Another difference is how it evolves throughout life. Fluid intelligence usually peaks during adolescence, although it is true, as we have commented before, that it can continue to develop until the age of 40, although at a less. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence is always increasing, as long as you do not suffer from a disease that implies the acquisition of new knowledge.

There are also age differences in terms of when these intelligences are in decline. Fluid intelligence begins to decline very progressively after 40 years of age, accelerating this decline after 60. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence decreases in a very varied way, depending more on whether the person suffers from some type of brain alteration. In case there is no brain damage, the normal thing is that even being 70 years old they continue to learn new things, something that at most could be affected by memory failures typical of that age.

It should be said that, curiously, these two intelligences share a fact that also depends on age. Both fluid and crystallized intelligence develop with great intensity during early ages, especially in childhood and adolescence. This can be observed with elementary school children, since they learn a lot of new content and words every day (intelligence crystallized) while as the months go by they are able to solve increasingly complex problems (intelligence fluid).

But in addition to the age factor, Another differentiating aspect between fluid and crystallized intelligence is the weight of genetics and environment. Actually, the two factors influence both intelligences, but as we have mentioned, fluid intelligence depends a lot on genetics and is highly hereditary, being difficult to modify once the maximum peak has been reached during adolescence.

Instead, the crystallized is highly dependent on the environment and learning. Although it is true that each person is born with a more or less innate ability to memorize content, experience is an aspect that depends a lot on the environment in which we grew up, if it is culturally more enriching or if on the contrary it has deficiencies that prevent us from expanding our knowledge.