Glossary
Crystallized intelligence
Definition
Crystallized intelligence is the knowledge and skill you have built up through experience and education, such as vocabulary, facts and learned methods, along with the ability to use them. Raymond Cattell set it apart from fluid intelligence, reasoning with new problems, in 1963.
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Why it matters for IQ scores
Full clinical batteries include items that draw on knowledge as well as reasoning, so a person's schooling and language shape part of the score. Cattell's split between the two kinds of ability (Wikipedia: Fluid and crystallized intelligence) helps explain why people can score differently on a vocabulary-heavy test and on a purely visual one.
An example
Knowing what “ephemeral” means, or the quick way to multiply by 25, is crystallized ability. Working out the rule in a sequence of rotating arrows you have never seen is fluid ability. Studies find knowledge keeps rising into the sixties while processing speed peaks much earlier (Hartshorne & Germine, 2015) (Salthouse, 2009).
Common confusions
Crystallized does not mean fixed. It means built up and settled through use. It is also not a lesser kind of intelligence; it is simply a different one. A nonverbal test like IQ Octopus deliberately leaves it out, which is part of what culture-fair tests try to do. Compare with fluid intelligence, read fluid vs crystallized intelligence, or see at what age does intelligence peak?
Try one · Logical Reasoning
Which tile completes the second pair?
Tap the option you think is right, or show the answer.
Show the answer
The missing panel shows a small hatched circle, with small solid shapes: a triangle at the top-right corner and a triangle at the top-left corner (option 6).
How to solve it
- Compare the first two panels and name exactly what changed.
- The main shape and the small shapes swap forms: the main shape takes the form of the small ones, and the small ones take the form of the main shape.
- Nothing else changes.
- Apply the same change to the third panel: a small hatched triangle pointing up, with small solid shapes: a circle at the top-right corner and a circle at the top-left corner.
- So the missing panel shows a small hatched circle, with small solid shapes: a triangle at the top-right corner and a triangle at the top-left corner.
That was 1 puzzle. The full test has 25.
Sources
- Fluid and crystallized intelligence. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_and_crystallized_intelligence
- Hartshorne, J. K., & Germine, L. T. (2015). Psychological Science, 26(4), 433-443. doi.org/10.1177/0956797614567339
- Salthouse, T. A. (2009). Neurobiology of Aging, 30(4), 507-514.