J.P. Guilford was a psychologist known for his extensive work on intelligence and creativity. Guilford’s factor analytical theory, proposed in the mid-20th century, aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of human intelligence by breaking it down into multiple components. Unlike Spearman’s two-factor theory, Guilford proposed a model with multiple factors.

Guilford’s factor analytical theory consists of three main components:

Operations:

Guilford identified five types of mental operations or cognitive abilities:

• Cognition (perception, memory, convergent and divergent production)
• Memory (recognition, recall)
• Divergent Production (ideational fluency, ideational flexibility, originality)
• Convergent Production (cognition similar to convergent production, but it involves finding the single correct solution)
• Evaluation (evaluation of statements, facts, or problems)

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