General intelligence, also known as g factor, refers to the existence of a general intelligence that influences performance on mental ability measures. The existence of general intelligence was first described by Charles Spearman in 1904. According to Spearman, this g factor was responsible for overall performance on mental ability tests.
Those who hold this view believe that intelligence can be measured and expressed by a single number, such as an IQ score. The idea is that this underlying general intelligence influences performance on all cognitive tasks.
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