You find some subjects easier than others and you do better in them.
Most people are like that, they are not equally good in everything.
In trying to understand the nature of intelligence, a psychologist tries to find out how various abilities are related to each other.
To do this, he devises intelligence tests which have several parts, each part measuring a different ability.
The kinds of abilities that these tests measure include: 1. How well words can be defined and understood.
2. How well arithmetic problems can be done.
3. How well facts can be remembered. Are these abilities related to each other?
If a student is good at solving arithmetic problems, will he also be good at remembering facts?
If he can define and understand a lot of words, will he also be good in arithmetic?
To find the answers to these questions, the psychologist correlates the scores from each part of the test.
A correlation is a mathematical way of finding out if these abilities are related to each other.
If two abilities are correlated, it means if you are good at one, you will probably be good at the other, or if you are poor at one, you will probably be poor at the other.
When two abilities are not correlated, it means that they are not related to each other, they do not go together.
It means that being good at one has nothing to do with being good at another.
For example, success in mathematics is not correlated with success in playing baseball.
Some people who are good baseball players are good in math, others are not.
Think of all the mental and athletic abilities shown by your friends and schoolmates.
Can you think of some abilities and skills that seem highly correlated?
Can you think of some abilities which do not seem to be correlated?
Why do you think some abilities are correlated and others are not?