Fields of psychology

Historical Significance: Joy Paul Guilford (1897-1987) was a US psychologist, best remembered for his psychometric study of human intelligence, including the important distinction between convergent and divergent production. Developing the views of L. L. Thurstone, Guilford rejected Charles Spearman's view that intelligence could be characterized in a single numerical parameter and proposed that three dimensions were necessary for accurate description. According to Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SI) theory, an individual's performance on intelligence tests can be traced back to the underlying mental abilities or factors of intelligence. SI theory comprises up to 180 different intellectual abilities organized along three dimensions-Operations, Content, and Products.