The relationship between academic and practical intelligence: a case studyin Kenya

We worked in a rural village in Western Kenya to test the notion that acade mic and practical intelligence are separable and relatively distinct constr ucts. Eighty-five children (43 boys and 42 girls) between the ages of 12 an d 15 years participated in the study. The main dependent variable of intere st was their set of scores on a test of their tacit knowledge for natural h erbal medicines used to fight illnesses. This kind of knowledge is viewed b y the villagers as important in adaptation to their environment, which is u nderstandable given that the overwhelming majority of the children have, at a given time, parasitic infections that can interfere with their daily fun ctioning. We found that scores on the test of tacit knowledge correlated tr ivially or significantly negatively with measures of academic intelligence and achievement, even after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES). We suggest that, among these villagers, time spent developing academic skills may be perceived as taking away from time that needs to be spent developing practical skills and vice versa. The result is that academic and practical intelligence can develop independently or even at odds with one another. ( C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.