Intelligence-Practical or Emotional
Cynthia Ward
PSY/201
March 24, 2013
Kathy West

Intelligence-Practical or Emotional
General intelligence has been defined in different ways but is a trait to have that is important. What is intelligence? Intelligence is defined as “the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations (2) the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2013). Within intelligence there are different types and two of them are Practical Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence.
Practical Intelligence is “the ability to adapt to, shape, and select everyday environments. To put it into lucid terms, it means to have common-sense. Practical Intelligence in the knowledge acquired doing everyday activities through various means” (Singh, 2009). Emotional Intelligence is “the innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognize, remember, describe, identify, learn from, manage, understand and explain emotions” (Definition of Emotional Intelligence, n.d.). The differences between Practical Intelligence is that it is using ones common-sense to acquire knowledge; knowledge to be able to live successfully and Emotional Intelligence is using one’s ability to get along with others and help to understand how someone is feeling and what they are experiencing. One is based on knowledge and the other is based more on feelings.
Intelligence is important in the workplace. Practical Intelligence is important because the ability to use common-sense to make decisions is vital. The ability to adapt and acquire knowledge to make intelligent decisions at work will help to further ones career. Looking at what is occurring and being able to decide what is the best approach to take for the business to be successful is necessary for growth within the business. Emotional Intelligence is necessary as businesses require dealing with people in one way or another. The ability to recognize how people are feeling, whether it be other employees or customers, will help a business to be successful.
TV characters display these different emotions. One show that I watch is Flashpoint and one character played on that show is Gregory Parker, played by Enrico Colantoni. Flashpoint is a show about a Strategic Response Unit and Parker is the head of Team One. Parker uses Practical Intelligence in his role as the Sergeant. He uses negotiation as a tool when dealing with volatile situations. He uses his common-sense abilities to diffuse the situation by talking to the suspect. He does not like to use lethal force unless it is a last resort. His role has him directing his team to research the situation and giving him information that will help him speak to the suspect. Another show I watch is Criminal Minds and the one character on that show, Penelope, played by Kirsten Vangsness. Penelope is a FBI specialist who researches suspects for her co-workers who are in the field trying to solve cases. She is able to use her Emotional Intelligence to read the needs of her team. Most of her communication with the team is via the phone and she is able to understand the emotions of the team. Penelope is also an emotional person herself and has a special connection to “Derek Morgan” that started in the beginning episodes. Her ability to read the emotions of the team aides the team in solving the cases they are working on.

Resources
Definition of emotional intelligence. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://eqi.org/eidefs.htm#Introduction
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intelligence
Singh, P. (2009). Practical Intelligence. Retrieved from http://brajeshwar.com/2009/practical-intelligence/