(a) Elaborate on the concept of buddhi and specify how intelligence in the Indian tradition lays emphasis on its connectivity with social and environmental world.
OR
(b) Individuals who are categorised as having intellectual disability show significant variation in their abilities, ranging from those who can be taught to work and function with special attention, to those who cannot be trained and require institutional care throughout their lives. Identify their categories according to IQ range and specify their potential functionalities.
(a) Elaborate on the concept of buddhi and specify how intelligence in the Indian tradition lays emphasis on its connectivity with social and environmental world.
OR
(b) Individuals who are categorised as having intellectual disability show significant variation in their abilities, ranging from those who can be taught to work and function with special attention, to those who cannot be trained and require institutional care throughout their lives. Identify their categories according to IQ range and specify their potential functionalities.
This question offers a choice between the Indian conception of intelligence (buddhi) and the IQ-based classification of intellectual disability.
Option (a) — Buddhi and the Indian tradition of intelligence:
- Indian thought treats intelligence (buddhi) as an integration of cognitive, social, and emotional competencies rather than pure cognitive ability alone.
- Buddhi comprises three components: Dhi (the power to acquire and understand knowledge), Dhriti (steadfastness — the ability to retain ideas and resist disturbance), and Smriti (memory that enables translating knowledge into right action).
- The Indian tradition emphasises that truly intelligent behaviour is rooted in its connectivity with the social and environmental world — intelligence is judged not only by problem-solving ability but by understanding others' needs, maintaining social harmony, showing detachment from selfish desire, and engaging in right conduct within one's community and environment.
- Thus, an intelligent person integrates cognition with social responsibility, self-control, and connectedness to community and nature, unlike Western models that are more individual-cognition-centred.
Option (b) — Categories of intellectual disability by IQ:
- Mild (IQ 55-70): 'Educable' — can acquire academic skills up to about grade 6 level, can be trained vocationally, and largely become self-supporting with minimal supervision.
- Moderate (IQ 35-55): 'Trainable' — can learn basic communication, self-care, and simple occupational skills but need moderate lifelong supervision.
- Severe (IQ 20-35): can learn only elementary self-help skills (feeding, basic hygiene) under close, continuous supervision.
- Profound (IQ below 20): minimal capacity for functioning; require complete custodial/institutional care throughout life.
Marking Scheme
- 1OR (a): 1 mark for explaining buddhi as integrating cognitive, social and emotional competence; 2 marks for describing its components (dhi, dhriti, smriti); 1 mark for explicitly linking Indian intelligence to social/environmental connectivity.
- 2OR (b): 1 mark each for correctly stating the IQ range and functional description of the Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Profound categories of intellectual disability (total 4 marks).
- 3Only one option is to be attempted; full marks require complete, correctly labelled coverage of the chosen option.
Hint
(a) buddhi = dhi + dhriti + smriti + social-environmental connectivity; (b) mild(55-70,educable) > moderate(35-55,trainable) > severe(20-35) > profound(<20, institutional care).
Quick Oral Answer
In the Indian tradition, intelligence (buddhi) integrates dhi (understanding), dhriti (steadfastness), and smriti (memory-guided right action) within a socially and environmentally connected framework; alternatively, intellectual disability is classified by IQ into mild (educable), moderate (trainable), severe, and profound categories with decreasing levels of independent functioning.
Analysis & Explanation
Concept (option a):
Unlike Western psychometric models that centre intelligence on individual cognitive processing, the Indian tradition (rooted in texts like the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads) defines buddhi holistically, weaving in dhi, dhriti, and smriti, and explicitly linking intelligent conduct to social harmony, detachment, and environmental connectedness — a distinctly collectivist and ethical view of intelligence.
Concept (option b):
The AAMD/DSM IQ-based classification orders intellectual disability by severity and corresponding functional potential, from mild ('educable', largely independent) through moderate ('trainable') and severe to profound (fully dependent, requiring institutional care) — matching exactly the range described in the question stem.
Exam trap:
For (a), students often reduce buddhi to a vague translation of 'wisdom' without naming its three components or explicitly stating the social/environmental connectivity emphasis the question demands. For (b), students often mix up which IQ range is 'trainable' versus 'educable', or omit the specific IQ ranges altogether.
Common Mistakes
- 1Describing buddhi only as 'wisdom' or a vague translation of intelligence without mentioning its specific components (dhi, dhriti, smriti).
- 2Mixing up the IQ ranges of mild/moderate/severe/profound intellectual disability or reversing which category is 'trainable' vs 'educable'.
- 3Forgetting to explicitly state the social/environmental connectivity emphasis unique to the Indian model of intelligence, which the question specifically demands.
Interesting Facts
The Indian concept of buddhi finds roots in classical texts like the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, where intelligence is linked with detachment, equanimity, and right action rather than mere problem-solving speed.
J.P. Das's PASS (Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive) model of intelligence was influenced partly by Indian philosophical ideas about cognitive processing.
The classification of intellectual disability by IQ range (mild to profound) was central to earlier DSM and AAMD systems, but DSM-5 now places greater emphasis on adaptive functioning severity rather than IQ score alone.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three components of buddhi in the Indian tradition?
Dhi (the capacity to acquire knowledge/understanding), Dhriti (steadfastness — the ability to retain and defend one's ideas against disturbance), and Smriti (memory that enables converting knowledge into appropriate action) together constitute buddhi.
What is the IQ range for mild intellectual disability?
Mild intellectual disability corresponds to an IQ range of approximately 55 to 70; such individuals are considered 'educable', can learn academic skills up to about the 6th-grade level, and can become largely self-supporting with minimal supervision.