The central feature of intelligence is the ability to understand what is really going on out there and to respond to events with successful and adaptive behavior. Intelligence is built from subsystems that sense, decide, remember and act. It is fashionable to speak in terms of "mental abilities" and to list a number of different mental abilities in terms of educational concerns, such as reading, writing, math and music. This is a narrow view of intelligence.  The brain is modular with a host of different functions contributing to intelligence. We expect and do find different arrangements of mental abilities in different people.. Different humans have different strengths and weaknesses.

Intelligence is organized around interactions with others. Visual information gathering is dominant in primates and specialized areas of the cerebral cortex are devoted to evaluating what others are doing. Some neuronal groups are tuned to specific behaviors. Old intelligence modules identify individuals by appearance, scent and behavior and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of association with others. Some neurons in the inferotemporal cortex of macaques, for example, respond specifically to faces and other neurons respond to to hand gestures.

Animal and human societies are organized around activities such as mating, rearing the young, foraging and hunting for food, rest and protection. Mammalian social organization varies with the habitat, food supply, and habits of the animal. In human and other primate groups, individual animals are locked into social and kinship networks. The kin group is the most prevalent basic unit of organization and has a genetic basis.

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Intelligence and Learning

Intelligence is the expression of innate abilities to sequence, plan and communicate. Intelligence requires the willingness, energy and drives to practice skills of sensing, deciding, remembering and acting. Intelligence is also linked to curiosity and an overall tendency to want to learn. More intelligent humans are more curious; more inclined to explore new environments; and are often highly motivated to acquire new information and skills. Less intelligent people may show little or no interest in learning, will not read books and may be resistant to new experiences and new information. Smart people are better leaders because they are better evaluators of the behavior and intentions of other members of their group and are more accurate in responding strategically to challenges from their subordinates.

If you are creating new and better intelligence tests, you could select any subset of abilities from the big package of mental abilities and life skills that determine outcomes. There is a tendency to interpret intelligence in terms of conspicuous ability. A human may be smart at math but dumb about getting along with others and end up a "failure in life".  IQ tests used in education, industry and the military tend to select a subset of abilities that are important to success in those areas of endeavor. Other abilities do not get measured by IQ tests but are measured on the stage of real-life.