The componential or analytic dimension concerns how you process and analyze information. Sternberg breaks this dimension down into three subcategories: metacomponents "control one's information processing and enable one to monitor and later evaluate it," performance components "evaluate the plans constructed by the metacomponents" and knowledge-acquisition components "allow learning of new information to take place," according to Sternberg.
The experiential or creative component concerns how you approach new information and tasks. It has two subcategories: novelty, or how you react the first time you encounter something new; and automatization, or how you learn to do repeated tasks automatically. Sternberg's theory is that learning to do tasks automatically frees your brain for thought about other topics.
The practical or contextual dimension of intelligence concerns how you react to and shape your environment. You can exercise your intelligence in three ways when dealing with your environment: you can adapt to it, change the environment so it suits your needs better or select a new environment that meets your needs better than the old one. Sometimes this dimension is compared to "street smarts."
Sternberg has noted that traditional intelligence tests tend to measure the Componential dimension in preference to the others he has identified and that traditional tests measure rote memorization more so than learning. Sternberg has developed his own test to measure all three components of intelligence. He has also applied his theory to the study of learning styles, skills training and creativity. He notes that intelligent behavior varies from person to person and from one context to another -- that what constitutes intelligent behavior for one person in a particular situation may not be intelligent for a different person in a different context.