Human Intelligence
Cambridge University Press, 1/20/2011
EAN 9780521707817, ISBN10: 0521707811
Paperback, 524 pages, 25.4 x 17.8 x 3 cm
Language: English
This book is a comprehensive survey of our scientific knowledge about human intelligence, written by a researcher who has spent more than 30 years studying the field, receiving a Lifetime Contribution award from the International Society for Intelligence. Human Intelligence takes a non-ideological view of a topic in which, too often, writings are dominated by a single theory or social viewpoint. The book discusses the conceptual status of intelligence as a collection of cognitive skills that include, but also go beyond, those skills evaluated by conventional tests; intelligence tests and their analysis; contemporary theories of intelligence; biological and social causes of intelligence; the importance of intelligence in social, industrial, and educational spheres; the role of intelligence in determining success in life, both inside and outside educational settings; and the nature and causes of variations in intelligence across age, gender, and racial and ethnic groups.
Introductory remarks
1. The issue of intelligence
2. The tests
3. On theory
4. Psychometric theories
5. Taking intelligence beyond psychometrics
6. The mechanics of intelligence
7. Intelligence and the brain
8. The genetic basis of intelligence
9. Environmental effects on intelligence
10. What use is intelligence?
11. The demography of intelligence
12. Summary and prospectus.