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What exactly is intelligence and how can intelligence possibly be measured and quantified? Is intelligence genetic or is it a product of environment and educational attainment? Are there really IQ differences between the sexes and ethnic groups? Can brain scans identify intelligence at work? Can IQ really be boosted through intensive early education, breast feeding, listening to Mozart, or by taking supplements?
These questions and more are concisely answered head-on in this new book by Richard J. Haier, Professor Emeritus at UC Irvine, who has been on the forefront of intelligence research for over 40 years. As Haier closes in on the end of his long and distinguished career, he uses this book to summarize the current state of intelligence research and suggests that there is an exciting “golden age” of discovery that he foresees emerging in this field. The primary target audience is students of psychology and neuroscience, educators, and education policy makers.
Perhaps no field of study in psychology, let alone in the social sciences, is as misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misrepresented as is the study of intelligence. This being the case, Haier clearly states in the Preface that three laws govern this book:
1. No story about the brain is simple
2. No one study is definitive
3. It takes many years to sort out conflicting and inconsistent findings and establish a compelling weight of evidence
“Weight of evidence” is actually the key to this book and to understanding the state of intelligence science. Haier writes “If the weight of evidence changes for any of the topics covered, I will change my mind, and so should you.” He reminds the reader of this point throughout the book to underscore that outlier studies do not necessarily nullify prior data and that the complexity of the science makes it difficult to establish a weight of evidence on the basis just one or two studies.
The book is divided into 6 chapters, each ending with bullet point recaps of the main topics covered and some questions for review.
Chapter 1 covers what we know about intelligence and the weight of evidence
Chapter 2 covers nature vs. nurture and the genetics of intelligence
Chapter 3 covers the early brain scanning studies and their discoveries
Chapter 4 covers the current state of brain scanning and intelligence at work
Chapter 5 covers whether intelligence can be boosted
Chapter 6 covers new research into intelligence and what is on the horizon
Throughout the book, Haier consistently remains cautious, conservative, and measured in his presentation of the evidence and the conclusions drawn from it, and provides extensive citations to the major studies that have established the current weight of evidence.
Some major takeaways from this book are:
*General intelligence is indeed measurable to an accurate degree and it is the best predictor of one’s educational and economic success
*Intelligence is largely genetic - approximately 80% genetic by early adulthood
*Many genes are now being identified which are related to intelligence
*Intelligence does vary between ethnicities, but not so much between the sexes
*Brain scans are showing intelligence at work in greater detail than ever before, and physical differences in brain structures between higher and lower IQ subjects are being discovered
*Arthur Jensen’s controversial findings regarding IQ and education are largely validated by the current weight of evidence
*IQ is not permanently increased by early education, breast feeding, listening to Mozart, educational video games, or by taking cognitive supplements
*”Neuro-poverty” is a real phenomenon that has significant implications for education policy and how social welfare programs are designed
While the above takeaways are established by the weight of evidence, Haier does not shy away from presenting the studies which report conflicting data and discussing what those studies mean in terms of whether they are statistical outliers or the result of poorly designed studies and poor peer review.
The enthusiasm which Haier seems to infuse this book with is directed towards those just entering the field and the incredible discoveries that are sure to come in the next few decades with the improving scanning technology and the decoding of the genome. The possibility of applying these new discoveries to inventing methods of boosting intelligence for lower IQ people to help level the playing field is one of the major goals and benefits to society for the study of intelligence.
This book should be required reading for education policymakers who continue to approach disparate educational gaps, particularly by ethnicity, only as failures in educational bureaucracy, or worse, as a result of institutional racism. This book should also be required reading for students of the social sciences, particularly for Sociology students who are ostensibly studying a “science”, but are far too often indoctrinated into an ideological viewpoint that all differences in life outcomes are strictly due to one’s environment and cultural institutions.
- Series: Cambridge Fundamentals of Neuroscience in Psychology
- Paperback: 266 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press (December 28, 2016)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 110746143X
- ISBN-13: 978-1107461437
- Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 47 customer ratings
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#100,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #622 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)
- #155 in Neuroscience (Books)
- #360 in Medical Cognitive Psychology
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