Henry Phelps Brown
- Published in print:
- 1979
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198851202
- eISBN:
- 9780191596780
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198851200.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter studies the connection between social class, mental ability, education, and entry into employment, and is a further development of the previous chapter on intergenerational mobility ...
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This chapter studies the connection between social class, mental ability, education, and entry into employment, and is a further development of the previous chapter on intergenerational mobility between occupations. The different sections of this chapter are: The association between occupation and IQ; Evidence for the genetic determination of IQ potential; The effects of differences between classes in the upbringing of children on the development of IQ; The relation between parents’ class and their children's IQ; Class differences in the use made of education; Class differences in extent of education; Education as investment: human capital theory; and Entry into employment. The last section reviews and discusses the material presented, drawing out eight main points.Less
This chapter studies the connection between social class, mental ability, education, and entry into employment, and is a further development of the previous chapter on intergenerational mobility between occupations. The different sections of this chapter are: The association between occupation and IQ; Evidence for the genetic determination of IQ potential; The effects of differences between classes in the upbringing of children on the development of IQ; The relation between parents’ class and their children's IQ; Class differences in the use made of education; Class differences in extent of education; Education as investment: human capital theory; and Entry into employment. The last section reviews and discusses the material presented, drawing out eight main points.
Gary L. Wenk
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195388541
- eISBN:
- 9780199863587
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388541.003.0009
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Behavioral Neuroscience, Neuroendocrine and Autonomic
No drugs or nutrients are currently available that can reverse the primary cause of cognitive decline: normal aging. Also, it is currently impossible to enhance the function of a normal brain. These ...
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No drugs or nutrients are currently available that can reverse the primary cause of cognitive decline: normal aging. Also, it is currently impossible to enhance the function of a normal brain. These facts have not deterred con artists from placing numerous advertisements on the Internet that claim their products are effective brain boosters or cognition enhancers. In general, these products take advantage of the ability of stimulants to enhance performance. The classic brain stimulants such as coffee, amphetamine, or nicotine, might improve performance, but they do not raise one's IQ score and they do not stop age-related cognitive decline. Overall, the best way to slow the process of aging in your brain and body is to eat less food. A lot less food! Also, stop wasting money on drugs with benefits that are too good to be true: they will not make you wiser or healthier, only poorer.Less
No drugs or nutrients are currently available that can reverse the primary cause of cognitive decline: normal aging. Also, it is currently impossible to enhance the function of a normal brain. These facts have not deterred con artists from placing numerous advertisements on the Internet that claim their products are effective brain boosters or cognition enhancers. In general, these products take advantage of the ability of stimulants to enhance performance. The classic brain stimulants such as coffee, amphetamine, or nicotine, might improve performance, but they do not raise one's IQ score and they do not stop age-related cognitive decline. Overall, the best way to slow the process of aging in your brain and body is to eat less food. A lot less food! Also, stop wasting money on drugs with benefits that are too good to be true: they will not make you wiser or healthier, only poorer.
Ian Deary
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198524175
- eISBN:
- 9780191712531
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198524175.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Human mental ability differences have a hierarchical structure, and may be viewed at levels from general ability (g) to specific abilities. Ability differences show moderate stability across the ...
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Human mental ability differences have a hierarchical structure, and may be viewed at levels from general ability (g) to specific abilities. Ability differences show moderate stability across the lifespan, moderate heritability, and some predictive power in the fields of education, work, and social life. The most persistent mystery is the origin(s) of individual differences in cognitive and biological processes. The book reviews the search for these origins. The chapters cover historical work from antiquity to the 20th century. Research addresses the search for the origins of mental ability differences in cognitive components, reaction times, and inspection times. Biological areas such as brain size, event-related potentials, functional brain imaging, and molecular genetics are presented. The book identifies solid findings and sites of progress and criticizes empirical and conceptual weaknesses in the field.Less
Human mental ability differences have a hierarchical structure, and may be viewed at levels from general ability (g) to specific abilities. Ability differences show moderate stability across the lifespan, moderate heritability, and some predictive power in the fields of education, work, and social life. The most persistent mystery is the origin(s) of individual differences in cognitive and biological processes. The book reviews the search for these origins. The chapters cover historical work from antiquity to the 20th century. Research addresses the search for the origins of mental ability differences in cognitive components, reaction times, and inspection times. Biological areas such as brain size, event-related potentials, functional brain imaging, and molecular genetics are presented. The book identifies solid findings and sites of progress and criticizes empirical and conceptual weaknesses in the field.
Ian J. Deary
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198524175
- eISBN:
- 9780191712531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198524175.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter acts as a resume of the book, and looks ahead to what the future holds with regard to understanding the cognitive and biological foundations of intelligence differences.
This chapter acts as a resume of the book, and looks ahead to what the future holds with regard to understanding the cognitive and biological foundations of intelligence differences.
Bernard Van Praag
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226146
- eISBN:
- 9780191718595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226146.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based on ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to ...
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This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based on ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to ability-based taxation would not have devastating effects on net income positions. These relatively small effects are attributed to the prevailing equitable tax rates in the Netherlands, and the limitation of the study to full-time employees.Less
This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based on ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to ability-based taxation would not have devastating effects on net income positions. These relatively small effects are attributed to the prevailing equitable tax rates in the Netherlands, and the limitation of the study to full-time employees.
Lee Jussim
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195366600
- eISBN:
- 9780199933044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366600.003.0013
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter reviews the earliest empirical research demonstrating that false beliefs sometimes create their own realities through self-fulfilling prophecies. First, it reviews the earliest work on ...
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This chapter reviews the earliest empirical research demonstrating that false beliefs sometimes create their own realities through self-fulfilling prophecies. First, it reviews the earliest work on “experimenter effects”—a phenomenon whereby researchers sometimes bias the results of their own research in such a manner as to lead to confirmation of their own hypotheses. Second, it reviews and critically evaluates one of the influential and controversial studies in all of psychology: Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) Pygmalion in the Classroom study, which showed that teachers’ expectations could lead to educational self-fulfilling prophecies. I conclude that figuring out what justifiable conclusions can be reached on the basis of this study is almost impossible but that, even taking its results at face value, it found weak, fragile, and fleeting self-fulfilling prophecies, rather than the powerful and pervasive ones it has often been cited as showing. Third, this chapter reviews the immediate follow-up research to this controversial study. That work clearly showed that self-fulfilling prophecies do indeed occur (even this claim was controversial at one time); they are generally small, fragile, and fleeting (exactly as found—but not often described as such—in the original Pygmalion study); and the most controversial claim emerging from Pygmalion—that teacher expectations can alter student IQ—is, at best, weakly established.Less
This chapter reviews the earliest empirical research demonstrating that false beliefs sometimes create their own realities through self-fulfilling prophecies. First, it reviews the earliest work on “experimenter effects”—a phenomenon whereby researchers sometimes bias the results of their own research in such a manner as to lead to confirmation of their own hypotheses. Second, it reviews and critically evaluates one of the influential and controversial studies in all of psychology: Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) Pygmalion in the Classroom study, which showed that teachers’ expectations could lead to educational self-fulfilling prophecies. I conclude that figuring out what justifiable conclusions can be reached on the basis of this study is almost impossible but that, even taking its results at face value, it found weak, fragile, and fleeting self-fulfilling prophecies, rather than the powerful and pervasive ones it has often been cited as showing. Third, this chapter reviews the immediate follow-up research to this controversial study. That work clearly showed that self-fulfilling prophecies do indeed occur (even this claim was controversial at one time); they are generally small, fragile, and fleeting (exactly as found—but not often described as such—in the original Pygmalion study); and the most controversial claim emerging from Pygmalion—that teacher expectations can alter student IQ—is, at best, weakly established.
Eugenia Costa-Giomi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199586974
- eISBN:
- 9780191738357
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586974.003.0023
- Subject:
- Psychology, Music Psychology, Health Psychology
This chapter provides a historical overview of research on the intellectual benefits of music and the most popular interpretations of the research findings. After questioning such interpretations and ...
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This chapter provides a historical overview of research on the intellectual benefits of music and the most popular interpretations of the research findings. After questioning such interpretations and providing alternative explanations, it describes selected experimental studies that were focused on the causal relationship between music instruction and intellectual prowess. The results of the many studies that observed children for a short period of time (i.e., up to one year), have shown convincing evidence that there are temporary cognitive benefits associated with music instruction. Such benefits include improvements in general IQ, spatial skills, and verbal tasks. Additionally, learning music produces structural and functional changes in the brain. Such changes are associated with improvements in sound processing, motor skill, and melodic and rhythmic discrimination. However, neurological investigations do not support the claim that music makes children smarted as the results have failed to show any neurological changes associated with improvements in IQ.Less
This chapter provides a historical overview of research on the intellectual benefits of music and the most popular interpretations of the research findings. After questioning such interpretations and providing alternative explanations, it describes selected experimental studies that were focused on the causal relationship between music instruction and intellectual prowess. The results of the many studies that observed children for a short period of time (i.e., up to one year), have shown convincing evidence that there are temporary cognitive benefits associated with music instruction. Such benefits include improvements in general IQ, spatial skills, and verbal tasks. Additionally, learning music produces structural and functional changes in the brain. Such changes are associated with improvements in sound processing, motor skill, and melodic and rhythmic discrimination. However, neurological investigations do not support the claim that music makes children smarted as the results have failed to show any neurological changes associated with improvements in IQ.
Kathryn Talalay
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195113938
- eISBN:
- 9780199853816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195113938.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter talks about the genius of Philippa, well-known at a very young age as the “three-year-old colored kid in Harlem”, because at her age she could already read, write, and spell words. ...
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This chapter talks about the genius of Philippa, well-known at a very young age as the “three-year-old colored kid in Harlem”, because at her age she could already read, write, and spell words. Lincoln Barnett had also written an article for the New York Herald Tribune about how intelligent she was. In 1934, Philippa was first introduced to the typewriter and then the piano and she would spend hours playing melodies and scales on one keyboard, then typing poems and short stories on the typewriter. Philippa made the news in 1935 for being the youngest American to spell the biggest and longest word in the English language, the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. NYU tested Philippa's EQ and IQ and the results were 200 and 179 to 185, respectively proving her gift. At the age of four and ten months Philippa took part in her first musical competition and she was one of the seven winners.Less
This chapter talks about the genius of Philippa, well-known at a very young age as the “three-year-old colored kid in Harlem”, because at her age she could already read, write, and spell words. Lincoln Barnett had also written an article for the New York Herald Tribune about how intelligent she was. In 1934, Philippa was first introduced to the typewriter and then the piano and she would spend hours playing melodies and scales on one keyboard, then typing poems and short stories on the typewriter. Philippa made the news in 1935 for being the youngest American to spell the biggest and longest word in the English language, the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. NYU tested Philippa's EQ and IQ and the results were 200 and 179 to 185, respectively proving her gift. At the age of four and ten months Philippa took part in her first musical competition and she was one of the seven winners.
William R. Clark and Michael Grunstein
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195178005
- eISBN:
- 9780199893331
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178005.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
The question of the role of genes in human intelligence is one of the most complex and controversial in the entire field of human genetics. Firstly, there is no adequate definition of human ...
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The question of the role of genes in human intelligence is one of the most complex and controversial in the entire field of human genetics. Firstly, there is no adequate definition of human intelligence. Yet it is clear from twin and adoption studies that performance on standardized IQ tests, whatever it is they measure, is a heritable and therefore genetically controlled trait. Studies of genes involved in impairment of human mental function, such as the presenilin genes in Alzheimer’s, or the fmr-2 gene in Fragile X syndrome, are of limited value in understanding normal mental function. While it is not possible to speak of intelligence per se in animals, there are a number of studies on genes that affect learning and memory. One of the most interesting of these is the NMDA receptor gene in mice, mutations in which affects the speed at which information can be processed and matched to experience.Less
The question of the role of genes in human intelligence is one of the most complex and controversial in the entire field of human genetics. Firstly, there is no adequate definition of human intelligence. Yet it is clear from twin and adoption studies that performance on standardized IQ tests, whatever it is they measure, is a heritable and therefore genetically controlled trait. Studies of genes involved in impairment of human mental function, such as the presenilin genes in Alzheimer’s, or the fmr-2 gene in Fragile X syndrome, are of limited value in understanding normal mental function. While it is not possible to speak of intelligence per se in animals, there are a number of studies on genes that affect learning and memory. One of the most interesting of these is the NMDA receptor gene in mice, mutations in which affects the speed at which information can be processed and matched to experience.
James C. Oleson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520282414
- eISBN:
- 9780520958098
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520282414.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
For one hundred years, criminologists have studied crime and intelligence, concluding that offenders possess IQ scores eight to ten points below those of non-offenders. Although the criminal genius ...
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For one hundred years, criminologists have studied crime and intelligence, concluding that offenders possess IQ scores eight to ten points below those of non-offenders. Although the criminal genius is one of the most cherished villains in history, literature, and film, little is actually known about the criminal behavior of those with above-average IQ scores. This study provides some of the first empirical information about the self-reported crimes of adults with genius-level IQ scores. The study combines quantitative data about seventy-two different offenses with qualitative data from forty-four follow-up interviews to describe nine different types of offending: violent crime, property crime, sex crime, drug crime, white-collar crime, professional misconduct, vehicular crime, justice-system crime, and miscellaneous crime. Contrary to expectations, 465 high-IQ respondents reported higher rates of prevalence and incidence than 756 controls. They were also more tough-minded, emotional, and less empathic than people matched for sex and age. Interview data were consistent with theories that explain crime via weakened social bonds. Some of the crimes in the study were described by prisoners who had been caught and punished, but most—up to and including homicide—were described by offenders who got away with them. In the study, high-IQ respondents avoided detection, arrest, and conviction better than controls.Less
For one hundred years, criminologists have studied crime and intelligence, concluding that offenders possess IQ scores eight to ten points below those of non-offenders. Although the criminal genius is one of the most cherished villains in history, literature, and film, little is actually known about the criminal behavior of those with above-average IQ scores. This study provides some of the first empirical information about the self-reported crimes of adults with genius-level IQ scores. The study combines quantitative data about seventy-two different offenses with qualitative data from forty-four follow-up interviews to describe nine different types of offending: violent crime, property crime, sex crime, drug crime, white-collar crime, professional misconduct, vehicular crime, justice-system crime, and miscellaneous crime. Contrary to expectations, 465 high-IQ respondents reported higher rates of prevalence and incidence than 756 controls. They were also more tough-minded, emotional, and less empathic than people matched for sex and age. Interview data were consistent with theories that explain crime via weakened social bonds. Some of the crimes in the study were described by prisoners who had been caught and punished, but most—up to and including homicide—were described by offenders who got away with them. In the study, high-IQ respondents avoided detection, arrest, and conviction better than controls.
Ullica Segerstråle
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195130027
- eISBN:
- 9780199893874
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130027.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
The sociobiology debate, which has often been interpreted as a political controversy between conservative hereditarians and progressive culturalists (or environmentalists), in fact represented a ...
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The sociobiology debate, which has often been interpreted as a political controversy between conservative hereditarians and progressive culturalists (or environmentalists), in fact represented a clash between two total scientific-cum-moral world views. What was at stake was the nature of science and the moral responsibility of the scientist, especially when it came to “telling the truth” about the biological foundation of human nature. It was fundamentally a debate about the nature of evolutionary explanation of human behavior and what ought to count as “acceptable knowledge” at a particular time.Less
The sociobiology debate, which has often been interpreted as a political controversy between conservative hereditarians and progressive culturalists (or environmentalists), in fact represented a clash between two total scientific-cum-moral world views. What was at stake was the nature of science and the moral responsibility of the scientist, especially when it came to “telling the truth” about the biological foundation of human nature. It was fundamentally a debate about the nature of evolutionary explanation of human behavior and what ought to count as “acceptable knowledge” at a particular time.
Alice M. Hammel and Ryan M. Hourigan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195395402
- eISBN:
- 9780197562819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195395402.003.0015
- Subject:
- Education, Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
There are students like Hannah in our public schools. They are inquisitive, questioning, exceptionally interested, and have a distinct look about them as ...
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There are students like Hannah in our public schools. They are inquisitive, questioning, exceptionally interested, and have a distinct look about them as they learn new information. They are the students who learn difficult concepts instantly and completely. They are the students who can comprehend an entire scope and sequence of a topic, seemingly in an instant. They are also at great risk in our classrooms that are often designed for the average student and offer accommodations for students with other types of special needs. The special needs of students who are intellectually gifted are often delayed, ignored, and denied. For these students, the promise of tomorrow and a teacher who will finally challenge them begins to fade. This reality often sets in during the late elementary and middle school years. While the philosophy of this text has placed importance on encouraging “label-free learning” for students with special needs, there are times when a distinction is necessary. One of these distinctions is in the cognitive area. Most often, music educators adapt teaching to accommodate students who learn at a slower rate; however, it is important to also consider adapting our teaching for those students who learn at a faster rate than their peers. These students are often identified as being gifted. The philosophical premise that students learn best and teachers are most prepared when a label-free environment is established remains a hallmark of this book. We (the co-authors) consider the decision to briefly digress as we discuss students who are gifted as necessary to understand the specific special needs of students whose cognition capabilities are vastly increased. We will return to our label-free approach at the end of the chapter as we summarize the information gleaned from this area of students with special needs. The identification of students who are gifted has had a long and circuitous journey. Alfred Binet was the first to develop a measure for judgment or mental age to screen and provide educational barriers for children not considered intelligent enough for a formal education (Binet, 1894).
Less
There are students like Hannah in our public schools. They are inquisitive, questioning, exceptionally interested, and have a distinct look about them as they learn new information. They are the students who learn difficult concepts instantly and completely. They are the students who can comprehend an entire scope and sequence of a topic, seemingly in an instant. They are also at great risk in our classrooms that are often designed for the average student and offer accommodations for students with other types of special needs. The special needs of students who are intellectually gifted are often delayed, ignored, and denied. For these students, the promise of tomorrow and a teacher who will finally challenge them begins to fade. This reality often sets in during the late elementary and middle school years. While the philosophy of this text has placed importance on encouraging “label-free learning” for students with special needs, there are times when a distinction is necessary. One of these distinctions is in the cognitive area. Most often, music educators adapt teaching to accommodate students who learn at a slower rate; however, it is important to also consider adapting our teaching for those students who learn at a faster rate than their peers. These students are often identified as being gifted. The philosophical premise that students learn best and teachers are most prepared when a label-free environment is established remains a hallmark of this book. We (the co-authors) consider the decision to briefly digress as we discuss students who are gifted as necessary to understand the specific special needs of students whose cognition capabilities are vastly increased. We will return to our label-free approach at the end of the chapter as we summarize the information gleaned from this area of students with special needs. The identification of students who are gifted has had a long and circuitous journey. Alfred Binet was the first to develop a measure for judgment or mental age to screen and provide educational barriers for children not considered intelligent enough for a formal education (Binet, 1894).
Michael E. Staub
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469643595
- eISBN:
- 9781469643618
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469643595.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision required desegregation of America’s schools, but it also set in motion an agonizing multidecade debate over race, class, and IQ. In this innovative book, ...
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The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision required desegregation of America’s schools, but it also set in motion an agonizing multidecade debate over race, class, and IQ. In this innovative book, Michael E. Staub investigates neuropsychological studies published between Brown and the controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve. In doing so, he illuminates how we came to view race and intelligence today.
In tracing how research and experiments around such concepts as learned helplessness, deferred gratification, hyperactivity, and emotional intelligence migrated into popular culture and government policy, Staub reveals long-standing and widespread dissatisfaction—not least among middle-class whites—with the metric of IQ. He also documents the devastating consequences—above all for disadvantaged children of color—as efforts to undo discrimination and create enriched learning environments were recurrently repudiated and defunded. By connecting psychology, race, and public policy in a single narrative, Staub charts the paradoxes that have emerged and that continue to structure investigations of racism even into the era of contemporary neuroscientific research.Less
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision required desegregation of America’s schools, but it also set in motion an agonizing multidecade debate over race, class, and IQ. In this innovative book, Michael E. Staub investigates neuropsychological studies published between Brown and the controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve. In doing so, he illuminates how we came to view race and intelligence today.
In tracing how research and experiments around such concepts as learned helplessness, deferred gratification, hyperactivity, and emotional intelligence migrated into popular culture and government policy, Staub reveals long-standing and widespread dissatisfaction—not least among middle-class whites—with the metric of IQ. He also documents the devastating consequences—above all for disadvantaged children of color—as efforts to undo discrimination and create enriched learning environments were recurrently repudiated and defunded. By connecting psychology, race, and public policy in a single narrative, Staub charts the paradoxes that have emerged and that continue to structure investigations of racism even into the era of contemporary neuroscientific research.
Keith Stanovich
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341140
- eISBN:
- 9780199894307
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Models and Architectures
This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory ...
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This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory and evolutionary psychology can be combined to explain why humans are sometimes irrational even though they possess remarkably adaptive cognitive machinery. The book argues that to characterize fully differences in rational thinking, we need to replace dual-process theories with tripartite models of cognition. Using a unique individual differences approach, it shows that the traditional second system (System 2) of dual-process theory must be further divided into the reflective mind and the algorithmic mind. Distinguishing them gives a better appreciation of the significant differences in their key functions: the key function of the reflective mind is to detect the need to interrupt autonomous processing and to begin simulation activities, whereas that of the algorithmic mind is to sustain the processing of decoupled secondary representations in cognitive simulation. The book then uses this algorithmic/reflective distinction to develop a taxonomy of cognitive errors made on tasks in the heuristics and biases literature. It presents the empirical data to show that the tendency to make these thinking errors is not highly related to intelligence. Using a tripartite model of cognition, the book shows how, when both are properly defined, rationality is a more encompassing construct than intelligence, and that IQ tests fail to assess individual differences in rational thought. It then goes on to discuss the types of thinking processes that would be measured if rational thinking were to be assessed as IQ has been.Less
This book attempts to resolve the Great Rationality Debate in cognitive science—the debate about how much irrationality to ascribe to human cognition. It shows how the insights of dual-process theory and evolutionary psychology can be combined to explain why humans are sometimes irrational even though they possess remarkably adaptive cognitive machinery. The book argues that to characterize fully differences in rational thinking, we need to replace dual-process theories with tripartite models of cognition. Using a unique individual differences approach, it shows that the traditional second system (System 2) of dual-process theory must be further divided into the reflective mind and the algorithmic mind. Distinguishing them gives a better appreciation of the significant differences in their key functions: the key function of the reflective mind is to detect the need to interrupt autonomous processing and to begin simulation activities, whereas that of the algorithmic mind is to sustain the processing of decoupled secondary representations in cognitive simulation. The book then uses this algorithmic/reflective distinction to develop a taxonomy of cognitive errors made on tasks in the heuristics and biases literature. It presents the empirical data to show that the tendency to make these thinking errors is not highly related to intelligence. Using a tripartite model of cognition, the book shows how, when both are properly defined, rationality is a more encompassing construct than intelligence, and that IQ tests fail to assess individual differences in rational thought. It then goes on to discuss the types of thinking processes that would be measured if rational thinking were to be assessed as IQ has been.
Shane N. Phillipson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083428
- eISBN:
- 9789882209848
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083428.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter focuses on developing an understanding of ‘intelligence’ and how this understanding can be used for enhancing learning.
This chapter focuses on developing an understanding of ‘intelligence’ and how this understanding can be used for enhancing learning.
Keith E. Stanovich, Richard F. West, and Maggie E. Toplak
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341140
- eISBN:
- 9780199894307
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341140.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Models and Architectures
The data presented in this book indicate that the rankings of individuals on assessments of rational thinking would be different from rankings on intelligence. At present, of course, there is no ...
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The data presented in this book indicate that the rankings of individuals on assessments of rational thinking would be different from rankings on intelligence. At present, of course, there is no IQ-type test for rationality—that is, a test of one's RQ (rationality quotient). This chapter argues that it is time to start talking about such a thing. Assessing rationality more explicitly is what is needed to draw more attention toward rational thinking skills and to highlight the limitations of what intelligence tests assess. It defends the proposition that there is nothing conceptually or theoretically preventing us from developing such an assessment device. The chapter lays out a framework for the assessment of rational thought complete with examples.Less
The data presented in this book indicate that the rankings of individuals on assessments of rational thinking would be different from rankings on intelligence. At present, of course, there is no IQ-type test for rationality—that is, a test of one's RQ (rationality quotient). This chapter argues that it is time to start talking about such a thing. Assessing rationality more explicitly is what is needed to draw more attention toward rational thinking skills and to highlight the limitations of what intelligence tests assess. It defends the proposition that there is nothing conceptually or theoretically preventing us from developing such an assessment device. The chapter lays out a framework for the assessment of rational thought complete with examples.
Michael E. Staub
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469643595
- eISBN:
- 9781469643618
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469643595.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
In 1905 French physiological psychologist Alfred Binet pioneered a “metrical scale of intelligence,” a practical and easily administered system for establishing a child’s capacity to perform complex ...
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In 1905 French physiological psychologist Alfred Binet pioneered a “metrical scale of intelligence,” a practical and easily administered system for establishing a child’s capacity to perform complex mental processes. Binet did not intend his intelligence test—or the score that the test yielded—to be anything more than a method to identify, and thus to assist, children who experienced difficulties with learning. When the concept of IQ arrived on American shores, it rapidly became racialized. That the racialization of mental testing came so powerfully to thrive in the United States was due in no small part, as Stephen Jay Gould has shown, to the growing prestige and influence of the discipline of psychology in the early decades of the twentieth century, the consequences of which live on – however inadvertently – into the twenty-first centuryLess
In 1905 French physiological psychologist Alfred Binet pioneered a “metrical scale of intelligence,” a practical and easily administered system for establishing a child’s capacity to perform complex mental processes. Binet did not intend his intelligence test—or the score that the test yielded—to be anything more than a method to identify, and thus to assist, children who experienced difficulties with learning. When the concept of IQ arrived on American shores, it rapidly became racialized. That the racialization of mental testing came so powerfully to thrive in the United States was due in no small part, as Stephen Jay Gould has shown, to the growing prestige and influence of the discipline of psychology in the early decades of the twentieth century, the consequences of which live on – however inadvertently – into the twenty-first century
James Tabery
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262027373
- eISBN:
- 9780262324144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027373.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In 1969, Arthur Jensen drew on heritability measures from behaviour genetics to infamously claim genetic differences between black and white Americans best explained the gap in IQ scores between ...
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In 1969, Arthur Jensen drew on heritability measures from behaviour genetics to infamously claim genetic differences between black and white Americans best explained the gap in IQ scores between those two races. Jensen’s controversial thesis ignited what came to be known as the “IQ Controversy”. Richard Lewontin countered Jensen’s genetic hypothesis by appealing to the interaction of nature and nurture, but Jensen dismissed this criticism as confused and irrelevant. What explains the divide between Jensen and Lewontin? Scholars reflecting on this episode have appealed to racism and political bias to explain the debate. This chapter argues instead that what separated Jensen and Lewontin was an explanatory divide—a divide concerning how explanation works in science.Less
In 1969, Arthur Jensen drew on heritability measures from behaviour genetics to infamously claim genetic differences between black and white Americans best explained the gap in IQ scores between those two races. Jensen’s controversial thesis ignited what came to be known as the “IQ Controversy”. Richard Lewontin countered Jensen’s genetic hypothesis by appealing to the interaction of nature and nurture, but Jensen dismissed this criticism as confused and irrelevant. What explains the divide between Jensen and Lewontin? Scholars reflecting on this episode have appealed to racism and political bias to explain the debate. This chapter argues instead that what separated Jensen and Lewontin was an explanatory divide—a divide concerning how explanation works in science.
Mark Dery
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816677733
- eISBN:
- 9781452948324
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816677733.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Exploring the darkest corners of the national psyche and the nethermost regions of the self—the gothic, the grotesque, and the carnivalesque—this book aims to make sense of the cultural dynamics of ...
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Exploring the darkest corners of the national psyche and the nethermost regions of the self—the gothic, the grotesque, and the carnivalesque—this book aims to make sense of the cultural dynamics of the American madhouse early in the twenty-first century. The book includes chapters on the pornographic fantasies of Star Trek fans, Facebook as Limbo of the Lost, George W. Bush’s fear of his inner queer, the theme-parking of the Holocaust, the homoerotic subtext of the Super Bowl, the hidden agendas of IQ tests, Santa’s secret kinship with Satan, the sadism of dentists, Adolf Hitler’s afterlife on YouTube, the sexual identity of 2001’s HAL, the suicide note considered as a literary genre, the surrealist poetry of robot spam, the zombie apocalypse, Lady Gaga, the Church of Euthanasia, toy guns in the dream lives of American boys, and the polymorphous perversity of Madonna’s big toe. The book casts a critical eye on the accepted order of things, boldly crossing into the intellectual no-fly zones demarcated by cultural warriors on both sides of America’s ideological divide: controversy-phobic corporate media, blinkered academic elites, and middlebrow tastemakers.Less
Exploring the darkest corners of the national psyche and the nethermost regions of the self—the gothic, the grotesque, and the carnivalesque—this book aims to make sense of the cultural dynamics of the American madhouse early in the twenty-first century. The book includes chapters on the pornographic fantasies of Star Trek fans, Facebook as Limbo of the Lost, George W. Bush’s fear of his inner queer, the theme-parking of the Holocaust, the homoerotic subtext of the Super Bowl, the hidden agendas of IQ tests, Santa’s secret kinship with Satan, the sadism of dentists, Adolf Hitler’s afterlife on YouTube, the sexual identity of 2001’s HAL, the suicide note considered as a literary genre, the surrealist poetry of robot spam, the zombie apocalypse, Lady Gaga, the Church of Euthanasia, toy guns in the dream lives of American boys, and the polymorphous perversity of Madonna’s big toe. The book casts a critical eye on the accepted order of things, boldly crossing into the intellectual no-fly zones demarcated by cultural warriors on both sides of America’s ideological divide: controversy-phobic corporate media, blinkered academic elites, and middlebrow tastemakers.
Bernard Van Praag
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198286547
- eISBN:
- 9780191718601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198286546.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to an ...
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This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to an ability-based taxation would not have devastating effects on short-term net income positions. Although individuals with low IQs will have to pay extra taxes while those with the highest IQs mostly gain, this effect is restricted to a gain or loss of roughly just 10% of net monthly income. These small effects are attributed to the equitable tax rates in the Netherlands, and the limitation of the study to full-time employees.Less
This chapter examines the feasibility of a lump-sum tax based ‘ability’, defined as a function of IQ and education. Empirical research on a Dutch database shows that shifting from income-based to an ability-based taxation would not have devastating effects on short-term net income positions. Although individuals with low IQs will have to pay extra taxes while those with the highest IQs mostly gain, this effect is restricted to a gain or loss of roughly just 10% of net monthly income. These small effects are attributed to the equitable tax rates in the Netherlands, and the limitation of the study to full-time employees.
