Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction, by Ian Deary
Another cracker from the VSI series. Big on CORRELATION. I
get the feeling that this is a bit one-sided, maybe because some of the
conclusions are not very palatable, but he does list the names of researchers
who have different views from his own, and he certainly provides a lot of
evidence to back up his conclusions.
Things I picked up from this book (not all of which feel very comfortable):
- people who do well at one type of IQ test (e.g. vocabulary) tend to do
well at all of the other types (e.g. arithmetic, matrix reasoning)
- people who score highly in "IQ" tests as children are likely to score
highly as adults
- people who score highly in "IQ" tests tend to have larger brains
- people who score highly in "IQ" tests tend to have faster reaction
times
- There is a fair amount of evidence relating IQ to genetic factors, and
hardly any that relates it to environmental factors. I.e. no evidence that
upbringing influences IQ.
- A high score on an IQ test is one of the best indications you can get
that someone will perform well in a job
- IQ levels in the population as measured by IQ tests have been rising ever
since the tests were introduced, and have to be "renormalised" every few
years. No-one knows why this is happening, and it's a big unanswered question
Completed : 2-Feb-2003
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