Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

`What is intelligence?' may seem like a simple question to answer, but the study and measurement of human intelligence is one of the most controversial subjects in psychology. For much of its history, the focus has been on differences between people, on what it means for one person to be more intelligent than another, and how such differences might have arisen, obscuring efforts to understand the general nature of intelligence. These are obviously fundamental questions, still widely debated and misunderstood. New definitions of intelligence and new factors affecting intelligence are frequently being described, while psychometric testing is applied in most large industries. IQ and Human Intelligence provides a clear, authoritative overview of the main issues surrounding this fascinating area, including the modern development of IQ tests, the heritability of intelligence, theories of intelligence, environmental effects on IQ, factor analysis, relationship of cognitive psychology to measuring IQ, and intelligence in the social context. The clear, accessible style and numerous explanatory boxes make this the ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in psychology.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 The early development and uses of IQ tests (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• The origins of IQ testing (p. 7)
• Uses and abuses of IQ tests (p. 17)
• Summary (p. 25)
• 2 Psychometric theories of intelligence (p. 27)
• Introduction (p. 27)
• The variety of IQ tests: one intelligence or many? (p. 28)
• What do IQ tests measure? Test validity (p. 41)
• What do IQ tests measure? Test reliability and the stability of IQ (p. 55)
• Summary (p. 62)
• 3 The heritability of IQ (p. 65)
• The meaning of heritability (p. 65)
• The measurement of heritability (p. 69)
• Analysis of kinship correlations (p. 71)
• Quantitative estimates of heritability (p. 85)
• The mechanism of heritability (p. 94)
• Summary (p. 97)
• Appendix (p. 98)
• 4 Environmental effects on IQ (p. 103)
• Introduction (p. 103)
• Secular changes in IQ (p. 104)
• Environmental correlations and environmental causes (p. 110)
• Social class and IQ (p. 113)
• Physical environment (p. 119)
• Demography: family size and birth order (p. 124)
• Parental behaviour and family environment (p. 127)
• Education and IQ (p. 131)
• Conclusions (p. 139)
• Summary (p. 141)
• 5 Group differences (p. 143)
• Introduction (p. 143)
• Social class (p. 144)
• Ethnic groups (p. 148)
• Sex differences (p. 182)
• Summary (p. 198)
• 6 Factor analysis and the structure of human abilities (p. 200)
• Introduction (p. 200)
• The factor analytic approach (p. 202)
• The interpretation of the general factor (p. 222)
• Summary (p. 229)
• 7 The search for general intelligence: simple behavioural and neurological correlates of IQ (p. 231)
• Introduction (p. 231)
• Neurological correlates of IQ (p. 234)
• Behavioural measures of speed of information processing (p. 242)
• Correlations with g or with group factors? (p. 252)
• Summary (p. 264)
• 8 The search for cognitive operations underlying specific components of IQ: verbal and spatial abilities (p. 266)
• Introduction (p. 266)
• Crystallized ability (Gc) (p. 267)
• Spatial ability (Gv) (p. 282)
• Summary (p. 296)
• 9 Fluid intelligence, reasoning, and problem solving (p. 297)
• Introduction (p. 297)
• Analyses of reasoning and problem solving (p. 299)
• Working memory (p. 310)
• The central executive and executive control (p. 317)
• The search for g concluded (p. 324)
• Summary (p. 329)
• 10 Theories of intelligence (p. 331)
• Introduction (p. 331)
• Ability and achievement (p. 333)
• General intelligence or domain-specific expertise? (p. 344)
• Beyond IQ? (p. 360)
• Social intelligence (p. 367)
• Summary (p. 370)
• Epilogue (p. 373)
• References (p. 381)
• Author index (p. 409)
• Subject index (p. 415)

Author notes provided by Syndetics