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| Author | N. J. Mackintosh |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Intelligence tests, Intelligence levels, Intellect |
| Published | 1998 (Oxford University Press) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 432 |
| ISBN | 978-0-19-852367-3 |
| 153.9 | |
| LC Class | BF431.M358 1998 |
IQ and Human Intelligence is a textbook on the topics of IQ testing and theories of human intelligence by N. J. Mackintosh. Both the first edition (1998) and second edition (2011) of the textbook have been used in courses on human intelligence at universities around the world, for example Caltech.[1] Both editions of the textbook received favorable reviews from many researchers on intelligence.
Background
[edit]Both editions of IQ and Human Intelligence were written by Nicholas Mackintosh, F.R.S., Emeritus Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology, Cambridge University, United Kingdom. He previously wrote the books The Psychology of Animal Learning (Academic Press, 1974) and Conditioning and Associative Learning (Oxford University Press, 1983) and edited the books Animal Learning and Cognition (Academic Press, 1994), Learning and Skills (Longman, 1995), and Cyril Burt: Fraud or Framed (Oxford University Press, 1995)[2]. Mackintosh has written numerous scientific journal articles on intelligence research. The 1998 first edition of the textbook brought university textbooks on human intelligence up to date on such topics as the Flynn effect. The 2011 second edition responded to new research findings with chapter updates and responded to reviews of the first edition with a considerable reorganization of the book's content.
Content
[edit]First edition 1998
[edit]The 1998 first edition reviewed the history of the development of theories of human intelligence and of practice in IQ testing with a focus on the individual differences tradition in psychology. The textbook introduced the standard topics of a course on human intelligence and IQ testing and also related newly discovered data to controversial issues surrounding the topics. Chapter 1, "The early development and uses of IQ tests", includes quotations from the writings of Francis Galton and Mackintosh's own translations from the French writings of Alfred Binet. Mackintosh reported that Galton's early mental tests had little validity as tests of intelligence and that Binet had a practical rather than theoretical orientation in designing his tests used in school placement in French schools. By the year of Binet’s death, 1911, Binet and Simon had published a test battery with item content that could distinguish contemporary mental ages in French children from age 3 to age 10. Thus Binet began the practice of scoring intelligence tests on a normative (that is, relative) basis. Mackintosh noted that IQ tests ever since have been normed, directly or indirectly, in part by comparison with the Binet-Simon test, and many IQ test items are scarcely changed from those in that test from a century ago.[3] Chapter 2, "Psychometric theories of intelligence", gives an overview of theories of human intelligence from the point of view of psychologists who study individual differences. Chapter 3, "The heritability of IQ", corrects some common misconceptions about heritability of IQ. Chapter 4, "Environmental effects on IQ", includes a detailed discussion of the worldwide trend of rising IQ scores, much researched by James R. Flynn. Mackintosh noted that Flynn's observations have prompted much new research in psychology and "demolish some long-cherished beliefs, and raise a number of other interesting issues along the way."[4] Chapter 5, "Group differences", discusses the contentious issue of differing levels of average IQ among various social groups. Chapter 6, "Factor analysis and the structure of human abilities", discusses the general factor of intelligence and evidence for that from "common manifold", and competing theories that emphasize distinct human mental abilities. Chapter 7, "The search for general intelligence: simple behavioural and neurological correlates of IQ", reports on the difficult research involved in finding neurological correlates to IQ. Chapter 8, "The search for cognitive operations underlying specific components of IQ: verbal and spatial abilities", describes cognitive psychology research on special abilities. Chapter 9, "Fluid intelligence, reasoning, and problem solving", points out some of the distinctions between intelligence as estimated by IQ tests and real-world problem-solving. Chapter 10, "Theories of intelligence", sums up the latest theoretical developments to 1998.
Second edition 2011
[edit]The second edition includes a new chapter on aspects of intelligence such as social and emotional intelligence. It follows suggestions from reviews of the first edition about reorganization of the book's topic order. In Chapter 1, "The early development and uses of IQ tests", Mackintosh updates his historical account from the first edition. In Chapter 2, "Psychometric theories of intelligence", he mentions that the Wechsler intelligence scales were originally developed from earlier intelligence scales by David Wechsler. The first Wechsler test published was the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale in 1939.[5] Contrary to some authors, IQ scores make up an ordinal rather than an interval scale.[6] Chapter 3, "The search for cognitive processes underlying components of IQ: Gs or speed and efficiency of information processing", updates his earlier discussion of simple behavioral correlates of IQ. Chapter 4, "Verbal, spatial and fluid abilities: Gc, Gv and Gf", provides new details about the current theory of underlying factors in human intelligence. Chapter 5, "Associative learning, working memory and executive control", relates the new research on attention control and working memory to classical studies of human intelligence. Chapter 6, "Intelligence and the brain", updates the earlier edition's account of neuroscience research related to intelligence. Chapter 7, "Theories of g", discusses what different scholars think the general factor arises from and how it is related to special abilities. Chapter 8, "The stability of IQ and the rise and fall of intelligence", describes the psychometric properties of IQ tests such as reliability (stability of scores). Mackintosh notes that IQ tests generally are reliable enough that most people ages ten and older have similar IQ scores throughout life.[7] Chapter 9, "The predictive validity of IQ - and its limits", discusses what can be known and what cannot be known about life outcomes from a person's IQ score. Chapter 10, "Is this all? Multiple aspects of intelligence", discusses new views of human intelligence proposed to supplement mainstream general intelligence theory. Chapter 11, "Heritability: Kinship studies and single genes", updates the previous edition's discussion of heritability, adding new data from human genetic studies. In chapter 12, "The environment: secular changes and social class", Mackintosh updates his analysis of environmental influences on IQ in light of the huge increases in IQ over time known as the Flynn effect. He notes that some scholars think a reduction in inbreeding contributed to a genetic improvement in IQ, but Mackintosh notes that James Flynn has pointed out that even if everyone mated with a sibling in 1900, subsequent increases in heterosis would not be a sufficient explanation of the observed IQ gains.[8] Chapter 13, "Group differences", updates the previous edition's discussion of group differences with reference to ethnic groups. Chapter 14, "Sex differences", specifically focuses on male-female differences in intelligence. Chapter 15, "Epilogue", sums up the book and points to further research issues still to be resolved.
Style
[edit]The book has a conversational style noted by reviewers. It is written for readability by undergraduate students, and in its second edition has review paragraphs summarizing the main points of each chapter.
Analysis
[edit]Both editions of IQ and Human Intelligence take a historical approach to the development of theories of human intelligence. Reviewers noted some unusual choices of topic order in the first edition, and some topics were presented in a new order in the second edition.
Publication
[edit]The book was promoted by Oxford University Press sending sample copies to university faculty for adoption as a textbook.
Reception
[edit]Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr.'s review of the 1998 edition in the journal Science included much praise for the textbook. "Mackintosh's analysis of purported environmental influences on intelligence is one of the most thoughtful in the literature."[9] A review in Reference and Research Book News also praised the first edition.[citation needed] Intelligence research Ian Deary wrote capsule reviews of current books on human intelligence in his 2001 book Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction, praising Mackintosh's 1998 edition of IQ and Human Intelligence as "the best book"[10] for detail and broad coverage of the topic.
References
[edit]- ^ Quartz 2000
- ^ Mackintosh, N. J., ed. (1995). Cyril Burt: Fraud or Framed?. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523369.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-852336-9. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|lay-date=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|lay-source=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|lay-url=ignored (help) - ^ Mackintosh 1998, pp. 12–14
- ^ Mackintosh 1998, p. 104
- ^ Mackintosh 2011, p. 32 "The most widely used individual IQ tests today are the Wechsler tests, first published in 1939 as the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale."
- ^ Mackintosh 2011, pp. 33–34 "Although many psychometricians have argued otherwise (e.g., Jensen 1980), it is not immediately obvious that IQ is even an interval scale, that is, one where, say, the ten-point difference between IQ scores of 110 and 100 is the same as the ten-point difference between IQs of 160 and 150. The most conservative view would be that IQ is simply an ordinal scale: to say that someone has an IQ of 130 is simply to say that their test score lies within the top 2.5% of a representative sample of people the same age."
- ^ Mackintosh 2011, p. 169 "after the age of 8–10, IQ scores remain relatively stable: the correlation between IQ scores from age 8 to 18 and IQ at age 40 is over 0.70."
- ^ Mackintosh 2011, p. 291 "Flynn (2007) himself has calculated that even if everyone married their brother or their sister in 1900, this would not be sufficient to provide a complete explanation"
- ^ Bouchard 1999, pp. 922–923 "Mackintosh's analysis of purported environmental influences on intelligence is one of the most thoughtful in the literature. ... [This book] is a superb introduction to the current status of both facets of this important and fascinating endeavor."
- ^ Deary 2001, p. 127 "This is one book used with my students. If you want to get something that is detailed, covers the whole area, and is well written, this is the best book."
Bibliography
[edit]- Bouchard, Thomas J. (7 May 1999). "The Search for Intelligence [review of IQ and Human Intelligence by Mackintosh (1998)]". Science. 284 (5416): 922–923. doi:10.1126/science.284.5416.922. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- Butler, R. W. (March 2001). "An Intelligent Treatise on Human Intelligence [review of IQ and Human Intelligence (1998) by N. J. Mackintosh]". Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 7 (3): 401. doi:10.1017/S1355617701253144. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
One can think of this book as an 'intelligent' alternative to The Bell Curve, a more lay review of human intelligence which was, unfortunately, replete with numerous errors of reasoning and fact.
- Quartz, Steven (2000). "SES/PL169--Topics in the Philosophy of Psychology: The Nature of Intelligence". California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- Deary, Ian J. (1999). "IQ and Human Intelligence, by NJ Mackintosh". Trends in Neurosciences. 22 (8): 370–371. doi:10.1016/S0166-2236(99)01440-X.
For senior undergraduates, postgraduates and interested nonspecialist psychologists the book provides representative information and clear separation between fact and opinion. It brings welcome even-handedness to a fraught area.
- Deary, Ian (2001). Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-289321-5.
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- Gobet, Fernand (September 2000). "Review of IQ and human intelligence". Swiss Journal of Psychology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Revue Suisse de Psychologie. 59 (3): 210. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- Khalfa, Jean, ed. (1996). What Is Intelligence?. Darwin College Lectures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-56685-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|lay-date=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|lay-url=ignored (help) This review of contemporary research includes chapters by Richard Gregory, Nicholas Mackintosh, George Butterworth, Roger Schank, Lawrence Birnbaum, Roger Penrose, Simha Arom, Daniel Dennett, and Dan Sperber.
- Mackintosh, N. J., ed. (1995). Cyril Burt: Fraud or Framed?. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198523369.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-852336-9. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
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- Mackintosh, N. J. (1998). IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-852367-3. LCCN 98018010.
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- Mackintosh, N. J. (2011). IQ and Human Intelligence (second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958559-5. LCCN 2010941708. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- Mackintosh, N. J. (30 January 2013). "Hyperlinked bibliography". Oxford University Press Online Resources. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- Plomin, Robert (1999). "IQ and Human Intelligence.". American Journal of Human Genetics. 65 (5): 1476–1477. doi:10.1086/302632. PMC 1288305.
The book also includes a good summary of what we know (and, mostly, do not know) about environmental effects on g; it tackles the fraught issue of group differences and is especially helpful in its attempt to bring together g and cognitive psychology, two fields of mental functioning that have kept their distance.
- Sternberg, Robert J. (2012). "Book review: Review of IQ and Human Intelligence (2nd ed.), Nicholas J. Mackintosh". Intelligence. 40 (5): 509–510. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2012.05.001. ISSN 0160-2896. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
guess I will not be writing a textbook any time soon in the field of human intelligence: The Mackintosh text, suitable for use in upper level undergraduate and lower level graduate courses, is as close to ideal as any textbook I have seen in any field.
External links
[edit]- Official website (2011 edition)
- "Faculty Webpage of Professor Nicholas Mackintosh". University of Cambridge: The Psychometrics Centre. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 31 August 2014.