Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T16:57:51.662Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

40 - Society and Intelligence

from Part VII - Intelligence and Its Role in Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2019

Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

There are large between-country differences in measures of economic and noneconomic well-being. Many researchers view increasing the stock of human capital as the key to raising economic development, promoting democratization, and improving health, and hence improving overall societal well-being. The single most studied aspect of human capital concerns cognitive competence. Differences in population cognitive competence might explain these societal differences. Evidence suggests that education builds cognitive competence, and education and cognitive competence promote better social outcomes, in terms of both economic and noneconomic factors. However, measuring population cognitive competence for countries requires representative samples, culture-fair tests, equivalency in the relationship between test measures and other cognitive attributes, and comparability in testing situations. In most cases, none of this has been achieved.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alderman, H., Behrman, J. R., Ross, D., & Sabot, R. (1996). The returns to endogenous human capital in Pakistan’s rural wage labor market. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 58, 2955.Google Scholar
Altinok, N., Angrist, N., & Patrinos, H. A. (2018). Global data set on education quality (1965–2015). Policy Research Working Paper No. WPS 8314. Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angrist, J., & Krueger, A. B. (1991). Does compulsory schooling affect schooling and earnings? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106, 9791014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, S. M., & Ceci, S. J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 612637.Google Scholar
Barnett, S. M., & Williams, W. M. (2004). National intelligence and the emperor’s new clothes. Contemporary Psychology, 49, 389396.Google Scholar
Barnett, S. M., & Williams, W. M. (2005). IQ-income data do not prove poor countries must remain poor. PsycCRITIQUES, 50(13).Google Scholar
Barnett, W. S., & Boocock, S. S. (Eds.). (1998). Early care and education for children in poverty. Promises, programs, and long-term results. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Becker, D., & Rindermann, H. (2016). The relationship between cross-national genetic distances and IQ-differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 300310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, M., Lüdtke, O., Trautwein, U., Köller, O., & Baumert, J. (2007). The effect of schooling on psychometric intelligence: Does school quality make a difference? Unpublished paper. Berlin: Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development.Google Scholar
Bond, R., & Saunders, P. (1999). Routes of success: Influences on the occupational attainment of young British males. British Journal of Sociology, 50, 217249.Google Scholar
Burhan, N. A. S., Kurniawan, Y., Sidek, A. H., & Mohamad, M. R. (2014). Crimes and the Bell curve: The role of people with high, average, and low intelligence. Intelligence, 47, 1222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cahan, S., & Cohen, N. (1989). Age versus schooling effects on intelligence development. Child Development, 60, 12391249.Google Scholar
Canfield, R. L.Henderson, C. R., Jr., Cory-Slechta, D. A.Cox, C.Jusko, T. A., & Lanphear, B. P. (2003). Intellectual impairment in children with blood lead concentrations below 10 microg per deciliter. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 15171526.Google Scholar
Caplan, B. (2017). The case against education. Princeton: University of Princeton Press.Google Scholar
Cattell, R. B. (1987). Intelligence: Its structure, growth and action. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Ceci, S. J. (1991). How much does schooling influence general intelligence and its cognitive components? A reassessment of the evidence. Developmental Psychology, 27, 703722.Google Scholar
Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (1997). Schooling, intelligence, and income. American Psychologist, 52, 10511058.Google Scholar
Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (2009). Should scientists study race and IQ? Yes: The scientific truth must be pursued. Nature, 457, 788789.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charlton, B. G. (2009). Replacing education with psychometrics. Medical Hypotheses, 73, 273277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coyle, T. R., Rindermann, H., & Hancock, D. (2016). Cognitive capitalism: Economic freedom moderates the effects of intellectual and average classes on economic productivity. Psychological Reports, 119, 411427.Google Scholar
Cunha, F., Heckman, J. J., Lochner, L., & Masterov, D. V. (2006). Interpreting the evidence on life cycle skill formation. In Hanushek, E. A. & Welch, F. (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education, Vol.1 (pp. 697812). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Deary, I. J., Batty, G. D., & Gale, C. R. (2008). Bright children become enlightened adults. Psychological Science, 19, 16.Google Scholar
Denny, K., & Doyle, O. (2008). Political interest, cognitive ability and personality: Determinants of voter turnout in Britain. British Journal of Political Science, 38, 291310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, L., & Walsh, A. (2003). Crime, delinquency and intelligence: A review of the worldwide literature. In Nyborg, H. (Ed.), The scientific study of general intelligence. Tribute to Arthur R. Jensen (pp. 343365). Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J., & Schoenthaler, S. J. (1997). Raising IQ level by vitamin and mineral supplementation. In Sternberg, R. J. & Grigorenko, E. L. (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity and environment (pp. 363392). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Flynn, J. R. (2007). What is intelligence? Beyond the Flynn effect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Flynn, J. (2018). Reflections about intelligence over 40 years. Intelligence, 70, 7383.Google Scholar
Ganzach, Y. (2017). Cognitive ability and party affiliation: The role of the formative years of political socialization. Intelligence, 61, 5662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaeser, E., Ponzetto, G., & Shleifer, A. (2007). Why does democracy need education? Journal of Economic Growth, 12, 7799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glewwe, P., & Kremer, M. (2006). Schools, teachers, and education outcomes in developing countries. In Hanushek, E. A. & Welch, F. (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (Vol. 2, pp. 9451017). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Goodenough, F. L. (1926). Measurement of intelligence by drawings. Chicago: World Book.Google Scholar
Gottfredson, L., & Deary, I. J. (2004). Intelligence predicts health and longevity, but why? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 14.Google Scholar
Hallpike, C. R. (1980). The foundations of primitive thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, K. T., Heckman, J. J., & Mullen, K. J. (2004). The effect of schooling and ability on achievement test scores. Journal of Econometrics, 121, 3998.Google Scholar
Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2008). The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 46, 607668.Google Scholar
Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2015). The knowledge capital of nations. Education and the economics of growth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hanushek, E. A., Schwerdt, G., Wiederhold, S., & Woessmann, L. (2015). Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC. European Economic Review, 73, 103130.Google Scholar
Harris, D. B. (1963). Children’s drawings as measures of intellectual maturity. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.Google Scholar
Hart, M. (2007). Understanding human history: An analysis including the effects of geography and differential evolution. Augusta, GA: Washington Summit.Google Scholar
Heckman, J. J., & Masterov, D. V. (2007). The productivity argument for investing in young children. NBER Working Paper No. 13016. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Educational Research.Google Scholar
Henrich, J., Heine, S., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The WEIRDEST people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 6183.Google Scholar
Holland, P. W., & Wainer, H. (Eds.). (1993). Differential item functioning. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Hunt, E. (2012). What makes nations intelligent? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 284306.Google Scholar
Hunt, E., & Carlson, J. (2007). Considerations relating to the study of group differences in intelligence. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 194213.Google Scholar
Jones, G. (2016). Hive mind: How your nation’s IQ matters so much more than your own. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Klauer, K. J., & Phye, G. D. (2008). Inductive reasoning: A training approach. Review of Educational Research, 78, 85123.Google Scholar
Kura, K. (2013). Japanese north-south gradient in IQ predicts differences in stature, skin color, income, and homicide rate. Intelligence, 41, 512516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lakhanpal, M., & Ram, R. (2008). Educational attainment and HIV/AIDS prevalence: A cross-country study. Economics of Education Review, 27, 1421.Google Scholar
Luria, A. R. (1976). Cognitive development. Its cultural and social foundations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lynn, R. (2009). What has caused the Flynn effect? Secular increases in the development quotients of infants. Intelligence, 37, 1624.Google Scholar
Lynn, R. (2010). National IQs updated for 41 nations. Mankind Quarterly, 50, 275296.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., & Meisenberg, G. (2010). The average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans: Comments on Wicherts, Dolan, and van der Maas. Intelligence, 28, 2129.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2001). National IQ and economic development: A study of eighty-one nations. Mankind Quarterly, 41, 415435.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2002). IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2006). IQ and global inequality. Augusta GA: Washington Summit Publishers.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2012). Intelligence. A unifying construct for the social sciences. London: Ulster Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Meisenberg, G. (2012). National IQ and economic outcomes. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 103107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meisenberg, G. (2015). Verbal ability as a predictor of political preferences in the United States, 1974–2012. Intelligence, 50, 135143.Google Scholar
Melhuish, E. C., Phan, M. B., Sylva, K., Sam-mons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Effects of the home learning environment and preschool center experience upon literacy and numeracy development in early primary school. Journal of Social Issues, 64, 95114.Google Scholar
Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., & Hooper, M. (2016). TIMSS 2015: International results in mathematics. Chestnut Hill, MA: International Study Center.Google Scholar
Murnane, R. J., Willet, J. B., & Levy, F. (1995). The growing importance of reading comprehension cognitive skills in wage determination. Review of Economics and Statistics, 77, 251266.Google Scholar
Murray, Ch. (2008). Real education: Four simple truths for bringing America’s schools back to reality. New York: Crown Forum.Google Scholar
Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., et al. (1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist, 51, 77101.Google Scholar
Nisbett, R. E. (2009). Intelligence and how to get it. Why schools and cultures count. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Oesterdiekhoff, G. W. (2014). Evolution of law and justice from ancient to modern times. Journal on European History of Law, 5, 5464.Google Scholar
Piffer, D. (2015). A review of intelligence GWAS hits: Their relationship to country IQ and the issue of spatial autocorrelation. Intelligence, 53, 4350.Google Scholar
Psacharopoulos, G., & Patrinos, H. A. (2004). Returns to investment in education: A further update. Education Economics, 12, 111134.Google Scholar
Radding, C. (1985). A world made by men: Cognition and society, 400–1200. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H. (2018). Cognitive capitalism: Human capital and the wellbeing of nations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., & Baumeister, A. E. E. (2015). Validating the interpretations of PISA and TIMSS tasks: A rating study. International Journal of Testing, 15, 122.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., Becker, D., & Coyle, T. R. (2016). Survey of expert opinion on intelligence: Causes of international differences in cognitive ability tests. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 19.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., & Carl, N. (2018). Human rights: Why countries differ. Comparative Sociology, 17, 2969.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., & Ceci, S. J. (2009). Educational policy and country outcomes in international cognitive competence studies. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 551577.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., & Ceci, S. J. (2018). Parents’ education is more important than their wealth in shaping their children’s intelligence: Results of 19 samples in seven countries at different developmental levels. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 41, 298326.Google Scholar
Rindermann, H., Sailer, M., & Thompson, J. (2009). The impact of smart fractions, cognitive ability of politicians and average competence of peoples on social development. Talent Development and Excellence, 1, 325.Google Scholar
Roivainen, W. (2010). European and American WAIS III norms: Cross-national differences in performance subtest scores. Intelligence, 38, 187192.Google Scholar
Rushton, J. P., Bons, T. A., Vernon, P. A., & Cvorovic, J. (2007). Genetic and environmental contributions to population group differences on the Raven’s Progressive Matrices estimated from twins reared together and apart. Proceedings of the Royal Society, 274, 17731777.Google Scholar
Rushton, J. P., & Templer, D. I. (2009). National differences in intelligence, crime, income, and skin color. Intelligence, 37, 341346.Google Scholar
Sandefur, J. (2016). Internationally comparable mathematics scores for fourteen African countries. Working Paper No. 444. Center for Global Development.Google Scholar
Spence, M. (1973). Job market signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, 355374.Google Scholar
Stelzl, I., Merz, F., Remer, H., & Ehlers, T. (1995). The effect of schooling on the development of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A quasi-experimental study. Intelligence, 21, 279296.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (2004). Culture and intelligence. American Psychologist, 59, 325338.Google Scholar
Strauss, J., & Thomas, D. (1998). Health, nutrition, and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 36, 766817.Google Scholar
Thomson, G. H. (1937). Intelligence and civilisation: A Ludwig Mond lecture delivered at the University of Manchester on October 23, 1936. Journal of the University of Manchester, 1, 1838.Google Scholar
Warne, R. T., & Burningham, C. (2019). Spearman’s g found in 31 non-Western nations: Strong evidence that g is a universal phenomenon. Psychological Bulletin, 145, 237272.Google Scholar
Weede, E., & Kämpf, S. (2002). The impact of intelligence and institutional improvements on economic growth. Kyklos, 55, 361380.Google Scholar
Whetzel, D. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2006). Prediction of national wealth. Intelligence, 34, 449458.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., Borsboom, D., & Dolan, C. V. (2010). Evolution, brain size, and the national IQ of people around 3000 years B.C. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 104106.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., & Dolan, C. V. (2010). Measurement invariance in confirmatory factor analysis: An illustration using IQ test performance of minorities. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 29(3), 3947.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., Carlson, J. S., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2010a). Raven’s Test performance of sub-Saharan Africans: Average performance, psychometric properties, and the Flynn effect. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 135–151.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., Carlson, J. S., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2010b). Another failure to replicate Lynn’s estimate of the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 155–157.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2010a). A systematic literature review of the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans. Intelligence, 38, 120.Google Scholar
Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2010b). The dangers of unsystematic selection methods and the representativeness of 46 samples of African test-takers. Intelligence, 38, 3037.Google Scholar
Wober, M. (1969). Distinguishing centri-cultural from cross-cultural tests and research. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 28, 488.Google Scholar
Woodworth, K. R., David, J. L., Guha, R., Wang, H., & Lopez-Torkos, A. (2008). San Francisco Bay Area KIPP schools: A study of early implementation and achievement. Final report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×