Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:22:43.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - The Role of Transferable Knowledge in Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2009

Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Jean E. Pretz
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Get access

Summary

A prerequisite for cognitively complex behavior in a given realm is the possession of a well differentiated yet integrated knowledge base that gets operated on by efficient cognitive processes.

(Ceci, 1996, p. 22)

The transferability of learning is of prime importance in evaluating these educational claims … the transferability of skills is key: If the skills developed by such [educational and training] efforts do not transfer beyond the training context, much of the investment may be considered wasted.

(Barnett & Ceci, 2002)

In the past decade, a new approach to understanding development has been put forward that describes a specific form of interaction between biology and environment, called the “bioecological model” (Ceci, 1996; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1993, 1994). The goal of this chapter is to describe how a bioecological approach informs the study of intellectual development. In doing this, we shall focus on the evidence for the tenet of bioecological theory that is most relevant to intellectual functioning, namely, the knowledge-dependent nature of information processing. Following a description of the evidence for this tenet, we will segue into a discussion of the role of the transferability of knowledge in intellectual competence.

The bioecological approach to development posits a close interplay between knowledge and processing efficiency. What this means in the realm of intellectual competence is that, except for the most basic and dedicated processes (e.g., feature detection), processing efficiency is a function of interaction between genetic potentials for processing and the richness of the knowledge base on which the processes operate.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cognition and Intelligence
Identifying the Mechanisms of the Mind
, pp. 208 - 224
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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

Acredolo, L. P. (1979). Laboratory versus home: The effect of environment on the 9-month-old infant's choice of spatial reference system. Developmental Psychology, 15(6), 666–667CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahrick, H. P., Bahrick, P. O., & Wittlinger, R. P. (1975). Fifty years of memory for names and faces. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1, 54–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B., & Staudinger, U. M. (1993). The search for a psychology of wisdom. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(3), 75–80CrossRefGoogle 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), 612–637CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnett, S. M., & Koslowski, B. (2002). Adaptive expertise: Effects of type of experience and the level of theoretical understanding it generates. Thinking and Reasoning, 8, 237–267CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, N. J., & Dworkin, G. (1976). The IQ controversy: Critical readings. New York: Pantheon Books
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1993). Heredity, environment, and the question “how.” In R. Plomin & G. McClearn (Eds.), Nature nurture & psychology (pp. 313–324). Washington, DC: APACrossRef
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature–nurture in developmental perspective: A bioecological theory. Psychological Review, 101, 568–586CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catrambone, R., & Holyoak, K. J. (1989). Overcoming contextual limitations on problem-solving transfer. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(6), 1147–1156Google Scholar
Ceci, S. J. (1993). Some contextual trends in intellectual development. Developmental Review, 13, 403–435CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceci, S. J. (1996). On intelligence: A bioecological treatise on intellectual development (Expanded ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Ceci, S. J., & Bronfenbrenner, U. (1985). “Don't forget to take the cupcakes out of the oven”: Prospective memory, strategic time-monitoring, and context. Child Development, 56(1), 152–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceci, S. J., Brainerd, C. J., Fitneva, S. A., & Williams, W. M. (2002). Forgetting you remember: representational constraints on monitoring. Unpublished manuscript, Cornell University
Ceci, S. J., & Liker, J. (1986a). A day at the races: IQ, expertise, and cognitive complexity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 115, 255–266CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceci, S. J., & Liker, J. (1986b). Academic versus non-academic intelligence: An experimental separation. In R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Practical intelligence: Nature and origins of competence in the everyday world (pp. 119–142). New York: Cambridge University Press
Ceci, S. J., & Ruiz, A. (1992). The role of general intelligence in transfer: A case study. In R. Hoffman (Ed.), The psychology of expertise (pp. 218–230). NY: Springer-Verlag
Charlesworth, W. (1976). Human intelligence as adaptation: An ethological approach. In L. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 147–168). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Charlesworth, W. (1979). An ethological approach to studying intelligence. Human Development, 22, 212–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chi, M. T. H. (1978). Knowledge structures and memory development. In Siegler, Robert S. (Ed.). Children's thinking: What develops? (pp. 73–96). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Chi, M. T. H., & Ceci, S. J. (1987). Content knowledge: Its restructuring with memory development. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 20, 91–146CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coltheart, V., & Walsh, P. (1988). Expert Knowledge and Semantic Memory. In M. M. Gruneberg, P. Morris, & P. Sykes (Eds.), Practical Aspects of Memory, Vol. 2. London: Wiley
Deary, I., J. (1993). Inspection time and WAIS-R IQ subtypes: A confirmatory factor analysis study. Intelligence, 17, 223–236CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deary, I., J. (1995). Auditory inspection time and intelligence: What is the causal direction? Developmental Psychology, 31, 237–250CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deary, I., J., Caryl, P., Egan, V., & Wight, D. (1989). Visual and auditory inspection time: Their interrelationship and correlation with IQ in high ability subjects. Personality and Individual Differences, 10, 525–533CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Detterman, D. K. (1993). The case for the prosecution: Transfer as an epiphenomenon. In D. K. Detterman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition, and instruction (pp. 1–24). Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Detterman, D. K., & Sternberg, R. J. (1993). Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition, and instruction. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Dickens, W. T., & Flynn, J. R. (2001). Heritability estimates versus large environmental effects: The IQ paradox resolved. Psychological Review, 108(2), 346–69CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncker, K. (1945). On problem-solving. Psychological Monographs, 58(5), 113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galton, F. (1883). Inquiries into human faculty. London: Dent
Gettinger, M. (1984). Individual differences in time needed for learning: A review of literature. Educational Psychologist, 19(1), 15–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2002). Calculated risks. New York: Simon & Schuster
Gigerenzer, G., Hell, W., & Blank, H. (1988). Presentation and content: The use of base rates as a continuous variable. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14(3), 513–525Google Scholar
Grigorenko, E. L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1998). Dynamic testing. Psychological Bulletin, 124(1), 75–111CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halpern, D. F. (1998). Teaching critical thinking for transfer across domains. American Psychologist, 53(4), 449–455CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halpern, D. F., Hansen, C., & Riefer, D. (1990). Analogies as an aid to understanding and memory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(2), 298–305CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrnstein, R. J., Nickerson, R. S., Sanchez, M., & Swets, J. A. (1986). Teaching thinking skills. American Psychologist, 41(11), 1279–1289CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental models: Toward a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Cambridge, MA; Harvard University Press
Laird, Johnson P. N., Legrenzi, P., & Legrenzi, M. S. (1972). Reasoning and a sense of reality. British Journal of Psychology, 63(3), 395–400CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judd, C. H. (1908). The relation of special training to general intelligence. Educational Review, 36, 28–42Google Scholar
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review, 80(4), 237–251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keil, F. (1984). Mechanisms in cognitive development and the structure of knowledge. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Mechanisms in cognitive development (pp. 81–100). New York: W. H. Freeman
Keil, F. (1985). On the structure-dependent nature of stages of cognitive development. In S. Strauss & I. Levine (Eds.), Stage and structure in children's development (pp. 144–163). New York: Ablex
Logie, R., Wright, R., & Decker, S. (1992). Recognition memory performance and residential burglary. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6(2), 109–123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marini, Z., & Case, R. (1989). Parallels in the development of preschoolers' knowledge about their physical and social worlds. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 35, 63–88Google Scholar
Mestre, J. (2002). Transfer of learning: Issues and research agenda. Report of a workshop held March 21–22, 2002, at the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.
Needham, D. R., & Begg, I. M. (1991). Problem-oriented training promotes spontaneous analogical transfer: Memory-oriented training promotes memory for training. Memory and Cognition, 19(6), 543–557CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nisbett, R., Fong, G., Lehman, D., & Cheng, P. (1988). Teaching Reasoning. Unpublished manuscript. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Peterson, L. R., Hillner, K., & Saltzman, D. (1962). Time between pairings and short-term retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 550–551CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reder, L. M., & Klatzky, R. L. (1994). Transfer: Training for performance. In D. Druckman & R. A. Bjork (Eds.), Learning, remembering, believing: Enhancing human performance (pp. 25–56). Washington, DC: National Academy Press
Reed, S. K., & Saavedra, N. C. (1986). A comparison of computation, discovery, and graph procedures for improving students' conception of average speed. Cognition and Instruction, 3(1), 31–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohrer, D., & Wixted, J. T. (1994). An analysis of latency and interresponse time in free recall. Memory & Cognition, 22, 511–524CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rovee-Collier, C. (1993). The capacity for long-term memory in infancy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(4), 130–135CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scribner, S. (1986). Thinking in action: Some characteristics of practical thought. In R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Practical intelligence: Nature and origins of competence in the everyday world. New York: Cambridge University Press
Spencer, R. M., & Weisberg, R. W. (1986). Context-dependent effects on analogical transfer. Memory and Cognition, 14(5), 442–449CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spilich, G. J., Vesonder, G. T., Chiesi, H. L., & Voss, J. F. (1979). Text processing of domain-related information for individuals with high and low domain knowledge. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18(3), 275–290CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, L. R., & Slater, P. C. (1975). Forgetting in very long term memory as assessed by an improved questionnaire technique. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1, 50–54Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (2001). Why schools should teach for wisdom: The balance theory of wisdom in educational settings. Educational Psychologist, 36(4), 227–245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. J., Wagner, R. K., Williams, W. M., & Horvath, J. A. (1995). Testing common sense. American Psychologist, 50(11), 912–927CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. J., Forsythe, G. B., Hedlund, J., Horvath, J. A., Wagner, R. K., Williams, W. M., Snook, S. A., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2000). Practical intelligence in everyday life. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.
Thorndike, E. L., & Woodworth, R. S. (1901a). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions. I. Psychological Review, 8(3), 247–261Google Scholar
Thorndike, E. L., & Woodworth, R. S. (1901b). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions. II. The estimation of magnitudes. Psychological Review, 8(4), 384–395CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorndike, E. L., & Woodworth, R. S. (1901c). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions. III. Functions involving attention, observation and discrimination. Psychological Review, 8(6), 553–564CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, R. K., & Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Practical intelligence in real-world pursuits: The role of tacit knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(2), 436–458CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wason, P. C. (1968). Reasoning about a rule. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 20(3), 273–281CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, W. M., Blythe, T., White, N., Li, J., Gardner, H., & Sternberg, R. J. (2002). Practical intelligence for school: Developing metacognitive sources of achievement in adolescence. Developmental Review, 22(2), 162–210CrossRefGoogle 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
×