Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide evidence that intelligence has pervasive utility in work settings because it is essentially the ability to deal with cognitive complexity, in particular, with complex information processing, and the more complex a work task, the greater the advantages that higher g confers in performing it well.
About: This article is published in Intelligence.The article was published on 1997-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1300 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Everyday life & Cognitive complexity.
Summary (1 min read)
Jump to: [Why g Matters: The Complexity of Everyday Life] – [WHAT DOES “IMPORTANT” MEAN?] – [INFLUENCE OF INTELLIGENCE ON OVERALL LIFE OUTCOMES] and [THE FUTURE]
Why g Matters: The Complexity of Everyday Life
- This article provides evidence that g has pervasive utility in work settings because it is essentially the ability to deal with cognitive complexity, in particular, with complex information processing.
- Few claims in the social sciences are backed by such massive evidence but remain so hotly contested in public discourse.
- Besides demonstrating that g is important in practical affairs, I seek to demonstrate why intelligence has such surprisingly pervasive importance in the lives of individuals.
- I then use both the employment and literacy data to sketch a portrait of life’s challenges and opportunities at different levels of intelligence.
WHAT DOES “IMPORTANT” MEAN?
- The nature of the job and its context seem to determine whether g has any direct effect on task proficiency, net of job knowlege.
- As is well known in psychometrics (see also Gordon, 1997), the fact that an individual passes or fails any single test item says little about that person’s general intelligence level.
INFLUENCE OF INTELLIGENCE ON OVERALL LIFE OUTCOMES
- The effects of intelligence-like other psychological traits-are probabilistic, not deterministic.
- White adults in this range marry, work, and have children (Hermstein & Murray, 1994), but, as Table 10 shows, they are nonetheless at great risk of living in poverty (30%), bearing children out of wedlock (32%), and becoming chronic welfare dependents (31%).
- At this IQ level, fewer than half the high school graduates and none of the dropouts meet the military’s minimum AFQT enlistment standards.
- Most occupations are within reach cognitively, because these individuals learn complex material fairly easily and independently.
- Such as divorce, illness, and occasional unemployment, they rarely become trapped in poverty or social pathology.
THE FUTURE
- Complexity enriches social and cultural life, but it also risks leaving some individuals behind.
- Society has become more complex-and g loaded-as the authors have entered the information age and postindustrial economy.
- Accordingly, organizations are “flatter” (have fewer hierarchical levels), and increasing numbers of jobs require high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills (Camevale, 1991; Cascio, 1995; Hunt, 1995; Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, 1991).
- There is evidence that increasing proportions of individuals with below-average IQs are having trouble adapting to their increasingly complex modern life (Granat & Granat, 1978) and that social inequality along IQ lines is increasing (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994).
- As the military experience also illustrates, however, what is good pedagogy for the low-aptitude learner may be inappropriate for the high-aptitude person.
Did you find this useful? Give us your feedback
Citations
More filters
01 Jan 2017
2 citations
DOI•
30 Jun 2014
TL;DR: A traves de two estudios, se analiza the prevalencia del uso of las tecnicas mas populares en seleccion de personal and sus bases, presentando un analisis enfocado en la evitacion de la discriminacion as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: En el mundo globalizado y la economia del conocimiento a la que se enfrentan las organizaciones y trabajadores, las nociones de derechos laborales y la calidad del trabajo se han tomado la agenda de las organizaciones internacionales. La busqueda de la inclusion de criterios de sustentabilidad en el desarrollo economico, ha colocado relevancia en las practicas de las organizaciones y fenomenos como la discriminacion laboral y el impacto social en los modelos de negocio. Este articulo propone una revision sobre los metodos de seleccion utilizados en Chile, en terminos de cuales son los requerimientos de uso en el mercado laboral, como tambien en las bases teorico - metodologicas que los sustentan. A traves de dos estudios, se analiza la prevalencia del uso de las tecnicas mas populares en seleccion de personal y sus bases, presentando un analisis enfocado en la evitacion de la discriminacion. Los hallazgos demuestran que gran parte de las tecnicas y metodologias usadas en los procesos de seleccion no poseen una base cientifica que avale su uso, con lo cual se favorece la emergencia de practicas injustas. Se discuten posibles razones y consecuencias del uso de tecnicas no adecuadas en el contexto del mercado laboral chileno.
2 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...…y algunos rasgos de personalidad (como extraversión y neuroticismo de la teoría de los cinco grandes de la personalidad) correlacionan directamente con desempeño en el trabajo transversalmente a una variedad importante de ocupaciones y puestos de trabajo (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Gottfredson, 1997)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article , an 8-week program of leisure reading (n = 38) or an active puzzle control was assigned to adults (60-79 years of age) and the experimental group showed differential improvement in verbal working memory and episodic memory relative to the control.
Abstract: Considerable evidence suggests that language processing depends on memory processes, which are vulnerable to declines with aging. Yet little is known about the effects of language processing in the form of sustained literacy engagement on memory and other aspects of cognition. In the current study, adults (60–79 years of age) were randomly assigned to an 8-week program of leisure reading (n = 38) or to an active puzzle control (n = 38). Relative to the control, the experimental group showed differential improvement in verbal working memory and episodic memory. The experimental group also showed evidence of enhanced conceptual integration in sentence processing. These effects did not vary as a function of personality characteristics (e.g., openness) hypothesized to be compatible with literacy engagement. These findings support the idea that the exercise of cognitive capacities in the context of everyday life may offset age-related impairment in areas of cognition engaged by the activity, regardless of dispositional fit.
2 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that self-control was a stronger predictor than intelligence in explaining academic performance two years later as well as in explaining developmental changes over the course of two years, while only intelligence predicted developmental changes in each measure of academic performance over time.
Abstract: Duckworth and Seligman’s seminal work found that self-discipline (self-control) was more salient for academic achievement than intelligence. Very little replication work exists, including in different cultures; the current study addressed these gaps. Data were collected from 6th and 7th grade cohorts of early adolescents (N = 589; age: Mean = 12.34 years, and SD = 0.89; 58% female) over two years. The study tested whether self-control was a stronger predictor than intelligence in explaining academic performance two years later as well as in explaining developmental changes over the course of two years. Path analyses provided evidence that both self-control and intelligence longitudinally predicted teacher-reported academic competence as well as school-reported grades; however, intelligence was a significantly stronger predictor than self-control. In addition, only intelligence predicted developmental changes in each measure of academic performance over time, self-control did not.
2 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2008
2 citations
Cites background or methods from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Kanazawa (2004) and Miller (2004) have stated that g poses a problem for the concept of “strong modularity” in the mind; g is apparently a “module” that affects almost all everyday activities (Gottfredson 1997)....
[...]
...(1999) is that of component amplitude. As with com p nent latency, variations in wave amplitude are a common dependent variable in E RP methodologies, and amplitude may vary in response to task demands acro ss nditions. Amplitude variations are produced by the summation of polaris ations across relatively larger or smaller neuronal populations in relationship with t he cognitive demands of the task. As such, some variation in component amplitude is e xtremely common in ERP methodologies, although as stated earlier, the sens itivity of the ERP technique to individual differences is also an issue here, but o ne which can be compensated for by later statistical analysis and correction. Burns, Nettelbeck and Cooper (1997) make brief ment ion of 28 studies where component amplitude measures were related to IQ....
[...]
...15 Allison et al. (1994) referred to facial ERP compon ents as N200s, and whether it is termed the “subdural N200” by Allison et al. (1994) or the N170 by Bentin et al....
[...]
...15 Allison et al. (1994) referred to facial ERP compon ents as N200s, and whether it is termed the “subdural N200” by Allison et al. (1994) or the N170 by Bentin et al. (1996), controversy was and still is present over the laterality of these face processing effects. Using direct cortical rec o dings, Allison et al. (1994) found bilateral effects of face processing, whilst scalp surface-mounted electrodes showed inconsistent effects in Bentin et al....
[...]
...15 Allison et al. (1994) referred to facial ERP compon ents as N200s, and whether it is termed the “subdural N200” by Allison et al. (1994) or the N170 by Bentin et al. (1996), controversy was and still is present over the laterality of these face processing effects....
[...]
References
More filters
TL;DR: The ten-year edition of the 10th anniversary edition as mentioned in this paper is devoted to the theory of multiple intelligences and its application in the socialization of human intelligence through Symbols Implications And Applications.
Abstract: * Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition Background * The Idea of Multiple Intelligences * Intelligence: Earlier Views * Biological Foundations of Intelligence * What Is an Intelligence? The Theory * Linguistic Intelligence * Musical Intelligence * Logical-Mathematical Intelligence * Spatial Intelligence * Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence * The Personal Intelligences * A Critique of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences * The Socialization of Human Intelligences through Symbols Implications And Applications * The Education of Intelligences * The Application of Intelligences
11,512 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: The Tenth Anniversary Edition of Intelligence explains the development of intelligence in the 21st Century through the applications of language, linguistics, mathematics, and more.
Abstract: * Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition Background * The Idea of Multiple Intelligences * Intelligence: Earlier Views * Biological Foundations of Intelligence * What Is an Intelligence? The Theory * Linguistic Intelligence * Musical Intelligence * Logical-Mathematical Intelligence * Spatial Intelligence * Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence * The Personal Intelligences * A Critique of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences * The Socialization of Human Intelligences through Symbols Implications And Applications * The Education of Intelligences * The Application of Intelligences
9,611 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relation of the Big Five personality dimensions (extraversion, emotional stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled).
Abstract: This study investigated the relation of the “Big Five” personality dimensions (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled). Results indicated that one dimension of personality, Conscientiousness, showed consistent relations with all job performance criteria for all occupational groups. For the remaining personality dimensions, the estimated true score correlations varied by occupational group and criterion type. Extraversion was a valid predictor for two occupations involving social interaction, managers and sales (across criterion types). Also, both Openness to Experience and Extraversion were valid predictors of the training proficiency criterion (across occupations). Other personality dimensions were also found to be valid predictors for some occupations and some criterion types, but the magnitude of the estimated true score correlations was small (ρ < .10). Overall, the results illustrate the benefits of using the 5-factor model of personality to accumulate and communicate empirical findings. The findings have numerous implications for research and practice in personnel psychology, especially in the subfields of personnel selection, training and development, and performance appraisal.
8,018 citations
TL;DR: An up-to-date handbook on conceptual and methodological issues relevant to the study of industrial and organizational behavior is presented in this paper, which covers substantive issues at both the individual and organizational level in both theoretical and practical terms.
Abstract: An up-to-date handbook on conceptual and methodological issues relevant to the study of industrial and organizational behavior. Chapters contributed by leading experts from the academic and business communities cover substantive issues at both the individual and organizational level, in both theoretical and practical terms.
7,809 citations
TL;DR: Because of the extraordinary clarity and importance of the Commission's Report, the editors of the Communica t ions decided to reprint the Report's main section in its entirety and present it to you here.
Abstract: released a remarkab le report, A Nation at Risk. This Report has s t imulated in the media considerable discussion about the problems in our schools, speculation about the causes, and ass ignment of blame. Astonishingly, f e w of the media reports have focused on the specific f indings and recommendat ions of the Commission. A lmos t none of the med ia reports tells that the Commission i tsel f re frained f rom speculation on causes and f rom assignment of blame. Because of the extraordinary clarity and importance of the Commission's Report, the editors of the Communica t ions decided to reprint the Report's main section in its entirety. We are p leased to present it to you here.
5,832 citations