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.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the conceptualization and measurement of the political skill construct and provided validation evidence for the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) and found that political skill was positively related to self-monitoring, political savvy, and emotional intelligence; negatively related to trait anxiety; and not correlated with general mental ability.
1,102 citations
Cites background or methods from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Supporters of the “GMA-dominant” position (e.g., Gottfredson, 1997) would argue that political skill (and other measures of social effectiveness) could be effectively subsumed under GMA, thus implying that political skill would reflect a large correlation with GMA....
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...The fit statistics for the three-factor model and the significant chi-square difference test (χ2 difference = 46.09, df = 3) indicates that the four-factor model also provides a better fit than the three-factor model....
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Book•
16 Apr 2010
TL;DR: Conceptions of Giftedness as discussed by the authors is a collection of eighteen essays by distinguished contributors to theory and research on the notion of giftedness in both children and adults, focusing on how it can be measured and developed in both adults and children.
Abstract: Talent is arguably the most precious natural resource a society can have. The purpose of this book is to present alternative conceptions of just what giftedness is how it can be measured, and how it can be developed in both children and adults. Conceptions of Giftedness consists of eighteen chapters by distinguished contributors to theory and research. It is divided into six parts. The first, an editorial introduction, offers a 'map of the terrain', and puts the chapters that follow in unified perspective. The second part addresses educationally -based conceptions of giftedness; the third, cognitive-psychological approaches; the fourth, developmental theories; the fifth, domain-specific aspects - mathematics and music. The final part, an integrative concluding chapter, discusses points of overlap and differences among the various positions. Conceptions of Giftedness brings together in one place, for the first time, comprehensive and readable statements of the main contemporary points of view by their leading exponents.
994 citations
Cites methods from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Most IQ tests meet these criteria (Gottfredson, 1997; Jensen, 1998; Walberg, 1984)....
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TL;DR: It is concluded that early experience, biological factors, educational policy, and cultural context affect the number of women and men who pursue advanced study in science and math and that these effects add and interact in complex ways.
Abstract: SUMMARY—Amid ongoing public speculation about the reasons for sex differences in careers in science and mathematics, we present a consensus statement that is based on the best available scientific evidence. Sex differences in science and math achievement and ability are smaller for the mid-range of the abilities distribution than they are for those with the highest levels of achievement and ability. Males are more variable on most measures of quantitative and visuospatial ability, which necessarily results in more males at both high- and low-ability extremes; the reasons why males are often more variable remain elusive. Successful careers in math and science require many types of cognitive abilities. Females tend to excel in verbal abilities, with large differences between females andmalesfound whenassessmentsincludewriting samples. High-level achievement in science and math requires the ability to communicate effectively and comprehend abstract ideas, so the female advantage in writing should be helpful in all academic domains. Males outperform females on most measures of visuospatial abilities, which have been implicated as contributing to sex differences on standardized examsin mathematics and science. An evolutionary account of sex differences in mathematics and science supports the conclusion that, although sex differences in math and science performance have not directly evolved, they could be indirectly related to differences in interests and specific brain and cognitive systems. We review the brain basis for sex differences in science and mathematics, describe consistent effects, and identify numerous possible correlates. Experience alters brain structures and functioning, so causal statements about brain differences and success in math and science are circular. A wide range of sociocultural forces contribute to sex differences in mathematics and science achievement and ability—including the effects of family,neighborhood,peer,andschoolinfluences;training and experience; and cultural practices. We conclude that early experience, biological factors, educational policy, and cultural context affect the number of women and men who pursue advanced study in science and math and that these effects add and interact in complex ways. There are no single or simple answers to the complex questions about sex differences in science and mathematics.
979 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...More current data, displayed in Table 2, yield the same pattern of increasing discrepancy at higher levels of achievement (Gottfredson, 1997)....
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TL;DR: The research evidence is presented that GMA predicts both occupational level attained and performance within one's chosen occupation and does so better than any other ability, trait, or disposition and better than job experience.
Abstract: The psychological construct of general mental ability (GMA), introduced by C. Spearman (1904) nearly 100 years ago, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest and attention in recent decades. This article presents the research evidence that GMA predicts both occupational level attained and performance within one's chosen occupation and does so better than any other ability, trait, or disposition and better than job experience. The sizes of these relationships with GMA are also larger than most found in psychological research. Evidence is presented that weighted combinations of specific aptitudes tailored to individual jobs do not predict job performance better than GMA alone, disconfirming specific aptitude theory. A theory of job performance is described that explicates the central role of GMA in the world of work. These findings support Spearman's proposition that GMA is of critical importance in human affairs.
928 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...The accumulated evidence has become very strong that GMA is correlated with a wide variety of life outcomes, ranging from risky health-related behaviors, to criminal offenses, to the ability to use a bus or subway system (Gottfredson, 1997; Lubinski & Humphreys, 1997)....
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TL;DR: Genetics and brain imaging studies have identified differences in brain pathways, especially parieto-frontal pathways, that contribute to intelligence differences, and there is also evidence that brain efficiency correlates positively with intelligence.
Abstract: Neuroscience is contributing to an understanding of the biological bases of human intelligence differences. This work is principally being conducted along two empirical fronts: genetics — quantitative and molecular — and brain imaging. Quantitative genetic studies have established that there are additive genetic contributions to different aspects of cognitive ability — especially general intelligence — and how they change through the lifespan. Molecular genetic studies have yet to identify reliably reproducible contributions from individual genes. Structural and functional brain-imaging studies have identified differences in brain pathways, especially parieto-frontal pathways, that contribute to intelligence differences. There is also evidence that brain efficiency correlates positively with intelligence.
909 citations
References
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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.
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