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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01 Jan 2011
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors brought together leading IWO psychologists and researchers to discuss the potential role of General Mental Ability (GMA) in personnel selection and the consequences of the criterion problem for GMA validities.
Abstract: General Mental Ability (GMA) has empirical evidence supporting it as a strong predictor of job performance. However, there are agreements and disagreements about the role of GMA in Industrial, Work, and Organizational (IWO) psychology. Some embrace it enthusiastically; some tolerate it; some spend their entire careers looking for ways to minimize the effects of GMA in personnel selection; and, finally, some revile and loath the very concept. The reasons for the divergence vary, and in this special issue of Human Performance we brought together leading IWO psychologists and researchers to discuss the potential role of GMA in personnel selection. In this summary, we synthesize, around eight themes, the main points of agreement and disagreements across the contributing authors. The major themes and questions are: (a) predictive value of GMA for real-life outcomes and work behaviors, (b) predictive value of GMA versus specific abilities, (c) the consequences of the criterion problem for GMA validities, (d) is...
47 citations
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus mainly on the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and its complement, the General Ability Index (GAI) and find that the FSIQ has the highest correlation with subtests tapping both achievement and memory.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses mainly on the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and its complement, the General Ability Index (GAI). The comprehensive training of school and child clinical psychologists in assessment, including the use of intelligence tests, the carefully crafted and clearly articulated practice standards and codes of ethics relating to psychological practice in general and assessment more specifically, together with the significant advances in the study of human intelligence and its measurement have done much to quell some of the IQ test controversy. While there is no consensus on the relevance and need for intelligence tests in particular areas of diagnosis, empirical links together with improved diagnostic descriptions certainly contributes to a determination of the clinical relevance of intelligence tests such as the WISC-IV in the identification of and program prescription for children with special needs. In relation to other tests linked with the WISC-IV, the FSIQ in almost all instances shows the highest correlation with subtests tapping both achievement and memory. The FSIQ also correlates more highly with the GRS-S than any of the index scores. While the structure of the WISC-IV together with the suggested profile analyses outlined in the Technical and Interpretation Manual might suggest essentially a top down approach to the test-score interpretations beginning with the FSIQ, this is not strictly the case. The Full Scale IQ score has been the only comprehensive method available within the Wechsler scales for summarizing overall or general cognitive ability.
47 citations
TL;DR: Physical and mental "grips" declined in the ninth decade of life; their levels were significantly correlated; their slopes were not; there was no evidence for reciprocal dynamic influences nor for shared associations.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES Grip strength and reasoning are associated in old age. This is one of the few longitudinal studies addressing whether aging of one causes decline in the other or whether they share causal influences. METHODS The Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 were assessed for grip strength and nonverbal reasoning at ages M = 79 (N = 550), M = 83 (N = 321), and M = 87 (N = 207). Associations among intercepts and slopes for grip strength and reasoning and covariates were examined by fitting a bivariate growth curve structural equation model. RESULTS Grip strength and reasoning declined with age. They were each significantly correlated on each occasion. Their intercepts were significantly correlated (.20) but not their slopes. Neither intercept was significantly associated with its own or the other's slope. Better reasoning was associated with higher childhood intelligence, more professional occupations, male sex, and being taller. There were no significant reasoning slope associations. Stronger grip strength was associated with male sex, being taller, and drinking less alcohol. Women showed less age-related decline in grip strength. DISCUSSION Physical and mental "grips" declined in the ninth decade of life. Their levels were significantly correlated; their slopes were not. There was no evidence for reciprocal dynamic influences nor for shared associations.
47 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Cognitive ability is an important general indicator of life coping skills and ability to make sense of the environment (Gottfredson, 1997; Fiocco & Yaffe, 2010)....
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TL;DR: This integrative conceptual review utilizes the Cognitive-Affective Processing System framework to provide an overarching theoretical basis for how psychological individual differences affect withdrawal behaviors and creates a theoretical model of the situated person that summarizes the existing empirical literature examining the effect of psychological differences on withdrawal behavior.
Abstract: Psychological individual differences, such as personality, affectivity, and general mental ability, have been shown to predict numerous work-related behaviors. Although there is substantial research demonstrating relationships between psychological individual differences and withdrawal behaviors (i.e., lateness, absenteeism, and turnover), there is no integrative framework providing scholars and practitioners a guide for conceptualizing how, why, and under what circumstances we observe such relationships. In this integrative conceptual review we: (a) utilize the Cognitive-Affective Processing System framework (Mischel & Shoda, 1995) to provide an overarching theoretical basis for how psychological individual differences affect withdrawal behaviors; (b) create a theoretical model of the situated person that summarizes the existing empirical literature examining the effect of psychological differences on withdrawal behavior; and (c) identify future research opportunities based on our review and integrative framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)
47 citations
Cites background or methods from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Because of the ability to process complex information accurately (Gottfredson, 1997), we also theorize that more intelligent individuals would be able to better assimilate and weigh job market information and, therefore, perceive greater alternative opportunities (Boudreau, Boswell, Judge, & Bretz,…...
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...…reflecting one’s information-processing capacity that facilitates reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, is more likely to enable judgment-driven behaviors (Ackerman, 1996; Gottfredson, 1997) and may aid in self-regulation through these executive functions (Duggan & Garcia-Barrera, 2015)....
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...Such theories (e.g., Ackerman, 1996; Barrick et al., 2013; Duggan & Garcia-Barrera, 2015; Gottfredson, 1997; Gray, 1970; Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) argue that these individual differences relate to behaviors through individuals’ motives (e....
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...GMA may also influence behaviors by means of motivations developed based on past performance and successes, such as selfefficacy (Heggestad & Kanfer, 2005) and growth striving (Ackerman & Heggestad, 1997; Gottfredson, 1997)....
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...In contrast, GMA, reflecting one’s information-processing capacity that facilitates reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, is more likely to enable judgment-driven behaviors (Ackerman, 1996; Gottfredson, 1997) and may aid in self-regulation through these executive functions (Duggan & Garcia-Barrera, 2015)....
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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.
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
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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
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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.
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