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 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed two methods of SLD identification, the ability-achievement discrepancy criterion and the failure to respond to intervention (RTI), and concluded that neither of these methods can identify this condition reliably and validly.
Abstract: The category of specific learning disability (SLD) remains the largest and most contentious area of special education. A primary problem is overidentification of students with SLD as evidenced by the SLD category representing approximately 5% of the school population and 50% of the special education population. Partially responsible for this problem is the overreliance on the ability–achievement discrepancy criterion as the sole indicator of SLD, a practice that remains widespread. Recently, new ways to conceptualize and define SLD have been proposed in an attempt to remedy the overidentification problem (e.g., Fletcher, Coulter, Reschly, & Vaughn, 2004). Most popular is a model that conceptualizes SLD in terms of a failure to respond to intervention (RTI) (Berninger & Abbott, 1994). The purpose of this chapter is to briefly review these two methods of SLD identification, the ability–achievement discrepancy criterion and RTI. It is our belief that neither of these methods, when used as the sole indicator of SLD, can identify this condition reliably and validly. This is because SLD may be present in students with and without a significant ability–achievement discrepancy (see Aaron (1997) for a comprehensive review) and in students who fail to respond and who do respond favorably to scientifically based interventions. We believe the missing component in both of these SLD methods is information on the student’s functioning across a broad range of cognitive abilities and processes, particularly those that explain significant variance in academic achievement. Indeed, the federal definition of SLD is “a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes. . . ” (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] 2004). Therefore, this chapter discusses evaluation of cognitive abilities/processes as defined by contemporary Cattell– Horn–Carroll (CHC) theory and its research base. Inherent in this discussion is a summary of the research on the relations between cognitive abilities/processes and academic achievement, information we believe is necessary to (a) determine whether a processing deficit(s) is the probable cause of a student’s academic difficulties and (b) restructure and redirect interventions for nonresponders in an RTI model. Keogh (2005) discussed criteria for determining the adequacy and utility of a diagnostic system, such as the ability–achievement discrepancy and RTI models. The criteria include homogeneity (Do category members resemble one another?), reliability (Is there agreement about who should be included in the category?), and validity (Does category membership provide consistent information?). Keogh (2005, p. 101) suggested that, SLD “is real and that it describes problems that are distinct from
35 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Although g is important for dealing with the complexity of everyday life (Gottfredson, 1997b), its sole value for SLD identification is in providing an expected achievement level (along with other variables such as motivation) necessary for determining the presence of under- or over-achievement and only...
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TL;DR: This model compared the moderating effect of general intelligence on the environmental and genetic factors that influence educational attainment in Sweden and the U.S. state of Minnesota to find shared environmental influences on educational attainment were particularly important for people of high intelligence and people of low intelligence.
Abstract: Educational attainment, the highest degree or level of schooling obtained, is associated with important life outcomes, at both the individual level and the group level. Because of this, and because education is expensive, the allocation of education across society is an important social issue. A dynamic quantitative environmental-genetic model can help document the effects of social allocation patterns. We used this model to compare the moderating effect of general intelligence on the environmental and genetic factors that influence educational attainment in Sweden and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Patterns of genetic influence on educational outcomes were similar in these two regions, but patterns of shared environmental influence differed markedly. In Sweden, shared environmental influence on educational attainment was particularly important for people of high intelligence, whereas in Minnesota, shared environmental influences on educational attainment were particularly important for people of low intelligence. This difference may be the result of differing access to education: state-supported access (on the basis of ability) to a uniform higher-education system in Sweden versus family-supported access to a more diverse higher-education system in the United States.
35 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Although all individuals benefit from receiving an education (Gottfredson, 1997), there is large individual variation in how much benefit is obtained through education....
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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: Erhebungsinstrumente zur Erfassung psychologischer Merkmale wie beispielsweise Personlichkeit, Risikobereitschaft, Werte, Gerechtigkeitsuberzeugungen, Lebenszufriedenheit, Attraktivitat, Optimismus oder Intelligenz werden immer haufiger in der Forschung eingesetzt as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Erhebungsinstrumente zur Erfassung psychologischer Merkmale wie beispielsweise Personlichkeit, Risikobereitschaft, Werte, Gerechtigkeitsuberzeugungen, Lebenszufriedenheit, Attraktivitat, Optimismus oder Intelligenz werden immer haufiger in der Forschung eingesetzt. Neben der psychologischen Forschung, in der psychologische Merkmale traditionell im Zentrum des Interesses stehen, werden psychologische Merkmale vermehrt auch in anderen Forschungsbereichen erhoben, zum Beispiel in den Sozialwissenschaften, den Wirtschaftwissenschaften, den Ingenieurswissenschaften und den Gesund-heitswissenschaften. Die Forscherinnen und Forscher der verschiedenen Disziplinen erwarten von der Erfassung dieser Merkmale in Umfragen, Studien und Experimenten und deren Implementierung in ihre Modelle eine bessere Deskription und Pradiktion wissenschaftlich und gesellschaftlich relevanter Prozesse und Phanomene.
35 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...…stehen psychologische Merkmale im Zusammenhang mit der Entwicklung und Aufrechterhaltung psychischer Störungen, zum Beispiel Depression und Phobien, und mit Drogen- und Alkoholkonsum sowie delinquentem Verhalten (Block, Block & Keyes, 1988; Block, Gjerde & Block, 1991; Gottfredson, 1997)....
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...Der Zusammenhang zwischen psychologischen Merkmalen und sozioökonomischen Erfolgsgrößen, die bei Sozialwissenschaftlern und Ökonomen im Fokus des Interesses stehen, gilt als gut gesichert (Gottfredson, 1997; Gottfredson & Deary, 2004; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998; Strenze, 2007)....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, a systematic study of the link between intelligence and social outcomes of groups is provided in an experiment where two groups of subjects with different levels of intelligence, but otherwise similar, play a repeated prisoner's dilemma.
Abstract: Intelligence affects social outcomes of groups. A systematic study of the link is provided in an experiment where two groups of subjects with different levels of intelligence, but otherwise similar, play a repeated prisoner's dilemma. The initial cooperation rates are similar, it increases in the groups with higher intelligence to reach almost full cooperation, while declining in the groups with lower intelligence. The difference is produced by the cumulation of small but persistent differences in the response to past cooperation of the partner. In higher intelligence subjects, cooperation after the initial stages is immediate and becomes the default mode, defection instead requires more time. For lower intelligence groups this difference is absent. Cooperation of higher intelligence subjects is payoff sensitive, thus not automatic: in a treatment with lower continuation probability there is no difference between different intelligence groups.
35 citations
12 Jan 2017
TL;DR: This review begins with presenting state-of-the-art research on human information processing and its potential in academic learning, combined with presenting recent work on the role of intelligence in modern societies and on the nature-nurture debate.
Abstract: To the best of our knowledge, the genetic foundations that guide human brain development have not changed fundamentally during the past 50,000 years. However, because of their cognitive potential, humans have changed the world tremendously in the past centuries. They have invented technical devices, institutions that regulate cooperation and competition, and symbol systems, such as script and mathematics, that serve as reasoning tools. The exceptional learning ability of humans allows newborns to adapt to the world they are born into; however, there are tremendous individual differences in learning ability among humans that become obvious in school at the latest. Cognitive psychology has developed models of memory and information processing that attempt to explain how humans learn (general perspective), while the variation among individuals (differential perspective) has been the focus of psychometric intelligence research. Although both lines of research have been proceeding independently, they increasingly converge, as both investigate the concepts of working memory and knowledge construction. This review begins with presenting state-of-the-art research on human information processing and its potential in academic learning. Then, a brief overview of the history of psychometric intelligence research is combined with presenting recent work on the role of intelligence in modern societies and on the nature-nurture debate. Finally, promising approaches to integrating the general and differential perspective will be discussed in the conclusion of this review.
35 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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