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
TL;DR: Grit demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness, suggesting that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.
Abstract: The importance of intellectual talent to achievement in all professional domains is well established, but less is known about other individual differences that predict success. The authors tested the importance of 1 noncognitive trait: grit. Defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, grit accounted for an average of 4% of the variance in success outcomes, including educational attainment among 2 samples of adults (N=1,545 and N=690), grade point average among Ivy League undergraduates (N=138), retention in 2 classes of United States Military Academy, West Point, cadets (N=1,218 and N=1,308), and ranking in the National Spelling Bee (N=175). Grit did not relate positively to IQ but was highly correlated with Big Five Conscientiousness. Grit nonetheless demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness. Collectively, these findings suggest that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.
4,470 citations
Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."
...Talent and Achievement Intelligence is the best-documented predictor of achievement (Gottfredson, 1997; Hartigan & Wigdor, 1989)....
[...]
...Intelligence is the best-documented predictor of achievement (Gottfredson, 1997; Hartigan & Wigdor, 1989)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the implica- tions of individual differences in performance for each of the four explanations of the normative/descriptive gap, including performance errors, computational limitations, the wrong norm being applied by the experi- menter, and a different construal of the task by the subject.
Abstract: Much research in the last two decades has demon- strated that human responses deviate from the performance deemed normative according to various models of decision mak- ing and rational judgment (e.g., the basic axioms of utility theory). This gap between the normative and the descriptive can be inter- preted as indicating systematic irrationalities in human cognition. However, four alternative interpretations preserve the assumption that human behavior and cognition is largely rational. These posit that the gap is due to (1) performance errors, (2) computational limitations, (3) the wrong norm being applied by the experi- menter, and (4) a different construal of the task by the subject. In the debates about the viability of these alternative explanations, attention has been focused too narrowly on the modal response. In a series of experiments involving most of the classic tasks in the heuristics and biases literature, we have examined the implica- tions of individual differences in performance for each of the four explanations of the normative/descriptive gap. Performance er- rors are a minor factor in the gap; computational limitations un- derlie non-normative responding on several tasks, particularly those that involve some type of cognitive decontextualization. Un- expected patterns of covariance can suggest when the wrong norm is being applied to a task or when an alternative construal of the task should be considered appropriate.
3,068 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: A pesar de la relativamente corta historia de la Psicologia como ciencia, existen pocos constructos psicologicos que perduren 90 anos despues de their formulación and continuen plenamente vigentes in la actualidad as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A pesar de la relativamente corta historia de la Psicologia como ciencia, existen pocos constructos psicologicos que perduren 90 anos despues de su formulacion y que, aun mas, continuen plenamente vigentes en la actualidad. El factor «g» es sin duda alguna uno de esos escasos ejemplos y para contrastar su vigencia actual tan solo hace falta comprobar su lugar de preeminencia en los modelos factoriales de la inteligencia mas aceptados en la actualidad, bien como un factor de tercer orden en los modelos jerarquicos o bien identificado con un factor de segundo orden en el modelo del recientemente desaparecido R.B.Cattell.
2,573 citations
TL;DR: A survey of factor analytic studies of human cognitive abilities can be found in this paper, with a focus on the role of factor analysis in human cognitive ability evaluation and cognition. But this survey is limited.
Abstract: (1998). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor analytic studies. Gifted and Talented International: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 97-98.
2,388 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that it is possible to improve Gf without practicing the testing tasks themselves, opening a wide range of applications.
Abstract: Fluid intelligence (Gf) refers to the ability to reason and to solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge. Gf is critical for a wide variety of cognitive tasks, and it is considered one of the most important factors in learning. Moreover, Gf is closely related to professional and educational success, especially in complex and demanding environments. Although performance on tests of Gf can be improved through direct practice on the tests themselves, there is no evidence that training on any other regimen yields increased Gf in adults. Furthermore, there is a long history of research into cognitive training showing that, although performance on trained tasks can increase dramatically, transfer of this learning to other tasks remains poor. Here, we present evidence for transfer from training on a demanding working memory task to measures of Gf. This transfer results even though the trained task is entirely different from the intelligence test itself. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the extent of gain in intelligence critically depends on the amount of training: the more training, the more improvement in Gf. That is, the training effect is dosage-dependent. Thus, in contrast to many previous studies, we conclude that it is possible to improve Gf without practicing the testing tasks themselves, opening a wide range of applications.
2,024 citations
References
More filters
01 Jan 1992
116 citations
Additional excerpts
...…concerning the predictive validity of various mental aptitudes, personality traits, and physical capabilities (e.g., see Gottfredson, 1986b; J. Hogan, 1991; R. Hogan, 1991; Landy, Shankster, & Kohler, 1994; Lubinski & Dawis, 1992; Schmidt, Ones, & Hunter, 1992; Stokes, Mumford, & Owens, 1994)....
[...]
Book•
01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: Early Intervention and Compensatory Education as discussed by the authors is a classic example of the return of radical empiricism in the field of mental health. But it is not a good fit for the treatment of mental retardation.
Abstract: Contents: Introduction. Early Attempts at Rehabilitation. Disillusion and Overreaction. Intelligence Tests and the Heritability and Immutability of Mental Retardation. Early Intervention and Compensatory Education. E.B. Page, The Disturbing Case of the Milwaukee Project. Behavior Modification -- The Return of Radical Empiricism. Medical Intervention. Reuven Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment. A Potpourri of Claims and Issues.
115 citations
113 citations
"Why g matters: The complexity of ev..." refers background in this paper
...They help shape the social order and limit our ability to reshape it (Gottfredson, 1985, 1986b; Gottfredson & Sharf, 1988)....
[...]
...…a sometimes desperate search for less g-loaded selection procedures (procedures less highly correlated with intelligence) in order to reduce disparate impact of selection devices on minority hiring and thus employers’ vulnerability to employment discrimination lawsuits (Gottfredson & Sharf, 1988)....
[...]
TL;DR: This is the complete Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) revised fourth edition, as supplied electronically by the US Dept of Labor, provided, as a public service, by ITA, makers of DOT and O*Net for Windows.
Abstract: This is the complete Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) revised fourth edition, as supplied electronically by the US Dept. of Labor, provided, as a public service, by ITA, makers of DOT and O*Net for Windows. You can find a job title and job description in a number of ways. To browse by job category, click on the CONTENTS tab above. To browse the alphabetical index click on a letter of the alphabet at left. Or search for anything by clicking the SEARCH button above or the ? button at left. Bibliographic Citation National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Occupational Classification and Analysis. DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONAL TITLES (DOT): PART I CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY, APRIL 1971, AUGMENTED WITH DOT CHARACTERISTICS, AND PART II FOURTH EDITION DICTIONARY OF DOT SCORES FOR 1970 CENSUS CATEGORIES [Computer file]. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census [producer], 197?. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1981. Related Publications Miller, Ann R., Trieman, Donald J., Cain, Pamela S. and Patricia A. Roos (eds.). 1980 WORK, JOBS, AND OCCUPATIONS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONAL TITLES (Final report to the U.S. Dept. of Labor from the Committee on Occupational Classification and Analysis). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analogy between single test items and single nontest actions in everyday life is drawn, and three requirements of good test items are restated, and the analogy is employed to account for underrecognition of the importance of general intelligence in everyday actions.
108 citations
"Why g matters: The complexity of ev..." refers background in this paper
...Similarly, all of us make stupid mistakes from time to time, but higher intelligence helps protect us from accumulating a long, debilitating record of them (Gordon, 1997)....
[...]
...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....
[...]