Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count by Richard E. Nisbett

Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count [Paperback] Richard E. Nisbett

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (February 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393337693
• ISBN-13: 978-039333769

From Publishers Weekly

Whether intelligence is largely determined by genetics or environment has long been hotly contested. Nisbett, a University of Michigan psychology professor, weighs in forcefully and articulately, claiming that environmental conditions almost completely overwhelm the impact of genes. He comes to this conclusion through a careful statistical analysis of a large number of studies and also demonstrates how environment can influence not only IQ measures but actual achievement of both students and adults. (People often overachieve when appropriate incentives are in place, Nisbett argues.) Nisbett builds a very strong case that measured IQ differences across racial, cultural and socioeconomic boundaries can easily be explained without resorting to hereditary factors. The result is a very positive message: schools, parents and government programs can have a huge impact if they take the right, which are not necessarily the most expensive, steps. Without those steps, he says, the current role of socioeconomic factors is frightening, with economically disadvantaged children largely condemned to failure. Although Nisbett relies heavily on statistics to document his claims, he does so in a manner accessible to general readers and uses a thoroughly appealing style to engage them throughout. (Feb.)
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Review

Nisbett argues that a variety of social, cultural, and economic factors can significantly affect a child’s IQ, and suggests ways to improve intelligence scores, as well as grades, by manipulating those factors. (Chronicle Review )

A hugely important analysis of the determinants of IQ. . . . A ‘must-read.’ (Daniel Osherson, professor of psychology, Princeton University )

Product Description

“[Nisbett] weighs in forcefully and articulately . . . [using] a thoroughly appealing style to engage . . . throughout.”—Publishers Weekly Who are smarter, Asians or Westerners? Are there genetic explanations for group differences in test scores? From the damning research of The Bell Curve to the more recent controversy surrounding geneticist James Watson’s statements, one factor has been consistently left out of the equation: culture. In the tradition of Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man, world-class social psychologist Richard E. Nisbett takes on the idea of intelligence as biologically determined and impervious to culture with vast implications for the role of education as it relates to social and economic development. Intelligence and How to Get It asserts that intellect is not primarily genetic but is principally determined by societal influences.

About the Author

Richard E. Nisbett is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has written numerous books on intelligence and cultural psychology and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.