Intelligence, Heredity and Environment

The debate over nature versus nurture in relation to intelligence is not as clearly drawn as it was ten years ago, when geneticists claimed that intelligence is innate, while environmentalists claimed that culture is the major determining factor. Although the debate has not been resolved, it has been significantly refined. Robert Sternberg and Elena Grigorenko address the roles and interaction of nature and nurture in Intelligence, Heredity and Environment. This book provides a comprehensive, balanced, current survey of theory and research on the origins and transmission of human intelligence. The book is unique in the diversity of viewpoints it presents, and its inclusion of the very most recent theories and findings. It highlights the search for genes associated with specific cognitive abilities, interactionist theories, cultural relativism, educational strategies, developmental perspectives, and fallacies of previous intelligence research.

Table of Contents:
Part I. The Nature-Nurture Question: New Advances in Behavior-Genetic Research on Intelligence: 1. Behavior genetics and socialization theories of intelligence: truce and reconciliation S. Scarr; 2. The puzzle of nongenetic variance A. R. Jensen; 3. Identifying genes for cognitive abilities and disabilities R. Plomin; 4. Heredity, environment, and IQ in the Texas Adoption Project J. C. Loehlin et al.; 5. IQ similarity in twins reared apart: findings and responses to critics T. J. Bouchard; Part II. Novel Theoretical Perspectives on the Genes and Culture Controversy: 6. The invalid separation of effects of nature and nurture: lessons from animal experimentation D. Wahlsten and G. Gottlieb; 7. Between nature and nurture: the role of human agency in the epigenesis of intelligence T. R. Bidell and K. W. Fischer; 8. A third perspective: the symbol systems approach H. Gardner and T. Hatch; 9. A cultural psychology perspective on intelligence J. G. Miller; 10. A bio-ecological model of intellectual development: moving beyond h2 S. J. Ceci et al.; 11. An interactionist perspective on the genesis of intelligence E. W. Gordon and M. P. Lemons; Part III. Specific Issues in the Nature-Nurture Controversy: 12. Educating intelligence: infusing the Triarchic theory into school instruction R. J. Sternberg; 13. Raising IQ level by vitamin and mineral supplementation H. J. Eysenck and S. J. Schoenthaler; 14. The resolution of the nature-nurture controversy by Russian psychology: culturally biased or culturally Specific? E. L. Grigorenko and T. V. Korilova; 15. The emerging horizontal dimension of practical intelligence: polycontextuality and boundary crossing in complex work activities Y. Engestrom et al.; 16. Cognitive development from infancy to middle childhood Stacey S. Cherney et al.; 17. Intelligence, language, nature, and nurture in young twins J. S. Reznick; 18. Sources of individual differences in infant social cognition: cognitive and affective aspects of self and other S. Pipp et al.; Part IV. Integration and Conclusions: 19. Conclusions E. Hunt; 20. Unresolved questions and future directions in behavior genetics studies of intelligence I. Waldman.

Review :
"...the book succeeds admirably in its stated purpose. It provides a convenient and much-needed update that people in the various fields touched by the nature-nurture debate are bound to find informative." Susana Urbina, Contemporary Psychology "If this book is any indication of what is to come we can look forward to a very exciting century in the study of intellectual development." David Henry Feldman, Roeper Review "Although the various theories and proposals for greater diversity in intellectual gifts and talents, for greater social and cultural impact on these capabilities, and for dynamic, developmental approaches to questions of intellectual development have a long way to go in scientific terms, they have begun to chart the direction the field must take in its second century. Intelligence, Heredity, and Environment captures this period of transition with unprecedented fairness, clarity, balance, and quality." David Henry Feldman, Roeper Review "Wahlsten and Gottlieb succeed in convincing the reader (at least this reader!) that however sophisticated a tour de force behavior genetics is, it fundamentally distorts the reality of how genes work." David Henry Feldman, Roeper Review