Increasing Intelligence

Norbert Jaušovec, Anja Pahor

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780128134306
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Index: Psychology

The finding that working memory training can increase fluid intelligence triggered a great number of cognitive training studies, the results of which have been fiercely debated among experts. The finding also prompted a surge of commercial versions of these working memory training programs. Increasing Intelligence overviews contemporary approaches and techniques designed to increase general cognitive ability in healthy individuals. The book covers behavioral training and different electrical stimulation methods such as TMS, tDCS, tACS, and tRNS, along with alternative approaches ranging from neurofeedback to cognitive-enhancing drugs. It describes crucial brain features that underlie intelligent behavior and discusses theoretical and technical shortcomings of the reported studies, then goes on to suggest avenues for future research and inquiry.

• Summarizes the history of attempts to raise intelligence
• Describes the intelligence construct and the cognitive mechanisms thought to be at the core of intellectual functioning
• Provides an overview of the neurobiological underpinnings of intelligence
• Discusses the efficacy and limitations of behavioral training approaches and brain stimulation methods aiming to increase performance on working memory and intelligence tests
• Examines the effects of neurofeedback, exercise, meditation, nutrition, and drugs on cognitive enhancement

Chapter 1

The Mystery of Intelligence

Abstract

Intelligence is a precious asset, highly valued in society. It is not surprising that bold claims, which on the one side, stress the genetic influences on intelligence and, on the other side, state that it can be raised via cognitive training, cause fierce discussions among scientists and catch the attention of media and the general public. Several hypotheses have tried to explain why, in the history of human evolution, no organ has grown faster than the brain. It is likely that a combination of social and ecological factors promoted the proliferation of neural precursor cells, making our brain the most complex organ. Intelligence has been linked to academic performance and career success, therefore in the 20th century much energy has been devoted to the design of preschool and early school interventions that would raise intelligence. In contrast, new age approaches are mainly conducted in controlled laboratory experiments showing promising results, although a definite conclusion is still out of reach.

Keywords

phylogenesis

motivation to control

encephalization quotient

illusory superiority

Ashkenazi

Abecedarian Project

Venezuelan Intelligence Project

Head Start Program

Few questions have generated such passionate discussions in the scientific community than those related to intelligence and intelligence testing. To give some examples: Arthur Jensen (1969) published an article in the Harvard Educational Review (HER) titled “How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement?,” in which he argued that compensatory education in the US failed to produce lasting beneficial effects on children’s intelligence quotient (IQ) and achievement, therefore the premises on which these programs were based should be reexamined. Nine years later, he admitted that the firestorm that was ignited by his writing came as an unpleasant surprise. Less than 10% of the 123 pages long article dealt with ethnical differences suggesting that genetic factors may be the reason for the one standard deviation lower performance of Afro-Americans as compared to whites. The reaction was “swift and severe,” with regular near-riotous demonstrations by students at colleges where Jensen was invited to speak. His office was picketed and his classes were regularly disrupted or, when lecturing at other universities, cancelled at the last minute. Students’ newspapers were filled for weeks with fierce statements against his research, suggesting that the university should get rid of him. The violence of student activists escalated to the point to which it threatened to get out of control. At that time, the campus police assigned two bodyguards to accompany Jensen around campus (Snyderman and Rothman, 1988). Even 9 years later and, as far as Australia, there was still need for police protection (Jensen, 1978).

The media were among the first to give full coverage on Jensen. The New York Times, the Times Magazine, and local newspapers throughout the United States reported on the topic. The Times Magazine, after publishing a lengthy article entitled: Jensenism, n. The Theory that IQ Is Determined Largely by the Genes, received more letters than any other issue since the assassination of President Kennedy (Snyderman and Rothman, 1988).

The reaction of colleagues was mixed—condemning the rude treatment on the one hand, while declaring their own disagreement with Jensen’s conclusions, on the other. Few publically agreed with Jensen’s statements, albeit, privately and in letters they showed support for his ideas. Shortly after the paper appeared in the HER, the American Anthropological Association held a convention at which they passed a resolution condemning Jensen’s position and encouraged members to fight racism with all available means.

Twenty-five years later, The Bell Curve by Herrnstein and Murray (1994) sparked almost the same obfuscation as Jensen’s (1969) article, although the controversy was less physically violent. Jim Naureckas (1/2/1995) in Extra!, a magazine of the national media watch gr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: The Mystery of Intelligence
• Chapter 2: The Biological Background of Intelligence
• Chapter 3: Raising Intelligence by Means of Behavioral Training
• Chapter 4: Changing Brain Activity, Increasing Intelligence: Transcranial Electrical and Magnetic Stimulation
• Chapter 5: Other Approaches: From Neurofeedback to Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs
• Chapter 6: Once Upon a Time We Were on the Moon
• Index