Intelligence and How to Get It
Why Schools and Cultures Count
19 March 2010
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.
Reviews
"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
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