To what extent can animal behaviour be described as rational? What does it even mean to describe behaviour as rational? This book focuses on one of the major debates in science today - how closely does mental processing in animals resemble mental processing in humans. It addresses the question of whether and to what extent non-human animals are rational, that is, whether any animal behaviour can be regarded as the result of a rational thought processes. It does this with attention to three key questions, which recur throughout the book and which have both empirical and philosophical aspects: What kinds of behavioural tasks can animals successfully perform? What if any mental processes must be postulated to explain their performance at these tasks? What properties must processes have to count as rational? The book is distinctive in pursuing these questions not only in relation to our closest relatives, the primates, whose intelligence usually gets the most attention, but also in relation to birds and dolphins, where striking results are also being obtained. Some chapters focus on a particular species. They describe some of the extraordinary and complex behaviour of these species - using tools in novel ways to solve foraging problems, for example, or behaving in novel ways to solve complex social problems - and ask whether such behaviour should be explained in rational or merely mechanistic terms. Other chapters address more theoretical issues and ask, for example, what it means for behaviour to be rational, and whether rationality can be understood in the absence of language. The book includes many of the world's leading figures doing empirical work on rationality in primates, dolphins, and birds, as well as distinguished philosophers of mind and science. The book includes an editors' introduction which summarises the philosophical and empirical work presented, and draws together the issues discussed by the contributors.

"...it is extremely useful and contemporary, covering among its five hundred pages, genetics, neuro-imaging and emotional intelligence. It also provides a good indicator of current psychological work in the area with empirical evidence and theory sitting alongside each other. The material on meta-cognition would, I suspect, be of most interest to philosophers, along with the more basic questions concerning the nature of memory and intelligence." -PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY "This volume provides an in-depth yet accessible and up-to-date review of the key topics pertinent to current intelligence research. This state-of-the-art summary about our theoretical understanding of human abilities and their measurement is of interest for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in psychology, education, and related disciplines. It's a great summary and a good read on a truly important topic." -Dr. Heinz Holling, University of Muenster "Wilhelm and Engle have compiled a highly informative set of chapters on various topics related to intelligence. The chapters describing recent European work will be especially informative for North American readers. The work is strengthened by provision of review chapters that keep the reader in sight of the forest rather than the trees." -Earl Hunt, University of Washington Without an informed cognitive understanding of intelligence as a construct, the technology of intelligence testing will make little to no progress. Psychologists with a more psychometric background need detailed knowledge about the cognitive processes underlying intelligent behavior. Likewise, psychologists with a more cognitive or experimental background need to make more use of applied knowledge from psychometric research. Earl Hunt, Without an informed cognitive understanding of intelligence as a construct, the technology of intelligence testing will make little to no progress. Psychologists with a more psychometric background need detailed knowledge about the cognitive processes underlying intelligent behavior. Likewise, psychologists with a more cognitive or experimental background need to make more use of applied knowledge from psychometric research.The Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence provides an overview of recent studies on intelligence to help readers develop a sound understanding of results and perspectives in intelligence research. In this volume, editors Oliver Wilhelm and Randall W. Engle bring together a group of respected experts from two fields of intelligence research, cognition and methods, to summarize, review, and evaluate research in their areas of expertise. The chapters in this book present state-of-the-art examinations of a particular domain of intelligence research and highlight important methodological considerations, theoretical claims, and pervasive problems in the field. The Handbook provides those with a broad interest in individual differences, cognitive abilities, intelligence, educational measurement, thinking, reasoning, or problem solving with a comprehensive description of the status quo and prospects of intelligence research. The book is divided into two parts that are intended to build upon and relate to one another. Part I, the cognitive section, explores several theoretical viewpoints on intelligence and Part II, the methodological section, addresses fundamental statistical problems and pragmatic assessment problems in measuring intelligence. Key Features The volume editors provide a general introduction and conclude the book with an integrative epilogue. Contributors to this volume are experts in intelligence with a background in methodology or theory who offer current theoretical perspectives and recent empirical results, which are of interest to a broad audience. In addition to contributions from U.S. intelligence experts, authors from Europe and Australia provide an international perspective and articulate viewpoints and results not otherwise readily available to an American audience. Developments in theory are described with respect to their implications at the measurement level, and developments on the methodological level are evaluated with respect to their contribution to the theoretical understanding of intelligence. The Handbook is designed for scholars and psychology professionals interested in intelligence, cognitive abilities, educational testing and measurement, reasoning, and problem solving. It can also be used by advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying intelligence or the psychology of individual differences. In addition, the Handbook will be a welcome addition to any academic library.

This title presents a total workout program guaranteed to build brain muscle fast. You exercise, try to eat right, and get enough sleep - all in the name of good physical health. But what have you done for your mind lately? Your brain is your most important organ, and all the latest scientific research indicates that, with regular doses of the right kind of mental stimulation, you can not only maintain but improve your brain power throughout your lifetime. Use it or loose it, as the saying goes - and now this book shows you how.Written by a noted cognitive scientist and a top neurologist, "Dental Floss for the Mind" features more than 100 creative and fun exercises that target the five key cognitive areas of memory, attention, language skills, spatial recognition, and reasoning ability. Exercises are of increasing difficulty and designed to progressively stimulate and build individual cognitive skills. A scoring system lets you assess your status, identify problem areas, and, with the help of the authors' expert guidance, set goals and improve various skills as needed. With "Dental Floss for the Mind" you'll: hone your attention to a razor's edge and block out annoying distractions; use all types of memory - sensory, short-term, long-term, episodic, semantic, and procedural - to the fullest; optimize reading comprehension and interpretive skills; fine-tune your spatial perception and mental imagery abilities; and, take your reasoning and analytical skills to lofty new heights.

This book celebrates two triumphs in modern psychology: the successful development and application of a solid measure of general intelligence; and the personal courage and skills of the man who made this possible - Arthur R. Jensen from Berkeley University.
The volume traces the history of intelligence from the early 19th century approaches, to the most recent analyses of the hierarchical structure of cognitive abilities, and documents the transition from a hopelessly confused concept of intelligence to the development of an objective measure of psychometric g. The contributions illustrate the impressive power g has with respect to predicting educational achievement, getting an attractive job, or social stratification.
The book is divided into six parts as follows: Part I presents the most recent higher-stream analysis of cognitive abilities, Part II deals with biological aspects of g, such as research on brain imaging, glucose uptake, working memory, reaction time, inspection time, and other biological correlates, and concludes with the latest findings in g-related molecular genetics. Part III addresses demographic aspects of g, such as geographic-, race-, and sex-differences, and introduces differential psychological aspects as well. Part IV concentrates on the g nexus, and relates such highly diverse topics as sociology, genius, retardation, training, education, jobs, and crime to g. Part V contains chapters critical of research on g and its genetic relationship, and also presents a rejoinder. Part VI looks at one of the greatest contemporary psychologists, Professor Emeritus Arthur R. Jensen as teacher and mentor.

Unlike typical books on problem solving that are organized by content areas, such as mathematics and natural science, this book is organized by factors that affect problem solving performance, such as motivation, emotion, intellectual abilities, and working memory. Its goal is to organize in one volume all that is known about problem solving and the factors that contribute to its success or failure.

A new way to look at the mysteries of the animal mind What is animal intelligence? In what ways is it similar to human intelligence? Many behavioral scientists have realized that animals can be rational, can think in abstract symbols, can understand and react to human speech, and can learn through observation as well as conditioning many of the more complicated skills of life. Now Duane Rumbaugh and David Washburn probe the mysteries of the animal mind even further, identifying an advanced level of animal behavior-emergents-that reflects animals' natural and active inclination to make sense of the world. Rumbaugh and Washburn unify all behavior into a framework they call Rational Behaviorism and present it as a new way to understand learning, intelligence, and rational behavior in both animals and humans. Drawing on years of research on issues of complex learning and intelligence in primates (notably rhesus monkeys, chimpanzees, and bonobos), Rumbaugh and Washburn provide delightful examples of animal ingenuity and persistence, showing that animals are capable of very creative solutions to novel challenges. The authors analyze learning processes and research methods, discuss the meaningful differences across the primate order, and point the way to further advances, enlivening theoretical material about primates with stories about their behavior and achievements.

Reason and Nature investigates the norms of reason--the standards which contribute to determining whether beliefs, inferences, and actions are rational. Nine philosophers and two psychologists discuss what kinds of things these norms are, how they can be situated within the natural world, and what role they play in the psychological explanation of belief and action. Current work in the theory of rationality is subject to very diverse influences ranging from experimental and theoretical psychology, through philosophy of logic and language, to metaethics and the theory of practical reasoning; this range is well represented here.

This is the 11th volume in the New Directions in Cognitive Science Series (formerly Vancover Studies in Cognitive Science). It addresses common sense, reasoning, and rationality, currently areas of considerable interdisciplinary interest and importance. While common sense and rationality have often been viewed as two distinct features in a unified cognitive map, this interdisciplinary volume - including essays from an outstanding group of established scholars - engages with this notion and comes up with novel and often paradoxical views of this relationship. It should appeal to philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and computer scientists interested in considering what constitutes human rationality, behaviour, and intelligence. This groundbreaking collection is at the forefront of Cognitive Science research, and promises to be of unprecedented influence across disciplines.

This is the 11th volume in the New Directions in Cognitive Science Series (formerly Vancover Studies in Cognitive Science). It addresses common sense, reasoning, and rationality, currently areas of considerable interdisciplinary interest and importance. While common sense and rationality have often been viewed as two distinct features in a unified cognitive map, this interdisciplinary volume - including essays from an outstanding group of established scholars - engages with this notion and comes up with novel and often paradoxical views of this relationship. It should appeal to philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and computer scientists interested in considering what constitutes human rationality, behaviour, and intelligence. This groundbreaking collection is at the forefront of Cognitive Science research, and promises to be of unprecedented influence across disciplines.

Wagman gives a broad, structured, and detailed account of advancing intellectual developments in both psychological and computational theories of the nature of problem- solving. Known for originating the PLATO computer-based Dilemma Counseling System, psychologist Wagman is the author of 17 books, including "Scientific Discovery Processes in Humans and Computers "(Praeger, 2000).

In this book, Professor Emeritus Morton Wagman gives a broad, structured, and detailed account of advancing intellectual developments in both psychological and computational theories of the nature of problem solving. Known for originating the PLATO computer-based Dilemma Counseling System, psychologist Wagman is the author of 17 books, including "Scientific Discovery Processes in Humans and Computers, "(Praeger, 2000)

Of special interest to readers will be Wagman's conclusion that artificial intelligence problem-solving systems are deepening and broadening theories of human problem solving from scientific to everyday approaches. Scholars and professionals in psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science will consider this a volume a valuable addition to their collections.

Valencia and Suzuki?s Intelligence Testing and Minority Students gives the reader a truly fresh opportunity to relearn and reconsider the nature of IQ and its strengths and limitations. Reading this book gives the psychometrician and the practitioner a good sense of what to do in the short run, and argues persuasively about what needs to be done on a priority basis. If testing and education are ever to serve the needs of all Americans, responding fairly and validly the growing diversity of this nation?s citizens.

Intelligence Testing and Minority Students: Foundations, Performance Factors, and Assessment Issues is a psychometric tour de force.

Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner has been acclaimed as the most influential educational theorist since John Dewey. His ideas about intelligence and creativity - explicated in such bestselling books as Frames of Mind and Multiple Intelligences (over 200,000 copies in print combined) - have revolutionized our thinking.In his ground-breaking 1983 book Frames of Mind , Howard Gardner first introduced the theory of multiple intelligences, which posits that intelligence is more than a single property of the human mind. That theory has become widely accepted as one of the seminal ideas of the twentieth century and continues to attract attention all over the world.Now in Intelligence Reframed , Gardner provides a much-needed report on the theory, its evolution and revisions. He offers practical guidance on the educational uses of the theory and responds to the critiques leveled against him. He also introduces two new intelligences (existential intelligence and naturalist intelligence) and argues that the concept of intelligence should be broadened, but not so absurdly that it includes every human virtue and value. Ultimately, argues Gardner, possessing a basic set of seven or eight intelligences is not only a unique trademark of the human species, but also perhaps even a working definition of the species. Gardner also offers provocative ideas about creativity, leadership, and moral excellence, and speculates about the relationship between multiple intelligences and the world of work in the future.

This path-breaking book reviews psychological research on practical intelligence and describes its importance in everyday life. The authors reveal the importance of tacit knowledge--what we have learned from our own experience, through action. Although it has been seen as an indispensable element of expertise, intelligence researchers have found it difficult to quantify. Based on years of research, Dr. Sternberg and his colleagues have found that tacit knowledge can be quantified and can be taught. This volume thoroughly examines studies of practical intelligence in the United States and in many other parts of the world as well, and for varied occupations, such as management, military leadership, teaching, research, and sales.

Goleman taught us the importance of Emotional Intelligence. Since the publication of his EQ 'exposition', a whole array of Emotional Intelligence books has appeared, with each title purporting to put those theories of EQ into practice. This book goes deeper. Revealing the structure beneath Emotional Intelligence, 7 Steps utilises its unique framework to combine EQ and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) - the study of excellence that examines how behaviour is neurologically formulated. 7 Steps confidently integrates the insights of EQ and NLP to promote a greater understanding of how emotions work - and how they can be worked upon. This book is driven by one important message: 'don't just think about it, do it.' A model-based guide packed with powerful NLP exercises and self-assessment techniques, it allows you to generate your own trics, and to partake in an intensive EQ excellence course that utilises the self-programming practices of NLP. A thoroughly structured, functionally formatted guide to improving your EQ, 7 Steps serves as a textbook of EQ theory, a manual of NLP techniques, and a workbook that systematically leads you through the process of dynamic EQ improvement. It ans

In this interdisciplinary discussion on mental models, researchers from various areas in cognitive science tackle the following questions: What is a mental model? What are the prospects and limitations in applying the mental model notion in cognitive science? How can the ideas on the nature of mental models and their mode of operation be empirically substantiated? The primary goal of the research group was to work out a definition of mental models that embraces the overall use of this construct in cognitive science as well as the more specific conceptions used in particular research domains such as cognitive linguistics. Theoretical claims about the properties of mental models were discussed and their tenability evaluated against the empirical evidence.

The volume is divided into three parts. Fundamental aspects of mental models are presented in the first section, the following part contains contributions to the function of mental models in discourse processing, and finally problems of mental models in reasoning and problem solving are outlined.

The WISC-III is the most frequently used IQ assessment technique in the United States. This book discusses the clinical use of the WISC-III with respect to specific clinical populations, and covers research findings on the validity and reliability of the test. It also includes standardization data from the Psychological Corporation. Many of the contributors participated in the development of the WISC-III and are in a unique position to discuss the clinical uses of this measure.
The book describes the WISC-III from scientist-practitioner perspectives. It provides methods to aid in understanding and interpreting the WISC-III results for various groups of exceptional children. The book also presents detailed descriptions of behavior and achievement as well as recommendations for test interpreting standards.
WISC-III Clinical Use and Interpretation has immediate and practical relevance to professionals who administer, interpret, or use the results of the WISC-III. The solid writing by leading experts makes the contents of this book an essential reference for WISC-III users.
Key Features
* Leading experts discuss the clinical use of the WISC-III
* Thorough coverage of the literature with many new findings
* Covers wide range of exceptionalities from AD/HD to learning disabilities
* Direct relevance to practitioners, researchers, and trainers

Presenting the major trends, theories, and practices in assessing culturally diverse clients, Advances in Cross-Cultural Assessment comprises chapters from some of the key leading authors in intelligence and intelligence testing. Author Ronald J. Samuda and associates contend that classic IQ tests and traditional standardized tests of cognitive ability are only appropriate for middle-class mainstream individuals, not for those of different cultural backgrounds. For those who grow up in deficient "environmental backgrounds" (inadequate rearing, serious economic stress), the traditional objective standardized tests are neither valid nor reliable in measuring intelligence. A number of scholars, some of whom are among the bookAEs contributing authors, have introduced alternative approaches to assessing cognitive ability in persons from such backgrounds. A groundbreaking volume that encourages professionals to treat individuals on an individual basis, Advances in Cross-Cultural Assessment will heighten the awareness of professionals and academics in clinical and counseling psychology, educational psychology, social work, psychology, public health, and ethnic studies.

Offering an alternative approach to the current models of assessing intelligence, this volume presents a comprehensive and informed understanding of the biological and cultural influences on intellectual behavior. In Assessing Intelligence, authors Eleanor Armour-Thomas and Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol propose a "bio-cultural" model for intelligence assessment. This volume begins by examining the issues pertaining to intellectual assessment, the nature of intelligence, and the biological influences on cognition. It then explores a new model for assessing all childrenuThe Four-Tier Bio-Cultural Assessment System--and it presents an evaluation of that system. Finally, it offers training suggestions for teachers, parents, counselors, and psychologists for enhancing the intellectual potential of all children, and it presents implications for future research and clinical work as well as a vision for policymakers to ensure culturally sensitive assessment. Assessing Intelligence offers a diverse perspective from the fields of clinical psychology, school psychology, education, and education psychology. It will be a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in the fields of general psychology, clinical psychology, education, social psychology, cross-cultural psychology, multicultural psychology, political science, and cultural studies.

Offering an alternative approach to the current models of assessing intelligence, this volume presents a comprehensive and informed understanding of the biological and cultural influences on intellectual behavior. In Assessing Intelligence, authors Eleanor Armour-Thomas and Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol propose a "bio-cultural" model for intelligence assessment. This volume begins by examining the issues pertaining to intellectual assessment, the nature of intelligence, and the biological influences on cognition. It then explores a new model for assessing all childrenuThe Four-Tier Bio-Cultural Assessment System--and it presents an evaluation of that system. Finally, it offers training suggestions for teachers, parents, counselors, and psychologists for enhancing the intellectual potential of all children, and it presents implications for future research and clinical work as well as a vision for policymakers to ensure culturally sensitive assessment. Assessing Intelligence offers a diverse perspective from the fields of clinical psychology, school psychology, education, and education psychology. It will be a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in the fields of general psychology, clinical psychology, education, social psychology, cross-cultural psychology, multicultural psychology, political science, and cultural studies.

Ideally a logic text should encourage not only criticism of thinking, but critical thinking itself. To its great credit, ard Thinking does both. -s Nicholas Rescher, University of Pittsburgh Mullen effectively combines logic, epistemology, and good old fashioned common sense. The dialogues and examples are telling; the explanations clear and to the point. The book articulates, defends, and exemplifies all the important features of 'hard thinking'. Many texts purport to aid in the teaching of thinking; this one will clearly succeed. -s Harvey Siegel, University of Miami Not only does Mullen's text challenge students to do some hard thinking, but it explains why they should and it shows them how....[T]he text includes strong chapters on both traditional and modern formal logic. As a result, this book should prove suitable for a wide variety of courses. -s Bruce Umbaugh, Webster University

"CyberQuest" is a multimedia software and hardware system created to assist such areas as problem solving, strategic planning, design and more general innovation support. It is intended to help individuals and groups in industry and government come up with ideas and ways to implement them. The book's goals are to describe the nature of this new concept of a problem solving and innovation support and to capture and generalize on many of the experiences that have assisted the author in this endeavor to create "CyberQuest."

Lewis Terman heralded the field of gifted education in the United States by tracing the development of high-IQ children from their childhood in the1920s to midlife and beyond. The contemporary field of gifted education, building on the work of Terman and others, presumes that gifted children become exceptional adults. Longitudinal research offers the opportunity for critical examination of the way gifted children and adolescents are identified and illuminates the characteristics and experiences that affect sustained achievement. Only long-term studies can directly address whether or not gifted education is finding the right people and doing the right things. The studies demonstrate the fit between longitudinal methodology and the central issues of gifted education. Collectively, they investigate the early determinants of later academic and career achievement and creativity while employing varied identification practices, perspectives, theoretical orientations, and populations.

. . . Mr. Itzkoff places most of the blame for America's alleged intellectual decline on what he sees as an economically and intellectually elite cast of misguided liberals. They have isolated themselves from American society, he says, by their paternalistic treatment of the underclass, by discounting the importance of traditional family values and by failing to raise enough bright children to sustain national competence. The New York Times Book Review Few doubt that the United States has slipped from its longstanding eminence as the world's wealthiest and most productive nation. The problem for the past 30 years has been the diagnosis of both the decline and then the cure. Literally trillions of dollars have been expended in futile programs to stanch the hemorrhaging of our economic wealth, jobs, educational achievement, and cultural elan. Itzkoff argues that we will never stop the fall until we understand our real national dilemma. This is the decline in our national intelligence profile: fewer citizens of high intelligence, educational potential, and economic productivity. These ideas are taboo. Itzkoff, however, insists that these are the facts, and they must be examined. In this book, he lays out the available evidence for our social disintegration and suggests a rational program of policy initiatives that would begin to restore us to what we were as recently as 1955--the great hope of the world.