Required Reading:

Available at Rutgers bookstore:

Howard Gardner, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century (Basic Books, 2000).

Evaluation:

Grade in the course will be based on two exams and a final paper.  Each of these three data points will be weighted equally.  In “close calls,” naturally contributions to the class discussion will be given favorable consideration.
 

Course Description:

More than any other topic in the field of psychology--and maybe in all of science--the study of "intelligence" has been characterized by intellectual mud-wrestling.  Some of you may even recall that, in the fall of 1994, the nation's obsession with the murder trial of a famous athlete was interrupted by a huge controversy over a book on intelligence filled with charts and graphs displaying the results of an arcane statistical procedure called logistic regression.  According to its  publishers, The Bell Curve sold close to half a million copies and may even have been read by a few of the people who bought it.  But this recent brouhaha was only the latest episode in the long-running quarrel over a number  of issues:

• What is intelligence?.
• To what degree is it genetically influenced?
• Are there systematic differences between groups?
• Should there be policy consequences contingent on the answers to any of these questions?

By far the best web site on the science of intelligence--the most thorough, well-informed, and relatively objective--is the University of Indiana's "History of Influences in the Development of Intelligence Theory and Testing."
 
"Upstream" is a very one-sided, conservative site that takes particular pride in being politically incorrect. Although the site's home page has links to a large number of topics, the issues relevant to this course are mostly found from the "Psychology" page, especially under the "IQ" link.
 
There is no single web site on the left as ambitious as "Upstream" is on the right, although there is no shortage of smaller sites.  Two examples are "Pseudo-Science and Race" and "ISAR," the Institute for the Study of Academic Racism.

Date                 Class Topic                                                        Reading
 

Jan 18

Introduction to the course

 

Jan 23

Early Definitions of Intelligence: 19th Century Anthropometrics

S.J. Gould, "Morton's Ranking of Races by Cranial Capacity," Science, 200 (1978): 503-509.  Available online from library website. J.P. Rushton, "The Mismeasures of Gould," National Review (September 15, 1997):  30-34.  At Eugenics Net

 

Jan 25

Francis Galton: The Emphasis on Individual Differences and the Origin of Eugenics

F. Galton, "Hereditary Talent and Character," Macmillan's Magazine, 12 (1865): 157-166.  Part I of "Psychclassics." F. Galton, "Classification of Men According to their Natural Gifts," from Hereditary Genius (1892).  At "Upstream."

 

Jan 30

Intelligence and Immigration in the 1920s

L. Kamin, "The Pioneers of IQ Testing," from The Science and Politics of IQ (1974).  Electronic reserve. C.C. Brigham, "A Study of American Intelligence" (1923).  Electronic reserve.

 

Feb 1

Intelligence and the Organization of Society

W. Lippman, articles in The New Republic (1922).  At "History Matters." L.M. Terman, response to Lippman in The New Republic (1922).  At "History Matters." H.H. Goddard, "Mental Levels and Democracy," from Human Efficiency and Levels of Intelligence (1920).  Electronic reserve.

 

Feb 6

Intelligence and Sterilization

H.H. Goddard, The Kallikak Family (1913).  At "Psychclassics." S.J. Gould, "Carrie Buck's Daughter," from The Flamingo's Smile (1985).  At "Natural History articles."  (Note: article has 3 pages).

 

Feb 8

Social Science and the Brown Decision

W.H. Tucker, "The Scientific Controversy over Integration," from The Science and Politics of RacialResearch. Electronic reserve.

 

Feb 13

The Furor over "Jensenism"

R. Fancher, "Arthur Jensen and the 'Jensenism' Controversy," from The Intelligence Men (1985). Electronic reserve. A.R. Jensen, "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement" (excerpt), from Harvard Educational Review (1969).  Electronic reserve.

 

 

Feb 20

First Exam

 

Feb 22    & Feb 27

To g or not to g: The Factor Analytic Definition

H. Gardner et al, "The Psychometric Perspective," from Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives (1996). Electronic reserve. A.R. Jensen, "The Structure of Mental Abilities," from Straight Talk about Mental Tests (1981).  Electronic reserve.

 

Mar 1

The Concept of Heritability

R.C. Lewontin, "Race and Intelligence," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (1970): 2-8. Electronic reserve. A.R. Jensen, "Race and the Genetics of Intelligence: Reply to Lewontin," and Lewontin's response, "Further Remarks on Race and the Genetics of Intelligence," Bulletin of the AtomicScientists (1970): 17-25.  Electronic reserve.

 

Mar 6

Heritability and Social Mobility

R.J. Herrnstein, "I.Q." Atlantic Monthly (Sep 1971): 43-64.  Electronic reserve. N. Chomsky, "The Fallacy of Richard Herrnstein's IQ," Herrnstein, "Whatever Happened to Vaudeville? A Reply to Professor Chomsky," and  Chomsky, "Comments on Herrnstein's Response," Cognition (1972 & 1973).  Electronic reserve.

Mar 8

Cyril Burt: Fraud or Framed?

J.P. Rushton, "Victim of Scientific Hoax (Cyril Burt and the Genetic IQ Controversy," Society, 31  (Mar-Apr 1994): 40-45.  At "Upstream."

 

Mar 20    & Mar 22    &  Mar 27

The Controversy over The Bell Curve

From R.J. Herrnstein & C. Murray, The Bell Curve (1994): "Cognitive Class and Education"; "Cognitive Partitioning by Occupation,"; "The Way We Are Headed"; "A Place for Everyone." All on electronic reserve.   Supportive review:  T.J. Bouchard, "Breaking the Last Taboo," Contemporary Psychology (1995).  At "Upstream. Critical Review:  H. Gardner, "Cracking Open the IQ Box," American Prospect, 20 (1995): 71-80.  At "Upstream."

 

Mar 29

Review

 

Apr 3

Second Exam

 

Apr 5    & Apr 10

Traditional Intelligence Tests

 

Apr 12    & Apr 17

Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

Sternberg, Successful Intelligence

  

Apr 19    & Apr 24

Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory

Gardner, Intelligence Reframed

 

Apr 26

Emotional Intelligence

 

May 1

Conclusion to the Course Final paper due by  Tuesday, May 2