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Overview
Are we more intelligent than our parents? Are our parents more intelligent than our grandparents? The "Flynn effect" describes the intriguing findings of James Flynn's pioneering research into IQ - that the twentieth century saw massive gains in IQ scores. In What Is Intelligence? James Flynn offers his explanation of what lies behind these gains and works towards a new theory of intelligence.Editorials
From the Publisher
"What Is Intelligence? is one of the best books I have read on intelligence—ever...This is a brilliant book because, first, it helps resolve paradoxes that, in the past, seemed not to lend themselves to any sensible solutions...one of the best things about the book is Flynn's sense of humility...this is a masterful book that will influence thinking about intelligence for many years to come. It is one of those few books for which one can truly say that it is must reading for anyone."—Robert J. Sternberg, PsycCRITIQUES
"...In this thoughtful, well-written book, Flynn offers an account of why the so-called Flynn effect occurs and what it means (and does not mean)....This is the clearest, most engaging work on intelligence....All will learn from the author's nuanced arguments. Some may quibble with Flynn's observations, but their work is cut for them: one cannot fault his clarity or ingenuity. Essential.
—D.S. Dunn, Moravian College, CHOICE
"...James Flynn is best known for having discovered a stubborn fact...he established that in every country where consistent IQ tests have been given to large numbers of people over time, scores have been rising as far back as the records go, in some cases to the early 20th century. What Is Intelligence? is Flynn’s attempt to explain this phenomenon, now known as the Flynn effect... an important take on what we have made of ourselves over the past few centuries and might yet make of ourselves in the future."
—Cosma Shalizi, Assistant Professor in the Statistics Department at Carnegie Mellon University and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute, American Scientist