Intelligence: All That Matters

Stuart Ritchie

Jun 2015 · Sold by John Murray

About this ebook

"A wonderful, readable summary of what we know about intelligence." Dylan Wiliam, Institute of Education

The scientific evidence is clear: IQ tests are extraordinarily useful. IQ scores are related to a huge variety of important life outcomes like educational success, income, and even life expectancy, and biological studies have shown they are genetically influenced and linked to measures of the brain. Studies of intelligence and IQ are regularly published in the world's top scientific journals.

This book is an entertaining introduction to the state of the art in intelligence and IQ, and shows how we have arrived at what we know from a century's research. It engages head-on with many of the criticisms of IQ testing by describing the latest high-quality scientific research, and makes a positive case for IQ research, focusing on the potential benefits for society that a better understanding of intelligence can bring.

Ratings and reviews

Ritchie presents the history, controversies, and actual evidence around intelligence and intelligence testing in a clear, easy-to-follow, and witty way. I almost feel that my intelligence was boosted just by reading the book. (And, having read the book, I now know why boosting intelligence is both possible and desirable.)

About the author

Dr. Stuart J. Ritchie is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology in the University of Edinburgh's Department of Psychology. His research focuses on how intelligence develops and changes across the lifespan, what might influence it in childhood, and how we might prevent it from declining in later life. His studies of intelligence have been published in journals such as Psychological Science, Current Biology, Child Development, and Intelligence.