Biological Intelligence

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511615801.011

9 - Biological Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Robert J. Sternberg

Edited by

Robert J. Sternberg and

Elena L. Grigorenko

Show author details

Robert J. Sternberg: Affiliation:
Yale University
Robert J. Sternberg: Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Elena L. Grigorenko: Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Over the course of the years, there have been many diverse definitions of intelligence. A common feature of these definitions, however, has been intelligence as the ability to adapt to the environment (see, for example, “Intelligence and its Measurement,” 1921; Sternberg and Detterman, 1986). There is perhaps no other feature of definitions of intelligence that has this level of universality.

What has been left unclear in these definitions and in the theories based on them is exactly what adaptation to the environment means. I argue in this essay that there are two distinct senses of adaptation to the environment, and that their meanings are quite different. Both constitute kinds of intelligence, one biological, the other, cultural. The focus of this article is on the biological.

Before discussing the proposed view of biological intelligence, I briefly review some previous approaches on which any new view must build, or at least, with which any new view must come to terms.

BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO INTELLIGENCE

Biological approaches typically seek to understand intelligence by directly studying the brain and its functioning rather than by studying primarily products or processes of behavior (Jerison, 2000; Vernon, Wickett, Bazana, and Stelmack, 2000). Early studies, like those by Karl Lashley (1950) and others seeking to localize biological bases of intelligence and other aspects of mental processes, were a resounding failure, despite great efforts. But Lashley had only relatively primitive tools for studying the brain.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise , pp. 240 - 262

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615801.011 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Barrett, P. T., Daum, I., & Eysenck, H. J. (1990). Sensory nerve conduction and intelligence: A methodological study. Journal of Psychophysiology, 4(1), 1–13Google Scholar

Barrett, P. T., & Eysenck, H. J. (1992). Brain evoked potentials and intelligence: The Hendrickson Paradigm. Intelligence, 16, 361–381CrossRef Google Scholar

Barrett, P. T., & Eysenck, H. J. (1994). The relationship between evoked potential component amplitude, latency, contour length, zero-crossings, and psychometric intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 16, 3–32CrossRef Google Scholar

Barry, W., & Ertl, J. (1966). Brain waves and human intelligence. In F. B. Davis (Ed.), Modern educational developments: Another look (pp. 191–197). New York: Educational Records Bureau

Bennett, E. L., Diamond, M. C., Krech, D., & Rosenzweig, M. R. (1964). Chemical and anatomical plasticity of the brain. Science, 146, 610–619CrossRef Google Scholar

Bjorklund, D. F., & Kipp, K. (2001). Social cognition, inhibition, and theory of mind: The evolution of human intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Bogen, J. E. (1975). Some educational aspects of hemispheric specialization. UCLA Educator, 17, 24–32Google Scholar

Boring, E. G. (1923, June 6). Intelligence as the tests test it. New Republic, 35–37

Bouchard, T. J., Jr., & McGue, M. (1981). Familial studies of intelligence: A review. Science, 212, 1055–1059CrossRef

Bradshaw, J. L. (2001). The evolution of intellect: Cognitive, neurological and primatological aspects and hominid culture. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Broca, P. P. (1861). Nouvelle observation d'aphemie produite par une lésion de la moitié postérieure des deuxième et troisième circonvolutions frontales gauches [New observations/recordings of aphemie produced by an injury of the rear half of the second and third frontal left convolutions]. Bulletins de la Societé Anotomique de Paris, 36, 398–407Google Scholar

Brody, N. (2000). History of theories and measurements of intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 16–33). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef

Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101, 568–586CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Byrne, R. L. (2001). The primate origins of human intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Calvin, W. H. (2001). Pumping up intelligence: Abrupt climate jumps and the evolution of higher intellectual functions during the ice ages. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Caryl, P. G. (1994). Early event-related potentials correlate with inspection time and intelligence. Intelligence, 18(1), 15–46CrossRef Google Scholar

Comery, T. A., Shah, R., & Greenough, W. T. (1995). Differential rearing alters spine density on medium-sized spiny neurons in the rat corpus striatum: Evidence for association of morphological plasticity with early response gene expression. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 63, 217–219CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Corballis, M. C. (2001). Evolution of the generative mind. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2001). Unraveling the enigma of human intelligence: evolutionary psychology and the multimodular mind. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Darwin, C. (1859). The origin of species. London: Murray

Davis, F. B. (1971). The measurement of mental capability through evoked-potential recordings. Greenwich, CT: Educational Records Bureau

Deary, I. J. (2000). Simple information processing. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 267–284). New York: Cambridge University Press

Deary, I. J., & Caryl, P. G. (1994). Intelligence, inspection time, and cognitive strategies. In P. A. Vernon (Ed.), Biological approaches to the study of human intelligence. Norwood, NJ: Ablex

Diamond, M. C., Ingham, C. A., Johnson, R. E., Bennett, E. L., & Rosenzweig, M. R. (1976). Effects of environment on morphology of rat cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Journal of Neurobiology, 7, 75–85CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Dustman, R. E., & Beck, E. C. (1972). Relationship of intelligence to visually evoked potentials. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 33, 254Google Scholar

Ertl, J., & Schafer, E. (1969). Brain response correlates of psychometric intelligence. Nature, 233, 421–2CrossRef Google Scholar

Farah, M. J. (1988). The neuropsychology of mental imagery: Converging evidence from brain-damaged and normal subjects. In J. Stiles-Davis, M. Kritchevsky, & U. Bellugi (Eds.), Spatial cognition: Brain bases and development (pp. 33–56). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Farah, M. J. (1994). Beyond “pet” methodologies to converging evidence. Trends in Neurosciences, 17(12), 514–515CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Farah, M. J. (1996). Is face recognition “special”? Evidence from neuropsychology. Behavioural Brain Research, 76, 181–189CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Flanagan, O., Hardcastle, V., & Nahmias, E. (2001). Is human intelligence an adaptation? Cautionary observations from the philosophy of biology. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Fuchs, J. L., Montemayor, M., & Greenough, W. T. (1990). Effect of environmental complexity on size of the superior colliculus. Behavioral and Neural Biology, 54, 198–203CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Galton, F. (1883). Inquiry into human faculty and its development. London: Macmillan

Gazzaniga, M. S. (1985). The social brain: Discovering the networks of the mind. New York: Basic Books

Godfrey-Smith, P. (2001). Environmental complexity and the evolution of cognition. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Gould, S. J. (1996). Full house. New York: Harmony

Haier, R. J. (1990). The end of intelligence research. Intelligence, 14, 371–374CrossRef Google Scholar

Haier, R. J., Nuechterlein, K. H., Hazlett, E., Wu, J. C., Pack, J., Browning, H. L., & Buchsbaum, M. S. (1988). Cortical glucose metabolic rate correlates of abstract reasoning and attention studied with positron emission tomography. Intelligence, 12, 199–217CrossRef Google Scholar

Haier, R. J., Siegel, B., Tang, C., Abel, L., & Buchsbaum, M. S. (1992). Intelligence and changes in regional cerebral glucose metabolic rate following learning. Intelligence, 16, 415–426CrossRef Google Scholar

Hebb, D. O. (1949). The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological theory. New York: Wiley

Hendrickson, A. E. (1982). The biological basis of intelligence. Part I: Theory. In H. J. Eysenck (Ed.), A model for intelligence (pp. 151–196). Berlin: Springer-Verlag

Hendrickson, A. E., & Hendrickson, D. E. (1980). The biological basis for individual differences in intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 3–33CrossRef Google Scholar

Hendrickson, D. E. (1982). The biological basis of intelligence. Part II: Measurement. In H. J. Eysenck (Ed.), A model for intelligence (pp. 197–228). Berlin: Springer-Verlag

Hoadley, M. F. (with Pearson, K.). (1929). On measurement of the internal diameters of the skull in relation: I. To the prediction of its capacity; II. To the “preeminence” of the left hemisphere. Biometrika, 21, 85-123

“Intelligence and its measurement”: A symposium (1921). Journal of Educational Psychology, 12, 123–147, 195–216, 271–275CrossRef

Jensen, A. R. (1982). Reaction time and psychometric g. In H. J. Eysenck (Ed.), A model for intelligence. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-VerlagCrossRef

Jensen, A. R. (1997). The puzzle of nongenetic variance. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity, and environment (pp. 42–88). New York: Cambridge University Press

Jerison, H. J. (1982): The evolution of biological intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of human intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press (pp.: 723–791)

Jerison, H. J. (2000). The evolution of intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 216–244). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef

Jerison, H. J. (2001). On theory in comparative psychology. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Jones, T. A., & Greenough, W. T. (1996). Ultrastructural evidence for increased contact between astrocytes and synapses in rats reared in a complex environment. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 65, 48–56CrossRef Google Scholar

Juel-Nielsen, N. (1965). Individual and environment; a psychiatric-psychological investigation of monozygotic twins reared apart. New York: Humanities Press

Kutas, M., McCarthy, G., & Donchin, E. (1977). Augmenting mental chronometry: The P300 as a measure of stimulus evaluation time. Science, 197, 792–795CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lashley, K. S. (1950). In search of the engram. Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology, 4, 454–482Google Scholar

Levy, J. (1974). Cerebral asymmetries as manifested in split-brain man. In M. Kinsbourne & W. L. Smith (Eds.), Hemispheric disconnection and cerebral function. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas

Loeb, V. (2000, December 25). Future threats: A panel of experts outlines global conflicts and economic trends over the next 15 years. The Washington Post Weekly Edition, 16

Loehlin, J. C. (1989). Partitioning environmental and genetic contributions to behavioral development. American Psychologist, 44, 1285–1292CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lohman, D. F. (2000). Complex information processing and intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 285–340). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef

Luria, A. R. (1966). The human brain and psychological processes. New York: Harper & Row

Luria, A. R. (1973). The working brain. New York: Basic Books

Luria, A. R. (1980). Higher cortical functions in man (2d ed., rev. and expanded). New York: Basic Books

Mackintosh, N. J. (1998). IQ and human intelligence. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press

Magliero, A., Bashore, T. R., Coles, M. G., & Donchin, E. (1984). On the dependence of P300 latency on stimulus evaluation processes. Psychophysiology, 21(2), 171–186CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Matarazzo, J. D. (1992). Biological and physiological correlates of intelligence. Intelligence, 16(3,4), 257–258CrossRef Google Scholar

McCarthy, G., & Donchin, E., (1981). A metric for thought: A comparison of P300 latency and reaction time. Science, 211, 77–9CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

McGarry-Roberts, P. A., Stelmack, R. M., & Campbell, K. B. (1992). Intelligence, reaction time, and event-related potentials. Intelligence, 16(3,4), 289–313CrossRef Google Scholar

Newman, H. H., Freeman, F. N., & Holzinger, K. J. (1937). Twins: A study of heredity and environment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Perry, N. W., McCow, J. G., Cunningham, W. R., Falgout, J. C., & Street, W. J. (1976). Multivariate visual evoked response correlates of intelligence. Psychophysiology, 13, 323–329Google Scholar PubMed

Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. New York: W. W. Norton & Co

Plomin, R. (1997). Identifying genes for cognitive abilities and disabilities. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity, and environment (pp. 89–104). New York: Cambridge University Press

Plotkin, H. (2001). Intelligence as predisposed skeptical induction engines. In R. J. Sternberg & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Polich, J., & Kok, A. (1995). Cognitive and biological determinants of P300: An integrative review. Biological Psychology, 41(2), 103–146CrossRef Google Scholar

Reed, T. E. (1984). Residual latency (delay at the neuromuscular junction): Normative values and heritability in mice. Behavior Genetics, 14(3), 209–219CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Reed, T. E., & Jensen, A. R. (1991). Arm nerve conduction velocity (NCV), brain NCV, reaction time, and intelligence. Intelligence, Vol 15, 33–47CrossRef Google Scholar

Reed, T. E., & Jensen, A. R. (1992). Conduction velocity in a brain nerve pathway of normal adults correlates with intelligence level. Intelligence, 16, 259–272CrossRef Google Scholar

Rijsdijk, F. V., & Boomsma, D. I. (1997). Genetic mediation of the correlation between peripheral nerve conduction velocity and IQ. Behavior Genetics, 27(2), 87–98CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Rijsdijk, F. V., Boomsma, D. I., & Vernon, P. A. (1995). Genetic analysis of peripheral nerve conduction velocity in twins. Behavior Genetics, 25(1) 341–348CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Scarr, S. (1997). Behavior-genetic and socialization theories of intelligence: Truce and reconciliation. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity and environment (pp. 3–41). New York: Cambridge University Press

Schafer, R. (1982). The relevance of the “here and now” transference interpretation to the reconstruction of early development. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 63(1) 77–82Google Scholar PubMed

Segalowitz, S. J., Unsal, A., & Dywan, J. (1992). Cleverness and wisdom in 12-year-olds: Electrophysiological evidence for late maturation of the frontal lobe. Developmental Neuropsychology, 8(2–3) 179–298CrossRef Google Scholar

Shields, J. (1962). Monozygotic twins brought up apart and brought up together. London: Oxford University Press

Shucard, D. W., & Callaway, E. (1973). Relationship between human intelligence and frequency analysis of cortical evoked response. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 36, 147–151CrossRef Google Scholar

Shucard, D. W., & Horn, J. L. (1972). Evoked cortical potentials and measurement of human abilities. Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 78(1) 59–68CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Sperry, R. W. (1961). Cerebral organization and behavior. Science, 133, 1749–1757CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Stenhouse, D. (1973). The evolution of intelligence: A general theory and some of its implications. New York: Harper & Row

Sternberg, R. J. (1995). Expertise in complex problem solving: A comparison of alternative conceptions. In P. A. Frensch & J. Funke (Eds.), Complex problem solving: European perspectives (pp. 295–321). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Sternberg, R. J., & Detterman, D. K. (1986). What is intelligence? Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing Corporation

Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (Eds.). (1997). Intelligence, heredity, and environment. New York: Cambridge University Press

Sternberg, R. J., & Horvath, J. A. (1998). Cognitive conceptions of expertise nad their relations to giftedness. In R. Friedman & K. Rogers (Eds.), Talent in context (pp. 177–191). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Sternberg, R. J., & Kaufman, J. C. (Eds.). (2001). The evolution of intelligence. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Tan, Ü. (1996). Correlations between nonverbal intelligence and peripheral nerve conduction velocity in right-handed subjects: Sex-related differences. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 22, 123–128CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Vernon, P. A., & Mori, M. (1989). Intelligence, reaction times, and nerve conduction velocity. Behavior Genetics (abstracts), 19, 779

Vernon, P. A., & Mori, M. (1992). Intelligence, reaction times, and peripheral nerve conduction velocity. Intelligence, 16(3–4), 273–288CrossRef

Vernon, P. A., Wickett, J. C., Bazana, P. G., & Stelmack, R. M. (2000). The neuropsychology and psycholophysiology of human intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 245–264). New York: Cambridge University Press

Wahlsten, D., & Gottlieb, G. (1997). The invalid separation of effects of nature and nurture: Lessons from animal experimentation. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity, and environment (pp. 163–192). New York: Cambridge University Press

Wickett, J. C., & Vernon, P. A. (1994). Peripheral nerve conduction velocity, reaction time, and intelligence: An attempt to replicate Vernon and Mori. Intelligence, 18, 127–132CrossRef Google Scholar

Wickett, J. C., Vernon, P. A., & Lee, D. H. (2000). The relationships between factors of intelligence and brain volume. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(6) 1095–1122CrossRef Google Scholar

Widaman, K. F., Carlson, J. S., Saetermoe, C. L., & Galbraith, G. C. (1993). The relationship of auditory evoked potentials to fluid and crystallized intelligence. Personality & Individual Differences, 15(2) 205–217CrossRef Google Scholar

Zentall, T. R. (2000). Animal intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of intelligence (pp. 197–215). New York: Cambridge University PressCrossRef

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.