The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability

by Arthur R. Jensen

Overview

Jensen provides a comprehensive treatment of one of the major constructs of behavioral science—general mental ability—labeled the g factor by its discoverer, Charles Spearman. The g factor is about individual differences in mental abilities. In factor analyses of any and every large and diverse collection of measures of mental abilities, however varied the content of knowledge and skills they call upon, g emerges as the largest, most general source of differences between individuals and between certain subpopulations.

Jensen fully and clearly explains the psychometric, statistical, genetic, and physiological basis of g, as well as the major theoretical challenges to the concept. For decades a key construct in differential psychology, the g factor's significance for scholars and researchers in the brain sciences as well as education, sociology, anthropology, evolutionary psychology, economics, and public policy is clearly evident in this, the most comprehensive treatment of g ever published.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275961039
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/28/1998
Series:	Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence
Pages:	664
Sales rank:	645,402
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.44(d)
Lexile:	1570L (what's this?)

About the Author

ARTHUR R. JENSEN is Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley. During the 40 years of his tenure at Berkeley, he has been a prolific researcher in the psychology of human learning, individual differences in cognitive abilities, psychometrics, behavioral genetics, and mental chronometry. His work, published in six earlier books and some 400 articles in scientific and professional jourbanals, has placed him among the most frequently cited figures in contemporary psychology.

Table of Contents

Preface
A Little History
The Discovery of g
The Trouble with "Intelligence"
Models and Characteristics of g
Challenges to g
Biological Correlates to g
The Heritability of g
Information Processing and g
The Practical Validity of g
Construct, Vehicles, and Measurements
Population Differences in g
Population Differences in g: Hypothesized Causes
Sex Differences in g
The g Nexus
Appendix A: Spearman's "Law of Diminishing Returbans"
Appendix B: Method of Correlated Vectors
Appendix C: Multivariate Analyses of a Nexus
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

?The issue of male/female intelligence has never before been dispositively resolved. And in recent years a number of scholars have mounted a powerful and facially plausible argument for an average male superiority....I had observed that scholars on both sides of the argument seemed intensely interested in one question: What does Art Jensen think?....Jensen's new book...is a 650-page blockbuster that summarizes Art's work on scores of issues, and leaves you thinking that g is not just some academic construct but a biological phenomenon with vast explanatory power....He conclude(s): 'The sex difference in psychometric g is either totally nonexistent or is of uncertain direction and inconsequential magnitude.' That settles it: On average the sexes are equally smart. And yes, that's news.?-Forbes

.,."[J]ensen provides a rigorous and persuasive case that the measurement of g is, contrary to the arguments of many critics..., a highly objective enterprise....One of my distinguished colleagues recently told me that every time he read anything by Arthur Jensen, it was a joy to read and he learned something new. The g Factor continues this tradition. It is a joy to read and is also full of new ideas. It is the work of a master scientist."-Contemporary Psychology

"The g Factor is a book that an academic publisher should kill for. Arthur Jensen is among the pre-eminent psychometricians of the last half-century....It is a book that every scholar working in the area will have to read. An indispensable reference in every psychology library. A book to hold up to young scholars as an example of why a lifetime of patient and meticulous scholarship is worth while."-Charles Murray, in National Review

From the Publisher

In the 1920s, Charles Spearman developed the concept of a single, general factor, known as , that could be used to measure individual and group differences in mental ability. Jensen (educational psychology, U. of California, Berkeley) sees this factor as a biologically based variable that has broad powers for explaining human affairs. He discusses the factor's essential psychometric meaning, its basis in genetics and brain physiology, and its social significance. He also suggests directions for future research. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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