Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence - Hardcover

Perkins, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0029252121 ISBN 13: 9780029252123

Publisher: The Free Press, 1995

Synopsis

Since the turn of the century, the idea that intellectual capacity is fixed has been generally accepted. But increasingly, psychologists, educators, and others have come to challenge this premise. "Outsmarting IQ" reveals how earlier discoveries about IQ, together with recent research, show that intelligence is not genetically fixed. Intelligence can be taught. David Perkins, renowned for his research on thinking, learning, and education, identifies three distinct kinds of intelligence: the fixed neurological intelligence linked to IQ tests; the specialized knowledge and experience that individuals acquire over time; and reflective intelligence, the ability to become aware of one's mental habits and transcend limited patterns of thinking. Although all of these forms of intelligence function simultaneously, it is reflective intelligence, Perkins shows, that affords the best opportunity to amplify human intellect. This is the kind of intelligence that helps us to make wise personal decisions, solve challenging technical problems, find creative ideas, and learn complex topics in mathematics, the sciences, management, and other areas. It is the kind of intelligence most needed in an increasingly competitive and complicated world. Using his own pathbreaking research at Harvard and a rich array of other sources, Perkins paints a compelling picture of the skills and attitudes underlying learnable intelligence. He identifies typical pitfalls in multiple perspectives, and neglecting evidence. He reveals the underlying mechanisms of intelligent behavior. And he explores new frontiers in the development of intelligence in education, business, and other settings. This book will beof interest to people who have a personal or professional stake in increasing their intellectual skills, to those who look toward better education and a more thoughtful society, and not least to those who follow today's heated debates about the nature of intelligence.

About this title

Review:

Israel Scheffler Harvard University A brilliant and also a hopeful book about learnable -- and even teachable -- intelligence. Everyone concerned with finding a path through the IQ wars -- and that means parents and policymakers as well as teachers -- ought to read this book by a master educator.

About the Author:

David N. Perkins is a senior research associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, co-director of Project Zero, and the author of several books, including Smart Schools: Better Thinking and Learning for Every Child (Free Press, 1992).

About this edition

• Publisher: The Free Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0029252121
• ISBN 13: 9780029252123
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 390