Human Abilities

This volume brings together many of the leading researchers on human intelligence and cognition to address issues including definition, measurement, and instructional design. Its publication is a result of the Inaugural Spearman Seminar recently held at the University of Plymouth -- a seminar that is slated to become a regularly scheduled event providing a major international forum for the presentation of work on human abilities. To properly inaugurate this series, scientific experts in this field were asked to reflect on various issues raised but not resolved in Charles Spearman's classic work, The Abilities of Man: Their Nature and Measurement, published in 1927. As a result of this approach, the book offers a unique overview of the way in which the study of human abilities has developed since 1927, and of current positions in the field. It offers exhaustive discussions on: * the nature of cognitive abilities and intelligence -- a review of how the factor analytic approach to abilities which grew out of Spearman's work has developed, thoughts regarding the contribution of a cross-cultural perspective, and an elucidation of some of the conceptual issues which often cloud discussions of ability; * different aspects of the contribution of cognitive psychology to our understanding of abilities -- the relationship between Spearman's g and working memory, links between attention and cognitive style, and the area of spatial abilities; * recent developments in latent variable and item response modeling; and * applied issues -- the argument that little predictive value can be gained in occupational selection from measuring abilities other than Spearman's g, and the question of aptitude treatment interactions in education.

The results of more than seventy years of investigation, by factor analysis, of the varieties of cognitive abilities, are described with particular attention to abilities in language, thinking, memory, visual and auditory perception, creativity, etc.

This volume brings together many of the leading researchers on human intelligence and cognition to address issues including definition, measurement, and instructional design. Its publication is a result of the Inaugural Spearman Seminar recently held at the University of Plymouth -- a seminar that is slated to become a regularly scheduled event providing a major international forum for the presentation of work on human abilities. To properly inaugurate this series, scientific experts in this field were asked to reflect on various issues raised but not resolved in Charles Spearman's classic work, The Abilities of Man: Their Nature and Measurement, published in 1927. As a result of this approach, the book offers a unique overview of the way in which the study of human abilities has developed since 1927, and of current positions in the field. It offers exhaustive discussions on: * the nature of cognitive abilities and intelligence -- a review of how the factor analytic approach to abilities which grew out of Spearman's work has developed, thoughts regarding the contribution of a cross-cultural perspective, and an elucidation of some of the conceptual issues which often cloud discussions of ability; * different aspects of the contribution of cognitive psychology to our understanding of abilities -- the relationship between Spearman's g and working memory, links between attention and cognitive style, and the area of spatial abilities; * recent developments in latent variable and item response modeling; and * applied issues -- the argument that little predictive value can be gained in occupational selection from measuring abilities other than Spearman's g, and the question of aptitude treatment interactions in education.

Choice Recommended Read Psychological research into human intelligence and abilities presents us with a number of difficult questions: Are human abilities explained by a single core intelligence or by multiple intelligences? How should abilities be assessed? With tests unlike the problems which people normally have to solve, or with practical problems closer to those encountered in life, school and work? Do ability tests predict how a person will behave? If so, can they predict whether a person will succeed at school and at work? Intelligence and Human Abilities critically evaluates research evidence from the past 100 years to consider these and other issues. It shows that, despite the apparent contradictions in this research, the evidence in fact supports one coherent model, a fact which has clear implications for researchers, educators and test-users. This clear and engaging text provides an up-to-date evaluation of what the empirical evidence tells us about the number, nature and origins of human abilities. It will be essential reading for students and practitioners of psychology and education, and also for users of ability tests such as applied psychologists and personnel managers.

Originally published in 1988, Human Abilities in Cultural Context constituted a major development in conceptualising and studying human abilities. It formed a unique reference frame. This study offers a re-evaluation of ability theory by the editors, S. H. Irvine and J. W. Berry, and strong individual statements by H. J. Eysenck, Arthur R. Jensen, Joseph R. Royce, and Robert J. Sternberg, who represent markedly different approaches to the measurement of intelligence. It also focuses on contexts in which the limits of assessment by psychological tests are defined: in minority native groups in North America, in migrants to Britain, in lower-caste enclaves in India, among African minorities, and among Australian Aborigines. Written by long-term residents of the regions in question, these chapters presented a wealth of fresh data in relation to Western formulations of theory and practice.

Choice Recommended Read Psychological research into human intelligence and abilities presents us with a number of difficult questions: Are human abilities explained by a single core intelligence or by multiple intelligences? How should abilities be assessed? With tests unlike the problems which people normally have to solve, or with practical problems closer to those encountered in life, school and work? Do ability tests predict how a person will behave? If so, can they predict whether a person will succeed at school and at work? Intelligence and Human Abilities critically evaluates research evidence from the past 100 years to consider these and other issues. It shows that, despite the apparent contradictions in this research, the evidence in fact supports one coherent model, a fact which has clear implications for researchers, educators and test-users. This clear and engaging text provides an up-to-date evaluation of what the empirical evidence tells us about the number, nature and origins of human abilities. It will be essential reading for students and practitioners of psychology and education, and also for users of ability tests such as applied psychologists and personnel managers.

First published in 1950, this revised edition of The Structure of Human Abilities was published in 1961, but remained largely unchanged from the original save for an additional supplement on the developments in factorial work on human abilities from 1950-1959. Much research had been carried out during the years leading up to publication, in England and America, into mental abilities; and modern methods of statistical treatment, especially factor analysis, had been increasingly used. It was felt that the mass of diverse material was apt to confuse the student of psychology of the time, especially as the results of such research were often apparently conflicting. Professor Vernon, one of the leading experts in this branch of psychology, sifted the material and attempted to provide a consistent picture of our mental structure.