First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Evolutionary psychology and behavioural genetics are two successful and important fields in the study of human behaviour, but practitioners in these subjects have different conceptions of the nature of human intelligence. Evolutionary psychologists dispute the existence of general intelligence and emphasise the differences among species. They argue that natural and sexual selection would be expected to produce intelligences that are specialised for particular domains, as encountered by particular species. Behavioural geneticists consider general intelligence to be the most fundamental aspect of intelligence and concentrate on the differences between individuals of the same species. This exciting book features papers and discussion contributions from leading behavioural geneticists, evolutionary psychologists and experts on intelligence that explore the differences and the tensions between these two approaches. The nature of 'g' or general intelligence is discussed in detail, as is the issue of the heritability of intelligence. The alternative approaches that emphasise domain-specific intelligences are explored, alongside wide-ranging discussions on a broad range of issues such as the biological basis for intelligence, animal models and changes in IQ scores over time.

First published in 1999. The author writing in 1923, starts with the assumption that conduct originates in the actor himself, and tries to discover what intelligent conduct may mean if we follow this assumption to its limits. He then sets about to harmonize three schools of thought about human nature which have the appearance of being irreconcilably disparate. Stated in a nutshell, his message is that “psychology starts with the unrest of the inner self, and it completes its discovery in the contentment of the inner self”.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, converging scientific and social movements had generated increasing concern over the meaning of the term intelligence. Traditional definitions, rooted in the history of intelligence testing and school selection practices, had come under challenge as experimental psychology turned increasingly to the study of human cognitive processes and as understanding of the influence of culture on patterns of thinking grew. Originally published in 1976, the theme of the book is an examination of cognitive and adaptive processes involved in intelligent behavior and a look at how these processes might be related to tested intelligence. The book contains sections on intelligence from the psychometric viewpoint, computer simulations of intelligent behavior, studies of intelligence as social and biological adaptation, and intelligence analyzed in terms of basic cognitive processes. In a number of the chapters the constructs and methods of modern information-processing psychology are used in their analyses of intelligence. As the reader will discover, the divisions of the book do not necessarily represent competing viewpoints, but rather multiple windows on the phenomenon of human intelligence. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

Metaphors of Mind seeks to help readers understand human intelligence as viewed from a variety of standpoints, such as those of psychology, anthropology, computational science, sociology, and philosophy. Much of the present confusion surrounding the concept of intelligence stems from our having looked at it from these different standpoints without considering how they relate to each other or how they might be combined into a unified view that goes beyond the boundaries of a particular discipline. Readers of Metaphors of Mind will come away with a comprehensive understanding of the concept of intelligence and how ideas about it have evolved and are continuing to evolve.

Provides an overview of leading scholars' approaches to understanding the nature of intelligence, its measurement, its investigation, and its development.