What is it about?
Despite being a very important concept in psychology, courses on intelligence are not common at universities. Often the topic is part of a larger course on other topics (like developmental psychology or testing) and not its own course. Most dedicated courses on the topic are based on discredited theories, such as Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, or empirically weak ideas, such as emotional intelligence. The article closes with an encouragement for psychology faculty to launch their own intelligence course, with tips and a sample course outline.
Featured Image
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Psychologists know more about intelligence than almost any other topic in the social sciences, and intelligence is an excellent predictor of academic, workplace, and health outcomes. Yet, classes dedicated to the topic are extremely rare. This may partially explain the widespread misunderstandings about basic facts of intelligence--even among psychologists and psychology students. When students learn inaccurate information--or nothing at all--about important psychological traits, it has several negative effects. It shortchanges students' education. It allows incorrect ideas to flourish and for people to be mislead by "experts." It prevents scientific information from informing public conversations and policies. Adding an intelligence course to the curriculum won't fix all of these problems, but it will make students and the public better informed than they are now.
Perspectives
This study greatly benefited from the work of my student and co-author, Jared Z. Burton. He collected and compiled the data and helped me make sense of it. It's always great to work with an industrious, creative student who is dedicated to the research project. It is also a pleasure to share information about my pedagogy with my colleagues, and I hope that some of them adopt my ideas for an intelligence course.
Dr Russell T. Warne
Independent Scholar
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Neglected Intelligence Course: Needs and Suggested Solutions, Teaching of Psychology, January 2020, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0098628320901381.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Open data and materials
Open access data and materials for all aspects of the study.
Open access version of the article
Open access version of the article, free for download.
John Walker blog post
Brief blog post from John Walker about the study.
Textbook accuracy study (open access)
Study showing that discussions on intelligence in introductory psychology textbooks are often factually incorrect.
Blog post summary and background
A blog post I wrote summarizing the study and providing background to why I decided to conduct the study.
UVU Press release
Utah Valley University press release about the study
Survey of intelligence beliefs
Related study surveying teachers and non-teachers about their beliefs and knowledge regarding intelligence.
In the Know: Debunking 35 Myths About Human Intelligence
My book about human intelligence, written for non-experts, that clarifies a lot of incorrect ideas about IQ and intelligence.
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
