[ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA - VOL. 9 - 1974]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470025-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: January 1, 1974
• Content Type: BOOK

STT
161 -7 1_~
Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-01314
deed, the three or four major relevant studies available
by 1970 revealed small average gains in population per-
formance over 10 or 40 :ears in these countries. It is
probable th:.tt the gains reflect social and environmental
improvement rather than genetic change.
Beneficial effects of superior environment and oppor-
tunity on riteasured intelligence seem to be shown in
studies of U.S. blacks. Average IQ scores store higher
among blacks in New York and Illinois than among
whites in the economically poorer Southern states of
Mississippi and Georgia. Although some of this effect
was attributed to selective migration, average score
among the northern blacks also was consistently related
to length of residence in Northern states.
Efforts to compare national and racial groups chronic-
ally have faced the problem of designing appropriate
tests. Although some cognitive tests are undoubtedly
more "culture-fair" than others, cultural and environ-
mental differences are so complex (P.E. Vernon, 1969)
that test constructors with claims to know "culture-fair"
characteristics should be treated with skepticism. Even
within one culture it is extraordinarily difficult to devise
measures that are acceptably "fair" to all social groups.
and that at the same time are effective indicators of
intelligence. Since verbal skills tend to be particularly
susceptible to early deprivation and environmental hand-
icap, nonverbal tests seem. to provide a most limited so-
Iutiotl.
Development and decline of intelligence. Predictive
estimates of intelligence in later life can be made with a
fair degree of success at about the age of four or five, but
little earlier. B.S. Bloom (1964) estimated that about 50
percent of variation in intelligence at age 17 is predictable
at a>.e four. Research into native language acquisition in
infancy was active in the 1970s, revolutionized by prog-
ress in psycholinguistics, and was expected eventually
to influence developmental theories of intelligence.
Measures of general intelligence proved serviceable
for predicting a variety of performance over the life-
span, as shown by Tel man's massive studies, but the
measures are too crude for detailed accounts of develop-
ment. Nevertheless, developmental curves for separate
test components differ markedly; for instance, verbal
scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale typically
remain fairly constant throughout adult life, particularly
anu orig high scorers hose verbal skills may increase up
to late middle age), while average Wechsler performance
scores decline with increasing steepness between ages 20
and 60.
As long as enough time is allowed, problem-solving
ability tends to deteriorate relatively little before old
;ace, but, speed in dealing with unfamiliar problems drops
sharply. This difference appears to be closely associated
with a diminishing scope of attention and decline in
short-term memory span. Persons who show higher in-
telligence in early life tend to hold up best, curves of
high and low scorers fanning out more widely with in-
creasing age.
These statistical trends from intelligence testing have
been enriched by the clinical methods of lean Piaget, in
which cognitive development among children is inten-
sively studied. In some respects this ntcdthudee clittique is
relatively, subjective and is limited to comparatively
small samples of subjects.
assimilation and accommodation; cv
passes through specifiable phases of
ment in a fixed order that correspond
to chronological age: such developmi
in that each phase incorporates rath
those preceding: the cognitive structur
can be described in terms of niathen
lattices.
While much of this work is highly tc
means easy to folloss, liaget's concep
changes in cognitive performance won wide acceptance.
Numerous cross-culten'al studies later lent support to the
general applicability of Piaget's findings.
The influence of computers. The already considerable
influence of high-speed computers in the study of intelli-
gence seems likely to increase. Beyond the enormous
computational facilities they provide, such computers are
of value in generating mathematical models of intelli-
gence and in simulating complex cognitive performance.
Even in its infancy, the study of machine intelligence has
produced striking results.
Computers already can play checkers (draughts) better
than their programmer. They can give correct answers to
items from intelligence tests that are difficult enough to
be useful in the selection of university students. More
general computer programs serve to solve a very wide
range of logical problems; for instance, these machines
discover proofs of geometrical theorems.
Computer developments by the 1970s had not produced
any single widely accepted theory of intelligence, but
current ideas about brain mechanisms are expresstxi with
growing frequency in cybernetic terms, offering close
analogies to computer operation. Systematic trial-and-
error loops in computer programs are clearly similar to
human processes in solving problems and in testing hy-
potheses. individual differences in intelligence are com-
ing to be expressed in such computer terms as basic
speed of operations, quick access to memory storage,
number and complexity of programs or schemata on
file, and adequacy of programming language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The pioneer work of Binet is well sum-
marized in .Lw. tEEVts, Thinking About Thinking (1965).
Early statistical views are described in C.E. SPEARMAN, The
Abilities of Man ( 1927 ). A useful summary of early U.S. re-
search into intelligence and of the development of major
theories is by R.D. TuDI'ENtIAM in L. POSTMAN (ed.), Psychol-
ogy in the Making (1tt61 ). An excellent survey of the logic
and principles of factor analysis is provided in C.L. t3URr, The
Factors of the Hind (1940). A comprehensive account of a
multifactorial theory of intelligence is in J.P. outLFOan, The
Nature of ilunurn Intelligence (1967). An eclectic overview
of the literature, including that on creativity and on machine
intelligence is provided by n.J. BUTCHER, Human Intelligence
(1968), and in EUTCttER and U.E. LOMAX, Readings in human
i ntelligetnce (1971). Other useful collections of readings are
s. WISE[vMAN (ed.), Inrelligence and Ability (1967); and L.E.
TYLER (ed.), Intelligence: Some Recurring Issues (1969). Ac-
counts emphasizing the importance of heredity are by A.R.
JENSEN, "How Much Can We Boost lQ and Scholastic
Achievement?," Barnard Educational Review, 39:1-123, 449-
83 (1969); and of cultural and environmental influences by
J.Mev. HUNT, Intelligence and Experience (1961); and P.E.
VERNON, Intelligence and Cultural Environment (1969). A
definitive summary of l'iagel's earlier work is in J.st. FLAVELL,
The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget (1963).
overall picture of human cognitive development up to
adolescence, is contrasted with earlier piecemeal analyses Intelligence and Counterintelligence
of individual di(icrences. His theory is a unique effort to Intelligence means,. basically, evaluated information. As
syr.lbesize uiolOgy and epistemology. Problems in epis- used in this article it denotes a wide variety of govern-
temolo_w how people can think of a perfect circle mental activities related to national security and foreign
when Ihtcy ltasc never seen one) were it classic concern policy. A statesman's day often begins and ends with the
of philo_,op hens, who generally knew little about early reading of intelligence reports. While accurate informa-
cognitive devcloprnent. Piaget's approach was to tackle Lion may riot guarantee an optimum decision, incorrect
such problems by detailed observation of individual or inadequate information has demonstrably caused dis-
children. aster. Thus it is not enough that accurate information
He concluded that intelligent behaviour depends on an exists somewhere in government files: such information
initially prce trious, increasing I dl0~tu'0,WI-'t-se 7`00f0' fflrl''' A'1RD 88L61 31t4R'OO4~70025-7
tween contrasting intellectual t nctions that to called t e rig tt time.
The theories of Picket. Piaget's xvork produced an