On Intelligence

A Biological Treatise on Intellectual Development, Expanded Edition

ISBN 9780674634565

Publication date: 09/01/1996

Ceci argues that traditional conceptions of intelligence ignore the role of society in shaping intelligence and underestimate the intelligence of non-Western societies. He puts forth a "bio-ecological" framework of individual differences in intellectual development that is intended to address some of the major deficiencies of extant theories of intelligence. The focus is on alternative interpretations of phenomena that emerge when implicit assumptions of intelligence researchers are challenged.

Praise

An exciting book as well as an important one...It strikes a fatal blow to the idea that a construct of general intelligence can play an important role in our efforts to understand why people differ in their intellectual abilities.

—Michael J. A. Howe, British Journal of Educational Psychology
A very ambitious book...Ceci himself eschews the word intelligence, preferring the term cognitively complex behavior...The efficiency of Ceci's cognitive processing of all this knowledge is unmatched. Certainly, if we equate intelligence with cognitively complex behavior, whatever Ceci's own feeling about the term, [this book] is probably the most intelligent book on the topic.

—Carmi Schooler, Applied Cognitive Psychology Journal
Densely packed with important information and fascinating insights.

—Richard K. Wagner, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly