Detterman D K
Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
Novartis Found Symp. 2000;233:136-44; discussion 144-8. doi: 10.1002/0470870850.ch9.
From Spearman's famous 1904 paper to Carroll's recent book on factor analytic results from a multitude of studies, there has been one consistent conclusion: 'g', or general intelligence, is the factor that defines the phenotype for intellectual functioning. It is no overstatement to say that g is undoubtedly the most important psychological construct discovered in this century. It predicts more and is implicated in a wider range of behaviour than any other psychological construct. The empirical support for g is extensive and overwhelming. It would seem that g is the perfect phenotypic definition of intelligence. I argue that it is not the perfect phenotype. If we are to understand intelligence, we need to define a new, more elaborate definition of intelligence taking g as the starting place. It must be remembered that g is a statistical abstraction. Current formulations of g are largely silent about the composition of g. I argue that g is actually made of further separable basic cognitive processes and does not represent a single underlying entity. These basic cognitive processes are integrated into a complex system in the brain that makes them difficult to identify. None the less, until these basic processes are identified and related to brain function there are a number of findings that cannot be explained and this will inhibit scientific progress.
从斯皮尔曼1904年著名的论文到卡罗尔近期关于众多研究的因素分析结果的著作，一直存在一个一致的结论：“g”，即一般智力，是定义智力功能表型的因素。毫不夸张地说，g无疑是本世纪发现的最重要的心理结构。它比任何其他心理结构预测的更多，且涉及更广泛的行为范围。对g的实证支持广泛且压倒性。似乎g是智力的完美表型定义。但我认为它并非完美的表型。如果我们要理解智力，我们需要以g为起点，定义一个新的、更详尽的智力定义。必须记住，g是一种统计抽象。目前对g的表述在很大程度上对g的构成保持沉默。我认为g实际上由进一步可分离的基本认知过程组成，并不代表一个单一的潜在实体。这些基本认知过程被整合到大脑中的一个复杂系统中，这使得它们难以识别。然而，在这些基本过程被识别并与脑功能相关联之前，有许多发现无法得到解释，这将阻碍科学进步。
