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22 - How Intelligence Research Can Inform Education and Public Policy

from Part V - Translating Research on the Neuroscience of Intelligence into Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

By
Jonathan Wai  and
Drew H. Bailey
Edited by
Aron K. Barbey ,
Sherif Karama  and
Richard J. Haier
Aron K. Barbey
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Sherif Karama
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
Richard J. Haier
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
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Summary

This chapter aims to explore how intelligence research – both current evidence as well as potential new findings that remain undiscovered – might inform education and public policy. We will first address why studying human intelligence is not only an exciting area of research for basic discovery, but also how knowledge about intelligence might be applicable to education and public policy. We will review selected areas of intelligence related research with potential implications for policy. We will discuss research on intelligence test scores as predictors of school performance and later success and research on features of the most promising policy relevant variables for improving intelligence. Finally, we will conclude with a discussion and explanation for researchers about how influencing policy requires (1) learning from policy researchers and practitioners, who have expertise that we argue complements the strengths of intelligence researchers and (2) effectively communicating those findings to policy researchers and practitioners. We write this chapter primarily from the perspective of researchers who are engaged in intelligence research that might be applied to education and policy discussions.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence and Cognitive Neuroscience , pp. 434 - 447
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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