g and the one-many problem: is one enough?
No one believes that g is the only construct needed to describe individual differences in intelligence. Many believe that g is a dispensable construct. Others object to what they construe as its hegemonic position in the domain of intelligence. In this paper I defend the hegemonic status of g by a brief consideration of diverse criticisms of the g construct. I argue that g is a heritable component of intelligence that accounts for approximately 50% of the covariance among diverse measures of intelligence. It derives from a core information processing ability and it influences a diverse set of social outcomes. The covariances between g and information processing ability and social outcomes are, in large measure, attributable to common genetic influences.
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA.
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Brody
D003405:Creativity; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005824:Genetics, Behavioral / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence / Q000235:genetics; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011594:Psychometrics