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Comment
. 2017 Jan:40:e218.
doi: 10.1017/S0140525X16001771.

General intelligence does not help us understand cognitive evolution

David M Shuker  1 , Louise Barrett  2 , Thomas E Dickins  3 , Thom C Scott-Phillips  4 , Robert A Barton  4
Affiliations
Comment

General intelligence does not help us understand cognitive evolution

David M Shuker et al. Behav Brain Sci. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Burkart et al. conflate the domain-specificity of cognitive processes with the statistical pattern of variance in behavioural measures that partly reflect those processes. General intelligence is a statistical abstraction, not a cognitive trait, and we argue that the former does not warrant inferences about the nature or evolution of the latter.

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  • The evolution of general intelligence.
    Burkart JM, Schubiger MN, van Schaik CP. Burkart JM, et al. Behav Brain Sci. 2017 Jan;40:e195. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X16000959. Epub 2016 Jul 28. Behav Brain Sci. 2017. PMID: 27464851

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