Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Children can be impressively ingenious when given enough time to work thru a problem, but we tend to judge their mental prowess by how *quickly* they figure things out - is mental speed really the best yardstick for intelligence?
- Links for the Curious -
Stankov, Lazar, and Richard D. Roberts. “Mental Speed Is Not the ‘Basic’ Process of Intelligence.” Personality and Individual Differences 22, no. 1 (January 1997): 69–84. doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(96)00163-8.
Berger, M. “The ‘Scientific Approach’ to Intelligence: An Overview of Its History with Special Reference to Mental Speed.” In A Model for Intelligence, edited by Hans J. Eysenck, 13–43. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 1982. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68664-1_2.
Danthiir, Vanessa, Richard D. Roberts, Ralf Schulze, and Oliver Wilhelm. “Mental Speed: On Frameworks, Paradigms, and a Platform for the Future.” In Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence, by Oliver Wilhelm and Randall Engle, 27–46. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2005. doi.org/10.4135/9781452233529.n3.
Schubert, Anna-Lena, Dirk Hagemann, Gidon T. Frischkorn, and Sabine C. Herpertz. “Faster, but Not Smarter: An Experimental Analysis of the Relationship between Mental Speed and Mental Abilities.” Intelligence 71 (November 2018): 66–75. doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.10.005.
Vernon, Philip A., ed. Speed of Information-Processing and Intelligence. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Pub. Corp, 1987.
Eysenck, Hans J. “The Concept of ‘Intelligence’: Useful or Useless?” Intelligence 12, no. 1 (January 1988): 1–16. doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(88)90019-0.
Neisser, Ulric. “The Concept of Intelligence,” n.d.
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. “IQ Is Largely a Pseudoscientific Swindle.” INCERTO (blog), May 17, 2023. medium.com/incerto/iq-is-largely-a-pseudoscientific-swindle-f131c101ba39.
“253 – Why IQ Is Bullshit – Srsly Wrong,” April 1, 2022. srslywrong.com/podcast/253-why-iq-is-bullshit/.
Mulrow, John, and Sybil Derrible. “Is Slower More Sustainable? The Role of Speed in Achieving Environmental Goals.” Sustainable Cities and Society 57 (June 1, 2020): 102030. doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102030.
“High-Speed Society: Social Acceleration, Power, and Modernity,” n.d.
Inc.com. “4 Reasons Speed Is Everything in Business,” July 5, 2015. inc.com/adam-fridman/4-reasons-speed-is-everything-in-business.html.
The relationship between intelligence and reaction time varies with age: Results from three representative narrow-age age cohorts at 30, 50 and 69 years - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608941
Children can be impressively ingenious when given enough time to work thru a problem, but we tend to judge their mental prowess by how *quickly* they figure things out - is mental speed really the best yardstick for intelligence?
- Links for the Curious -
Stankov, Lazar, and Richard D. Roberts. “Mental Speed Is Not the ‘Basic’ Process of Intelligence.” Personality and Individual Differences 22, no. 1 (January 1997): 69–84. doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(96)00163-8.
Berger, M. “The ‘Scientific Approach’ to Intelligence: An Overview of Its History with Special Reference to Mental Speed.” In A Model for Intelligence, edited by Hans J. Eysenck, 13–43. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 1982. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68664-1_2.
Danthiir, Vanessa, Richard D. Roberts, Ralf Schulze, and Oliver Wilhelm. “Mental Speed: On Frameworks, Paradigms, and a Platform for the Future.” In Handbook of Understanding and Measuring Intelligence, by Oliver Wilhelm and Randall Engle, 27–46. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2005. doi.org/10.4135/9781452233529.n3.
Schubert, Anna-Lena, Dirk Hagemann, Gidon T. Frischkorn, and Sabine C. Herpertz. “Faster, but Not Smarter: An Experimental Analysis of the Relationship between Mental Speed and Mental Abilities.” Intelligence 71 (November 2018): 66–75. doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.10.005.
Vernon, Philip A., ed. Speed of Information-Processing and Intelligence. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Pub. Corp, 1987.
Eysenck, Hans J. “The Concept of ‘Intelligence’: Useful or Useless?” Intelligence 12, no. 1 (January 1988): 1–16. doi.org/10.1016/0160-2896(88)90019-0.
Neisser, Ulric. “The Concept of Intelligence,” n.d.
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. “IQ Is Largely a Pseudoscientific Swindle.” INCERTO (blog), May 17, 2023. medium.com/incerto/iq-is-largely-a-pseudoscientific-swindle-f131c101ba39.
“253 – Why IQ Is Bullshit – Srsly Wrong,” April 1, 2022. srslywrong.com/podcast/253-why-iq-is-bullshit/.
Mulrow, John, and Sybil Derrible. “Is Slower More Sustainable? The Role of Speed in Achieving Environmental Goals.” Sustainable Cities and Society 57 (June 1, 2020): 102030. doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102030.
“High-Speed Society: Social Acceleration, Power, and Modernity,” n.d.
Inc.com. “4 Reasons Speed Is Everything in Business,” July 5, 2015. inc.com/adam-fridman/4-reasons-speed-is-everything-in-business.html.
The relationship between intelligence and reaction time varies with age: Results from three representative narrow-age age cohorts at 30, 50 and 69 years - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608941
