Why are some people more mentally able than others ? In an authoritative, critical and intergrated series of review essays Professor Ian Deary inquires after the cognitive and biological foundations of human mental ability differences. Many accounts of intelligence have examined the structure and number of human mental ability differences and whether they can predict sucess in education,work and social life. Few books have taken psychometric intelligence differences as a starting point and brought together the reductionistic attempts to explain them.New to the highly acclaimed Oxford Psychology Series, Looking Down on Human Intelligence appraises the search for the origins of psychometric intelligence differences in terms of brain function parameters. The book provides an original and thought provoking guide to ancient and modern research on one of the most compelling questions in human psychology.

What is it about human brains that make some people more capable than others? In an authoritative and critical account, Professor Ian Dreary reviews historical, cognitive, and biological research on the foundations of human mental ability. Where most previous accounts of intelligence have
examined how human mental ability can predict success in education, work, and social life, few books have taken as a starting point mental ability (and individual differences in intelligence), and attempted to see what factors could have influenced, and have even predicted mental ability. This book
reveals what we know about the origins of intelligence. It describes research on genetic influences on intelligence, and evidence that has been obtained from biological studies, including examinations of 'brain size', event related potentials, and the recent profusion of studies involving functional
brain imaging. Coupled with fascinating historical stories, the book provides a highly original and thought provoking guide to try and answer the age old question of why some people seem more clever than others.