Neurobiology of Intelligence

Over a century ago Sir Francis Galton (1892) described his seminal study of individual differences in intelligence. Galton hypothesised that microlevel sensory and perceptual processes were inherited and formed the basis for excelling in areas such as the arts, sciences and law. He argued that those persons who excelled in these eminent areaswould be more efficient at detecting changes in illumination, reacting to slight tactile pressure, and noticing simple auditory and visual stimuli. Whilst some have argued that Galton's findings did not support his hypothesis, an early review of the research by R.A. Mc Farland (1928) noted that while the literature was contradictory, there did seem to be some interesting relationships supporting Galton's position of a link between the efficiency of microlevel processing and measures of general intellectual ability. The contradiction among these studies may have been the result of using unreliable measures, and employing procedures that were not uniformly rigorous (Ceci, 1990). Since Galton's original research, there has been a wide range of research attempting to identify the biological basis of intelligence.