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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 2539–2554Cite as

Evolution of Intelligence, The

Definition

Definitions of intelligence in the scientific literature center around the idea that that intelligence refers to cognitive processes that allow humans and other animals to solve novel problems in their environments. Thus, Jerison (1973, pp. 16–17) notes that “Although experts differ with regard to the nature of human intelligence, a more or less common ground is that it is a dimension of cognitive behavior – the way one knows the world and the way one uses that knowledge when adapting to changing conditions.”

Introduction

However, intelligence is not the only set of mechanisms designed to enable organisms to cope with environmental novelty. Intelligence is usually distinguished from learning which subsumes a variety of mechanisms that allow the organism to take advantage of temporary regularities in its environment – paradigmatically classical and operant conditioning (MacDonald 2013). Social learning is also usually distinguished from intelligence. Unlike classical and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology (Emeritus), California State University–Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Kevin MacDonald

  2. Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Michael A Woodley of Menie

  3. Unz Foundation, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Michael A Woodley of Menie

Authors
  1. Kevin MacDonald
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  2. Michael A Woodley of Menie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin MacDonald .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A Weekes-Shackelford

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MacDonald, K., Woodley of Menie, M.A. (2021). Evolution of Intelligence, The. In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_3093

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