Environmental Effects on Cognitive Abilities

by Sternberg, Robert J.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Ogbu, John U.

• ISBN13: 9780805831832
• ISBN10: 0805831835
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

It sometimes seems that it is difficult to pick up a current newspaper or a magazine without it containing a story about some behavioral characteristic for which it has been found that a gene is responsible. Even aspects of behavior that one would feel certain are environmentally controlled are now being attributed in part to the effects of the genes. But genes never act alone: Their effects are always filtered through the environment. The goal of this volume is to discuss how the environment influences the development and the maintenance of cognitive abilities. It is a successor to the editors' 1997 volume, Intelligence, Heredity, and Environment, and a companion to their new volume, Family Environment and Intellectual Functioning: A Life-Span Perspective. Taken together, the two-volume set comprises the most comprehensive existing work on the relation between the environment and cognitive abilities. Psychologists, parents, social workers, educators, and employers are all likely to find this book of interest.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
PART I: GENERAL ISSUES
Caste Status and Intellectual Development	3	(36)
John U. Ogbu
Pamela Stern
Family Matters: A Systems View of Family Effects on Children's Cognitive Health	39	(20)
Barbara H. Fiese
Socioeconomic Status, Multiple Risks, and Development of Intelligence	59	(24)
Ronald Seifer
Intelligence and Experience	83	(36)
Craig T. Ramey
Sharon Landesman Ramey
Robin Gaines Lanzi
PART II: PUBLIC AND PERSONAL HEALTH ISSUES
The Role of Nutrition in Intellectual Development	119	(38)
Sally Grantham-McGregor
Cornelius Ani
Lia Fernald
Environmental Pollutant Exposures and Children's Cognitive Abilities	157	(32)
David C. Bellinger
Heather Foley Adams
Prenatal Drug Exposure and Cognitive Development	189	(32)
Linda C. Mayes
Thomas Fahy
The Impact of Infectious Disease on Cognitive Development	221	(34)
Katherine J. Alcock
Donald A. P. Bundy
The Invisible Danger: The Impact of Ionizing Radiation on Cognitive Development and Functioning	255	(32)
Elena L. Grigorenko
PART III: WORK ENVIRONMENTS
Schooling and Cognitive Development	287	(50)
Kate Christian
Heather J. Bachnan
Frederick J. Morrison
Family Environments and Adult Cognitive Functioning	337	(26)
K. Warner Schaie
Yan-Ling Zuo
The Intellectual Effects of the Demands of the Work Environment	363	(20)
Carmi Schooler
PART IV: CONCLUSIONS
Sociohistorical Changes and Intelligence Gains	383	(42)
Rocio Fernandez-Ballesteros
Manuel Juan-Espinosa
Francisco-Jose Abad
Epilogue: Is There a Heredity-Environment Paradox?	425	(8)
Robert J. Sternberg
Author Index	433	(32)
Subject Index	465