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Re: Brain size, IQ
Matt Fraser (mattf+@pitt.edu)
Mon, 26 Aug 1996 15:01:14 -0400
On 25 Aug 1996, Bryant wrote:
<snippage>
> But considerable controversy has surrounded the suggestion that this is
> still true--that human IQ is still heritable, and that it is related to
> gross brain size. One problem for those who would propose a simplistic
> brain size/IQ (causal) relationship is that white women's smaller brains
> score higher, on average, than black men's larger brains during IQ tests.
>
> This is, to my knowledge, the only exception to the IQ/brain size rule to be
> found in demographic data (as opposed to occassional anecdotal stories about
> Einstein's small brain and the like). I found it described in a recent
> paper by Rushton, an advocate of the IQ/brain size connection. He
> described this exception to the rule as a "paradox."
<snippage>
Hi Bryant,
Surely, one must consider total body size when even beginning to think
about brain size and intelligence. A larger individual of the same
species is likely to have a larger brain simply due to scaling, and total
brain weight/size isn't where the action is for intelligence. Many areas
of the brain are relegated to non-thought processes, including many areas
of the cortex. Until the entire brain is mapped out, and cof\gnitive
function is ascribed to certain regions that then may be compared, the
rest is largely fluff (IMO).
Matt
___________________________________________________________
Matt Fraser "The Real World is very
mattf+@pitt.edu complex and chaotic,
mof@prophet.pharm.pitt.edu so that, in order to survive,
humans find it necessary to construct
an illusion of reality."
Author Unknown
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