Perkins, 1995), most of these models have something in common: they
treat intelligence as an “ability on demand.” Intelligence becomes a mat-
ter of what we can do when we know what it is that we’re supposed to try
to do (such as complete this analogy, decide whether this inference is war-
ranted, or find the best definition for this word).
Thinking in everyday life is a different matter. We not only have to
solve problems, we also have to find them amid an ongoing, complex
stream of demands and distractions. On the road of life, our thinking is not
just a matter of the thinking we can do when we know a peak performance
is demanded. It also is a matter of our sensitivity to occasions and our
inclination to invest ourselves in them thoughtfully. High mental ability
alone may serve us well when we’re sitting at a desk, our pencils poised;
but good habits of mind keep us going in the rest of the world. This point
is underscored by scholars such as philosopher Robert Ennis (1986) with
his analysis of critical thinking dispositions, psychologist Jonathan Baron
(1985) with his dispositional model of intelligence, and psychologist Ellen
Langer (1989) with her conception of mindfulness.
A program of empirical research on thinking dispositions, which I’ve
conducted with Ron Ritchhart, Shari Tishman, and other colleagues over
several years, underscores what’s at stake here (see, for example, Perkins
& Ritchhart, 2004; Perkins & Tishman, 2001). Working with students
from middle to late elementary school, we investigated their performance
on a variety of critical and creative thinking tasks involving narratives.
Over and over again we found that they coulddo far better than they did
do when they explored options, considered pros and cons, and performed
similar tasks. Their performance was limited because they often did not
detect when such moves were called for. When they did detect what they
should do or when the places were pointed out, they easily could show the
kind of thinking called for. They didn’t lack intelligence in the sense of
ability on demand, but they lacked the habits of mind that provide for
ongoing alertness to shortfalls in thinking.
In that spirit, this book speaks not just to intelligence in the laboratory
but also to intelligent behavior in the real world. It addresses how we can
help youngsters get ready for the road of life, a sort of “drivers education”
for the mind. Imagine what life would be like without good habits of
xiv Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind