Genes, Brains, and Human Potential The Science and Ideology of Intelligence

232 A CREATIVE COGNITION

and how and why they have evolved. Th is is why the lit er a ture that por-

trays individual diff erences merely as a resolution of ge ne tic and environ-

menta l forces conta ins lit t le on cog nit ive t heor y as such a nd relies heav i ly

on mechanical meta phors, like speed, capacity, power, or effi ciency.

Similar arguments apply to attempts to fi nd causes of individual diff er-

ences in brain diff erences. Since the brain and cognitive systems evolved to

abstract external structures and assimilate them in neural networks, asso-

ciations are more likely to come from the outside in rather than the other

way around. Th is is a point that researchers are inclined to overlook.

COGNITIVE MODELS AS UNCONSCIOUS IDEOLOGY

As I have mentioned, vague concepts in psy chol ogy soon become vehi-
cles of ideology. To further illustrate the prob lem in the science of cogni-
tion, let us consider working memory. It is said to (prob ably) exist in other
animals as well as humans.^25 As mentioned in chapter 3, aspects of work-
ing memory have been proposed recently as the basis of individual dif-
ferences in human intelligence. Moreover, investigators consider these
diff erences to be rooted in ge ne tic diff erences, explaining the alleged
heritability of intelligence.
Th e bases of such claims are correlations between working- memory
capacity scores and IQ scores. Patricia Carpenter and colleagues (in a
1990 paper) proposed that the ability to maintain a large set of pos si ble
goals in working memory accounts for individual diff erences in IQ. Peter
Carruthers says that working memory abilities “account for most (if not
all) of the variance in fl uid general intelligence, or g.”^26
Th e notion of working memory was fi rst proposed by Alan Baddeley
and Graham Hitch in 1974, but has been much updated since. It is gener-
ally conceived as a pro cess for holding repre sen ta tions “in mind,” either
input from sensory receptors or retrieved from other “stores.” Th e central
function appears to be control of attention. As Peter Carruthers explains,
“It is by targeting attention at repre sen ta tions in sensory areas that the
latter gain entry into WM [working memory].” Th ere they are “held in an
active state for as long as attention is directed at them,” that is, for other
cognitive pro cesses to operate on them.^27

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