Abstract

Today we have many exciting new technological tools that allow us to observe the brain and genome and lure us into new kinds of studies. We?re excited to apply these tools to see where what we test as intelligence is in the brain and what genes determine its level, or whether these tools can finally debunk the idea that we measure anything with those tests. I believe, however, that we will not be able to make effective use of these tools in either cause until we understand better what we mean to measure when we measure intelligence, how it develops, and the impact of the clear presence of gene-environment correlation on its development. My talk will address the things I think we need to know but presently do not.

Biography

Wendy Johnson grew up in Tacoma, Washington, graduating in mathematics from Occidental College in Los Angeles. She spent many years as a consulting casualty actuary in the San Francisco Bay Area before entering the doctoral program in psychology at the University of Minnesota, completing her degree in 2005. She has two offspring. Wendy researches individual differences in mental abilities, personality, academic achievement, and later-life health, emphasizing transactions between genetic and environmental influences. She is currently in the Department of Psychology and Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh.