John Duncan

Investigating Intelligence is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and neuroscientist John Duncan, University of Cambridge, and examines fascinating questions in neuroscience such as: What is intelligence and what does IQ testing tell us? Can intelligence be measured and improved? What role does our frontal lobe play in executive control? John Duncan has rigorously investigated these types of issues for years and this conversation covers all those questions plus topics such as impairments following brain damage, functional brain imaging, and the brain basis for attention, intelligence and cognitive control, and much more.

This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Thinking Deeper, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:

  1. Searching For A Definition – A curious correlation
  2. Trusting Your Gut – Intuitions and contradictions
  3. Paradigmatic Examples – Some test are more g-relevant than others
  4. Different Types of Knowledge – Crystallized vs. fluid
  5. Another Correlation – The power of organization
  6. Selecting Solutions – Finding focus
  7. Looking Inside – Harnessing modern technology
  8. Implications – Future possibilities
  9. Assessing the Landscape – Reactions and speculations
  10. Pure and Applied – Bringing it all home



Available on all major booksellers, including:

–> Also available via your library through JSTOR, ProQuest Ebook Central, and EBSCO’s GOBI.




Investigating Intelligence is also part of the five-part Ideas Roadshow Collection, Conversations About Neuroscience, which is available in hardcover, paperback and electronic format.

–> Also available via your library through JSTOR, ProQuest Ebook Central, and EBSCO’s GOBI.

We’ve produced a one-hour video of our conversation with John Duncan which is available on Vimeo On Demand: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/intelligence