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The Psychology Podcast

Todd Rose (Part I) || Rethinking Intelligence

The Psychology Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

Science, Social Sciences

4.42K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2022

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today we welcome Todd Rose, the co-founder, and president of Populace, a nonprofit think tank that works to find solutions to redistribute opportunity, so all people have the chance to live fulfilling lives in a thriving society. Prior to Populace, he was a faculty member at Harvard University where he founded the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality and directed the Mind, Brain, and Education program. Todd is the best-selling author of Dark Horse, The End of Average, and his most recent book is called Collective Illusions.

For part one of our interview, I talk to Todd Rose about intelligence. From both history and research, we know that standardized tests made the false assumption that an average baseline of intelligence can be captured through IQ. Until today, our education system continues to value general cognitive ability over more specific skills. Instead of focusing on test scores, Todd asks us to look at jagged profiles so we can create environments where everyone can thrive. To truly cultivate human potential, Todd asserts that we need to rethink our traditional frameworks about intelligence.

Website: www.toddrose.com

Twitter: @ltoddrose

 

Topics

01:50 Dropping out of high school

04:20 Kurt Fischer’s Dynamic Skill Theory

09:33The problem with standardized testing

12:00 Jagged profiles matter more than IQ scores

15:26 There is no aptitude without strategy

22:54 Everybody is capable of excellence

23:58 Changes to improve our school system

28:23 Education transforms lives 

33:59 How Todd got into an honors program

40:46 The bell curve of intelligence

43:22 Stop pathologizing natural human variation 

47:40 IQ limits our view of human potential

58:43 Individual contribution over cognitive ability

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Transcript

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0:00.0

if where we're headed is trying to intentionally cultivate the full potential that people have,

0:06.0

you need a different frame than the assumptions that underpin traditional psychometrics.

0:17.9

Hello and welcome to the Psychology Podcast. Today we welcome Todd Rose to the show. Todd is the

0:23.2

co-founder and president of Populous, a non-profit think tank that works to find solutions to

0:28.7

redistribute opportunity so all people have the chance to live fulfilling lives in a thriving society.

0:34.5

Prior to Populous he was a faculty member at Harvard University where he founded the laboratory

0:38.8

for the Science of Individuality and directed the Mind Brain and Education program. Todd is the

0:43.7

best-selling author of Dark Horse in the end of average and his most recent book is called Collective

0:48.2

Illusions. What you're about to hear today is part one of a two-part series. Todd and I had so much

0:53.9

to talk about that we had to split it up into two parts. Today you'll hear our common interests

0:59.1

in redefining intelligence and the amazing amazingly important work Todd has done along those lines.

1:06.1

Todd has argued that we really need to move away from these traditional metrics of measuring

1:11.4

intelligence and valuing general cognitive ability and what he refers to is jagged profiles which

1:18.1

all of us have you know all of us have amazing areas of strengths and amazing areas of weaknesses

1:22.8

or profound areas of weaknesses so I really like Todd's model of looking at intelligence because

1:28.4

it really does emphasize the point that there's no such thing as average so that further ado

1:34.1

I'll bring you Todd Rose. Hey Todd it's so great to have you on the psychology podcast today.

1:40.0

Hey thanks for having me Scott. I wanted to talk to you for for quite some time now and

1:45.1

on this podcast I love your work you know we're obviously going to talk about your new work but

1:50.1

can I just start a second and go back to your your original work and the experiences you had in

1:56.4

education because I know we really bond over that and when you might kind of talking a little bit

2:01.5

about how you felt because as a student you okay talking about this or you kind of you move

...

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