Metaphors of Mind

Metaphors of Mind seeks to help readers understand human intelligence as viewed from a variety of standpoints, such as those of psychology, anthropology, computational science, sociology, and philosophy. Much of the present confusion surrounding the concept of intelligence stems from our having looked at it from these different standpoints without considering how they relate to each other or how they might be combined into a unified view that goes beyond the boundaries of a particular discipline. Readers of Metaphors of Mind will come away with a comprehensive understanding of the concept of intelligence and how ideas about it have evolved and are continuing to evolve.

"Explores metaphors that have been used to illustrate the different theories of intelligence, discussing how these metaphors--and the theories they reflect--relate to one another." Science News, "Sternberg's is an interesting and important book, and like most of Sternberg's writings it is clear, well-referenced, and suggestive." H. J. Eysenck, Personality Individual Differences, "The book is an entertaining and argumentative one for the individual already conversant with the literature." American Scientist, "...provides an integrative framework for comparing one theory to another. This is an important and original contribution....a major intellectual contribution to the field. I shall use it in my own research and teaching, and I urge others to do the same." Earl Hunt, Contemporary Psychology