Overview

Child prodigies. Gifted and Talented Programs. Perfect 2400s on the SAT. Sometimes it feels like the world is conspiring to make the rest of us feel inadequate. Those children tapped as possessing special abilities will go on to achieve great things, while the rest of us have little chance of realizing our dreams. Right? In Ungifted, cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman--who was relegated to special education as a child--sets out to show that the way we interpret traditional metrics of intelligence is misguided. Kaufman explores the latest research in genetics and neuroscience, as well as evolutionary, developmental, social, positive, and cognitive psychology, to challenge the conventional wisdom about the childhood predictors of adult success. He reveals that there are many paths to greatness, and argues for a more holistic approach to achievement that takes into account each young person's personal goals, individual psychology, and developmental trajectory. In so doing, he increases our appreciation for the intelligence and diverse strengths of prodigies, savants, and late bloomers, as well as those with dyslexia, autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD. Combining original research, anecdotes, and a singular compassion, Ungifted proves that anyone--even those without readily observable gifts at any single moment in time--can become great.

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Reviews

"""A good read...introduces the reader to the world of intelligence testing in a highly literate style and pulls back the curtain on some very bad practices in public schools...Kaufman makes a strong case that anyone can be great, even the 'ungifted.'"" -- ""Post and Courier"" ""A warmly human and coolly scientific survey of both the reductive and the liberating fruits of two centuries of cognitive research."" -- ""Scientist"" ""Fascinating...A smart, lucid, and down-to-earth exposition of the underlying neuroscience and the contentious history of theories of intelligence...Blending incisive analysis with a warm sympathy for intellectual insecurities--and potential--Kaufman demonstrates that even the most ordinary mind is a strange and wondrous gift."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Kaufman's portrait of the history of intelligence provides a background on experiments in cognitive psychology, biographical information about influential researchers and details of his own experience in the special education classroom, making this academic work also personal. Highly recommended for readers curious about human intelligence."" -- ""Library Journal (starred review)"""

Author Information

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD is a humanistic psychologist who has taught at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, NYU and elsewhere. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University, and an M.Phil in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. He writes the column Beautiful Minds for Scientific American and hosts The Psychology Podcast, which has received more than 10 million downloads. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic and Harvard Business Review, and his books include Ungifted, Wired to Create (with Carolyn Gregoire), and, as editor, Twice Exceptional and, as co-editor, The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. In 2015, he was named one of 50 Groundbreaking Scientists who are changing the way we see the world by Business Insider. Walter Dixon is a winner of Audible's #1 Editor's Choice and Customer Favorites award. The narrator of more than 200 audiobooks, he has performed on stage in stand-up comedy, theater, and opera productions. He has also voiced animated features, vintage radio dramas, and audio tours for the Guggenheim and other museums.

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