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Arthur R. Jensen, Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and Individual Differences. Oxford, UK: Elsevier, 2006, 272 pages, $96.95 hardcover.
The first two sentences of the preface present the leitmotif, the main theme of the book, "Mental chronometry is the measurement of cognitive speed. It is the actual time taken to process information of different types and degrees of complexity" (p. ix). As in a symphony, the theme will be repeated from movement to movement, chapter to chapter, with additions, modulations, and transformations. The preface is also different from other prefaces in that the author immediately directs you to thoughtful critics of his work. First rate science! The author is professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley. He has written more than 300 journal articles and numerous books. It is hard to compare them but The g Factor (Jensen, 1998) is a magnum opus. Need a reference on g? That book has it.
Physically the book is compact and has 272 pages in an attractive binding. The print is easy to read and the general layout facilitates finding information. There are 14 chapters beginning with an overview and finishing with a chapter on standardizing chronometry. Between the introduction and the coda the subjects range from presentation of terminology to life span developmental aspects.
The work begins with a brief history of mental chronometry that should disabuse the reader of the notion that it is a new idea and a new technique. Jensen points out that as early as 1850, neural conductive velocity was being measured in animals and, with less accuracy, in...