| Douglas K. Detterman | |
| Citizenship: | American |
| Field: | Intelligence, mental retardation |
| Work Institution: | University of Dayton, Case Western Reserve University |
| Alma Mater: | Boston University (BA) University of Alabama (MA, PhD) |
| Known For: | Founder of the Intelligence journal |
| Prizes: | Mensa Research Award (1991) |
Douglas K. Detterman (born 1942)[1] is an American psychologist who researches intelligence and intellectual disability.[2]
He earned his B.A. from Boston University in 1967, his M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Alabama in 1972 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University in 1972.
Detterman taught at University of Dayton from 1970 to 1972, then took a position at Case Western Reserve University, where he has remained since.
Among his achievements, Detterman founded the scientific journal Intelligence in 1977, and was editor in chief from 1977 to 2016 where it was taken over by Richard Haier. He also founded the International Society for Intelligence Research and was its president until 2011. He has also been a Fellow of the American Psychological Association from 1978 to 1998, a Fellow and charter member of the American Psychological Society from 1990 to 1998, and received a Mensa Research Award in 1991.
In 1995, he was a signatory of a collective statement in response to public discussion of the book The Bell Curve titled "Mainstream Science on Intelligence,"[3] written by Intelligence editor Linda Gottfredson and published in The Wall Street Journal and reprinted in Intelligence in 1997. He also collaborated on several books on intelligence with psychologist Robert J. Sternberg.
Detterman has argued that it is unfair to tell people they can accomplish anything if they just put enough practice into it, since they are limited by their abilities.[4] Similarly, he has argued that cognitive training does not increase intelligence, but only one's ability to take tests, and notes the poor quality of studies done by commercial brain training companies (see also Lumosity#Effectiveness and legal history). Instead, he advises parents to save their money.[5]