| This research explores the construct of intelligence, challenging some of the paradigmatic assumptions regarding its structure, distribution, and location. One of the most charged concepts we have constructed is that of intelligence. It has been used to justify and maintain existing social orders, the distribution of wealth, and the structure of schools. In this research the construct of intelligence is viewed through an analysis of how knowledge emerges and changes within a particular domain, (human genome sequencing domain), and in examining the communal, dynamic aspects of knowledge development. Our understanding of the development of knowledge is important not only as it affects conceptions of intelligence but also in that it can determine what knowledge is likely to be discovered or not, through the mechanisms of government science and education policies.;This research looked at the intellectual accomplishments that occurred in individuals and the field, from determining the structure of DNA through the completion of the sequencing of the human genome. Three focused areas; the determination of the structure of DNA, the non-pathological count of human chromosomes, and restriction enzymes, were looked at more deeply for further analyses. The research looked to see the dialectical development and relationship that occurs between individuals and field, using psychological, sociological, and anthropological stances in viewing the data. This shifting perspective allowed the researcher to dynamically examine multiple contingent and related systems; the individual, the larger group of individuals in the field, the developed and developing knowledge, and aspects of the culture within and through which creative activity occurs.;From this research a new approach to studying creative work has been developed. This methodology offers a means to make predictions within the studied domain about; supports for innovation in this field, the nature of the exceptional work of the studied creative individuals, and implications for educating children for exceptional achievement. Findings include the notion of permeable intellectual boundaries between collaborators, or shared intellectual space, the importance and development of cognitive flexibility and pattern recognition, in addition to the role of original source materials in the intellectual development of scientists and students. |
