Theme-park psychology: A case study regarding human intelligence and its implications for education

We introduce in this article the construct of theme-park psychology, which we define as psychological theory and research drawn only from limited and unrepresentative samples of participants, tasks, and situational contexts w ithin the context of worldwide populations. Results obtained from limited p opulations, tasks, and situational contexts often are inappropriately gener alized and then used as a basis for educational policy. In theme-park psych ology, easy-to-study populations, tasks, and situational contexts repeatedl y may show the same patterns in data, leading to tantalizing generalization s that are nevertheless wrong. We describe studies by ourselves and by othe rs with respect to human intelligence that illustrate our views and that ca st doubt on traditional notions.