1. Ross, L. The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: distortions in the attribution process. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 10, 173–220 (1977).
2. Aronson, J. & Steele, C. M. in The Handbook of Competence and Motivation (eds Elliot, A. & Dweck, C.) (Wiley, New York, in the press). Reviews the large body of literature on stereotype threat, illustrating how subtle situational factors can impact performance on tests of mental ability. The implications for standardized testing have been largely ignored by the testing industry.
3. Pinker, S. The Blank Slate (Viking, New York, 2002). A strong critique of the standard social science position that individual differences result only from differing environment (the 'blank slate' view of human nature). It emphasizes that such a view is not merely incorrect but also dangerous.
4. Kagan, J. Three Seductive Ideas (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998).
5. Hunt, M. The New Know-nothings: The Political Foes of the Scientific Study of Human Nature (Transaction, New Brunswick, 1999).