General intelligence is a between-species difference, a complex adaptation, and a human universal found in all known cultures.

Judged as of 2008. The claim has three parts: (1) general intelligence differs between species (humans versus other species); (2) it is a complex adaptation; (3) it is a human universal found in all known cultures. True: evolutionary psychology, anthropology and cognitive science literature as of 2008 broadly support all three, for example Donald Brown's human universals and Tooby and Cosmides on complex adaptations. Mostly true: all three are broadly supported, with a minor caveat (for example debate over whether 'general intelligence' is a single adaptation). Mixed: about half the parts are well supported and the others are contested or unsupported. Mostly false: most parts are contested or unsupported, and the claim states disputed theory as established. False: the evidence shows the parts to be wrong, for example general intelligence is absent in some cultures, or it does not differ between species.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 The Psychological Foundations of Culture (in The Adapted Mind) Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (Oxford University Press, in Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby, eds.) · 1992

   “(2) the general-purpose, content-free psychology central to the SSSM could not have been produced by the evolutionary process and, therefore, is not a viable candidate model of human psychology”

2. E2 The Psychological Foundations of Culture (in The Adapted Mind) Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (Oxford University Press, in Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby, eds.) · 1992

   “This is because when humans are described from the point of view of their complex adaptations, differences tend to disappear, and a universal architecture stands out in stark relief.”

3. E3 Intelligence across cultures American Psychological Association (Monitor on Psychology) · February 2003

   “In recent years, researchers in Africa, Asia and elsewhere have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about intelligence that differ fundamentally from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests.”

4. E4 Understanding Human Cognitive Uniqueness Annual Review of Psychology (Laland & Seed, University of St Andrews) · 2021

   “Claims that humans uniquely possess some specific cognitive trait generally fail, as science reveals other species with the attribute.”

5. E5 The Psychological Foundations of Culture (from The Adapted Mind) Tooby and Cosmides, in Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby (eds.), Oxford University Press · 1992

   “As discussed at length, domain-general, content-independent mechanisms are inefficient, handicapped, or inert compared to systems that also include specialized techniques for solving particular families of adaptive problems.”

6. E6 The Psychological Foundations of Culture (from The Adapted Mind) Tooby and Cosmides, in Barkow, Cosmides & Tooby (eds.), Oxford University Press · 1992

   “There is certainly cultural and individual variability in the exact forms of adult mental organization that emerge through development, but these are all expressions of what might be called a single human metaculture.”

7. E7 Intelligence across cultures American Psychological Association, Monitor on Psychology · February 2003

   “In recent years, researchers in Africa, Asia and elsewhere have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about intelligence that differ fundamentally from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests.”

8. E8 The evolution of general intelligence | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Core) · 4 January 2017

   “Anderson, B. (1993) Evidence from the rat for a general factor that underlies cognitive performance and that relates to brain size: Intelligence?”

9. E9 Human universals, human nature & human culture American Academy of Arts & Sciences (Dædalus, Fall 2004), by Donald E. Brown · 1 October 2004

   “Human universals–of which hundreds have been identified–consist of those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and mind that, so far as the record has been examined, are found among all peoples known to ethnography and history.”

10. E10 Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of the Human Mind Scientific American · 1 August 2008

    “Such biological subtleties, along with behavioral ones, suggest that human intelligence is best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition.”

11. E11 Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of the Human Mind Scientific American · 1 August 2008

    “Such a pecking order argues against the idea that intelligence evolved along a single path, culminating in human acumen.”

12. E12 g factor (psychometrics) - Wikipedia Wikipedia

    “The measured value of this construct depends on the cognitive tasks that are used, and little is known about the underlying causes of the observed correlations.”

On part 1, the 2008 Scientific American article (E10, E11) describes human intelligence as an upgrade of primate cognitive capacities. That still means it differs between species, but by degree rather than as a unique trait. On part 2, Tooby and Cosmides, the source the criteria themselves cite, argue that general-purpose, content-free psychology could not have been produced by evolution and that domain-general mechanisms are inefficient (E1, E5). That argument bears against calling general intelligence a single complex adaptation, though the passages do not address general intelligence by name [E1][E5]. On part 3, Tooby and Cosmides and Brown support a universal human cognitive architecture (E2, E6, E9), but none of them names general intelligence specifically. So parts 1 and 3 are broadly supported, though the sources do not name general intelligence specifically, and the 'complex adaptation' part is questioned by literature that argues against domain-general mechanisms.