Chapter 3 - Mis-measuring Intelligence and Justifying Educational Inequalities

Summary

Attempts to objectively measure intelligence in Western societies date back to the mid-nineteenth century. From the start, some researchers were determined to demonstrate that intelligence is inherited, and some ethnic groups have relatively low intelligence. On the basis of intelligence test scores, some psychologists have argued that immigration from certain countries must be restricted because people in those countries have low intelligence and their coming to the United States and other Western countries would lower the host population intelligence level. It has also been argued that women with low intelligence are having more children, but women with higher intelligence are having fewer children, and this is causing a decline in the intelligence of the general population. In these discussions, the focus has been on traditional measures of intelligence, which use one indicator of intelligence (IQ score). But more recent research is demonstrating that intelligence is multiple, rather than singular. Second, IQ scores are increasing, not decreasing. These findings show the power of context to shape (what is assumed to be) intelligence.