Gould 1982 IQ tests

1
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• A nation of morons
• New Scientist (6 May 1982) pp349-52

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
2
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• introduction
• comparative test based on age performance
• Developed by Binet (C19th France)
• mental age / chronological age x 100 IQ
• now based on norm referencing
• Binet aimed to use results to identify and help
• Intelligence could be improved

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests

• introduction
• Binet against IQ as fixed
• Binet wanted tests to identify those who needed
  help
• This view reversed by Eugenics movement
• science should identify 'mental degenerates'
• and 'prevent their propagation'

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
4
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article the background
• Robert Yerkes (1915) wanted to promote psychology
  
• WW1 created expansion of US army
• Yerkes tested 1.75M US troops

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
5
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article the tests
• 3 tests devised
• Army Alpha - written test
• 8 parts similar to modern IQ test
• Army Beta - picture test for illiterates
• pictures and numbers c1h duration
• spoken exam - for those failing Beta test
• Yerkes claimed measured 'native intellectual
  ability'

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests
Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article the tests
• BUT
• cultural bias
• 'Washington is to Adams as first is to ...
• Crisco is a patent medicine/disinfectant/toothpas
  te/food product
• Christy Mathewson is famous as a
  writer/artist/baseball player/comedian

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
8
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article the tests
• test poorly administered
• too many Betas so men sent to Alpha queues!
• many scored 0 but not retested in Beta
• background not accounted for
• recent European immigrants
• black men who'd never been given education

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article result of Yerkes tests
• av mental age 13 just above 'moron'!
• graded Europeans av 'moron'
• 'lighter' (Northern) Europeans scored higher
• 'darker' (Southern) Europeans scored lower
• av score of Black men 10.4, lower than whites

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
10
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article tests used to support racism
• Carl Bringham (colleague of Yerkes)
• claimed N Europeans 'racially superior'
• Jews inferior
• (explained Einstein etc as 'exceptions'!)

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article fallacies of the tests
• early immigrants from N Europe
• tests biased against S Europe
• av score rose with length of time in US
• more experience --gt higher score
• Bringham said first arrivals were the most
  intelligent
• later ones progressively more stupid

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
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Gould (1982) IQ tests

• the article tests used to support racist
  policies
• tests uses to support US Immigration Restriction
  Act in 1924
• The Eugenicists "won one of the greatest
  victories of scientific racism in American
  history"
• a further consequence was to prevent refugees
  from Europe fleeing Nazism

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk
13
Gould (1982) IQ tests

• discussion
• shows human consequences of academic debate
• highlights political context of psychology
• debate continues
• no clear evidence that genetics account for IQ
  scores
• still no clear operational definition of
  intelligence
• 'race' is political construct not biological one

Mark Souter psychlotron.org.uk