Discusses Jensen's research and writings on genetic v environmental determinants of intelligence. Reviews professional response to his 1969 "Harvard Educational Review" article, and briefly considers the work of other researchers on the relationship between race and intelligence. (GC)

Outlines eight premises of individuals who believe racial differences influence mental ability (e.g., IQ tests accurately measure mental ability and IQ tests are equally valid across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups), challenging the classicist model of intelligence on which hereditarian assumptions of racial disparity are based. Refutes each…

"The Bell Curve" declares that studies of separated identical twins--the "purest" of "direct" methods for estimating IQ heritability--indicate a value of +.75-+.80. But, the main study cited suggests a heritability of "two-thirds" for the middle class, and Herrnstein and Murray neglect to mention numerous…

This article reviews sex studies of children of cousin marriages and three studies of children of incestuous matings. It is argued that these studies, taken as a whole, provide no substantial evidence for an inbreeding depression effect within the polygenic system commonly asserted to determine IQ. (Author/DB)

Criticizes claims in "The Bell Curve" that a high value for heritability of intelligence constrains the extent to which environmental changes can increase intelligence. Cites adoption studies and the increasing intelligence of successive cohorts of U.S. children as evidence that intelligence can increase substantially without heroic…

Scarr and Weinberg's results (Intelligence, 1977) are compared to those of similar adoption studies and found to be quite similar, despite the transracial adoption patterns in Scarr and Weinberg's sample. The author also suggests that the major contribution of behavioral genetics to psychology may be our increased understanding of the environment.…

Explanations of differences in IQs of Northern and Southern Blacks focus on selective migration (hereditarians) or environmental causes such as education, discrimination and cultural deprivation. In this paper the environmentalist position is questioned and certain neglected features of Lee's data are construed as providing strong evidence for…

In 1969, Arthur Jensen published his controversial article concluding that blacks are less intelligent than whites and that genetic factors explain more of the variance between the two groups than environmental differences. This paper criticizes Jensen's work and discusses its negative implications. Interpretive and methodological weaknesses in…

Suggests that until some meaning of innate capacity is included, the word intelligence has little precision separate from its use in a social or cultural context. The culture that evolves its definition of intelligence will identify the tasks that fulfill that definition. (Author/AM)

The Ramey and Haskins intervention experiment is examined. Narrow transfer of training from cognitive intervention techniques to IQ test performance in early childhood, rather than enhancement of the g factor itself, is hypothesized as a cause of the typical fadeout of early IQ gains in later childhood. (Author/RD)

Disparities between European countries and the U.S. in terms of incidence and prevalence of mild mental retardation have become apparent. A model of intellectual performance that might explain disparities and predict future levels of occurrence of mild mental retardation is presented. Such explanations are relevant for theory and policy decisions.…

Ramey and Haskins report two findings of major importance: absence of decline in test scores and absence of mother-child correlation for treated children. Implications of these findings are discussed. (Author)

Extensive data on twins, nontwin siblings, siblings separated by adoption, and parent-child similarity indicate that the heritability of intelligence is closer to .50 than to .70. Differences could be due to environmental or genetic changes in the population, or to methodology. (Author/CP)

Raises issues for consideration in responding to the genetically based differences in intelligence suggested by "The Bell Curve." The author articulates several theories of intelligence supporting the environmental (nurturing) paradigm and argues why labeling and categorizing according to IQ scores is professionally unethical and…

A brief historical resume outlining the relationship between economics, racism, and intellectual justification for racism begins this paper, which notes that the I.Q. argument is a racist ideology in exactly the same way that Christianity, Darwinism, and Equality have been systems of justifications for America's racism. It fits the definition of…