Adding in Race, Culture and Ethnicity (Powell 17-36)

1. Adding in Race, Culture and Ethnicity (Powell 17-36)

2. IQ tests revisited • The cops have put Tony, Uncle Junior, Silvio, Paulie Walnuts, and Livia in a lineup, standing in spots numbered 1 through 6 from left to right. There’s one empty space. Livia is the third person from the left. Tony is to Uncle Junior’s immediate left. If Paulie Walnuts stands in space 6 with no one beside him, where is Silvio? Seven years ago Jack was three times as old as Jill. If Jack is now five years older than Jill, how old is he? • (a) 12-1/2 (b) 13 (c) 13-1/2 (d) 14-1/2 (e) 15

3. Tony, Uncle Junor, Livia, SILVIO, empty, Paulie Walnuts • Jack is 14-1/2, Jill is 9-1/2 • He was 7-1/2, Jill was 2-1/2 • IQ scores have been rising steadily since the 20th century. • Is society just getting smarter???

4. STANDARDIZED TESTS:Do They Measure Minorities Fairly? SAT is a standardized test that has come under fire for being culturally biased in ways that preclude many minority students from achieving high scores.

5. Standardized test have been used to measure: • Aptitude of school age children and adults • Readiness of high school seniors to receive diplomas • Effectiveness of individual teachers, curricula, and school systems

6. INTELLIGENCE DEFINED R. J. Sternberg defined intelligence as consisting of “purposive selection and shaping of adaptation to real-world environments relative to one’s life.” (Sternberg, 1984)

7. Intelligence Defined... Sternberg identified three types of intelligence: • creativity • practical thinking • analytical thinking

8. P.M. Greenfield in her Model of the Variability in Human Intelligence made two points: • cultures define intelligence by what is adaptive in their particular ecocultural niche • definitions of intelligence are as much cultural ideas as scientific statements

9. RACISTS ORIGINS Alfred Binet first devised the IQ Test in 1905 to identify children with low academic aptitudes that may need special schooling. He specifically stated his test was theoretical and proposed therapeutic courses specifically for those with low scores.

10. Racist Origins... Members of the eugenic societies distorted Binet’s intention and claimed that scores on the instrument provided a fixed measure of innate intelligence.

11. Eugenics • The study of hereditary improvement especially human improvement by GENETIC control • Believe in selective breeding • Intelligence is passed on from parent to child • More intelligent people have less children • Why??? • Opportunity cost of not working is too high • Human intelligence will never evolve if we don’t step in

12. Racist Origins... eugenicists said, the test could identify the genetically inferior whose existence was a menace to society and whose reproduction should be halted.

13. In 1912, Henry Goddard used the standardized test to “scientifically prove” that: • 83% of Jews • 90% of Hungarians • 79% of Italians • 87% of Russian” Were feebleminded (Fallows, 1980)

14. In 1914, R.A. Ross and other eugenicists used the statistics provided by mental testing to campaign against integration of: • national public schools • armed forces • other societal institutions (Baltzell, 1964)

15. Racist Origins... Carl Bringham, designer and developer of the SAT, articulated the following: “The army mental test has proven beyond any scientific doubt that, like the American Negroes, the Italians, and the Jews are ineducable. It would be a waste of good money even to attempt to try to give these born morons and imbeciles a good Anglo-Saxon education, let alone admit them into our fine medical, law, and engineering graduate schools. (Kamin, 1974).

16. DOES THE SAT MEASURE MINORITIES FAIRLY? • African Americans tend to score approximately one standard deviation below whites on intelligence tests. • The debate becomes…why do these differences exist?

17. HEREDITARIAN STANCE The hereditarians strongly argue for a genetic explanation to the African American/White IQ differential. • Some site differences in brain and skull size • Others maintain there are inborn differences • Propagates idea that intelligence can be measured in a single number • Researchers conclude biological difference between African Americans and Whites

18. ENVIRONMENTAL STANCE • In direct opposition to hereditarians, environmentalists argue that the discrepancy between scores is entirely due to environmental factors citing : • poor conditions for minorities • cultural bias on standardized tests • inadequate school systems • lower socieconomic status for certain groups

19. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS • The Importance of Education on Intelligence Testing • Schooling changes scores • Quality of formal education for African Americans was not same as for Whites • Deprived educational attainment has ramifications for future generations

20. THE EVIDENCE Waco School District Given a white failure rate of 37 percent what can we expect for the failure rates of blacks?

23. SAT Scores vs. Income • Test scores go up with family income. • They also improve with socioeconomic status. • Both trends are observed within all ethnic and racial groups. • But before you blame income and socioeconomic status for test score gaps consider this: • Black children from the wealthiest families have mean SAT scores lower than white children from families below the poverty line.

26. SAT Scores vs. Parental Education Some argue that social position, access to libraries, and the opportunity to take vacations may cause the gap in scores. However, consider this: Black children of parents with graduate degrees have lower SAT scores than white children of parents with high-school diplomas or less.

29. ECONOMIC COSTS Lack of self-esteem Loss of self-respect Income inequality Discrimination

30. Are tests biased? • “one test fits all” • uses norms that are supposed to be appropriate for everyone. • Standardized tests are biased in favor of those whose culture and upbringing closely resembles that of the test makers-typically white middle-class males. • If tests are going to be appropriate for “EVERYONE” then “EVERYONE” must be involved of the writing of the test.

31. Should we stop the SATs? • University of California says YES!! • Question: What does it measure??? • SAT: focuses on general reasoning • ACT: focuses on subject matter • Biased against Blacks and Latinos • Measures the ability to pay for prep courses

32. Changes in IQ

33. Why has intelligence been increasing?? Selective Breeding or changes in the environment?

34. What is causing these increases?? • Twin study • 75 percent is genetic • Environmental influence on genetics accounts for the rest • Genetics cause people to seek out certain environments • Experiences with technology (computers, videogames…) train for pattern analysis that IQ tests access • Genetic IQ is fixed; Environmental influence allows us to alter our predisposed IQ

35. Other studies find… • Improved diet during pregnancy lead to higher IQ’s for children • Important… • If things can be changed --- environment • If things cannot be changed --- genetic