Suchergebnisse

AT PRESENT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW THE DEGREE OF GENETIC DETERMINATION OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS, IE, THEIR HERITABILITY. MAJOR PROBLEMS OF RELIABILITY ARE MANIFOLD. A CHILD WITH GENOTYPICALLY HIGH INTELLIGENCE MAY MAGNIFY HIS ADVANTAGE BY SHAPING HIS OWN ENVIRONMENT, WHICH THUS MAY BECOME MORE RESPONSIVE TO HIS NEEDS. A CHILD WITH GENOTYPICALLY LOW INTELLIGENCE, BEING AT A DISADVANTAGE, MAY NOT RESPOND TO HIS OWN ENVIRONMENT IN WAYS WHICH CAN AMPLIFY HIS EXPERIENCES. THIS RAISES A QUESTION AS TO THE JUSTICE OF ADULT RESPONSE TO CHILDREN WHICH ENCOURAGES SOME & DISCOURAGES OTHERS. NO MEANINGFUL ESTIMATE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SUCH INDIRECT GENETIC EFFECTS CAN BE MADE. WHERE IQ IS CONCERNED, IQ'S HERITABILITY MAY BE CALCULATED EVEN THOUGH WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT IQ REALLY IS, OR WHAT VALUE IT HAS. HERITABILITY ESTIMATES ARE USEFUL ONLY IN THAT THEY RELATE TO POSSIBILITIES FOR CHANGE IN PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES; THEY HAVE NO FUNCTION IN PREDICTING POTENTIAL CHANGES ARISING FROM NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATIONS. WHERE DYSGENICS IS CONCERNED, GIVEN THE SUSPICION THAT IQ TESTS HAVE LIMITED VALUE IN JUDGING INTELLIGENCE, ANY EUGENIC PROGRAM SEEMS FRAUGHT WITH PROFOUND MORAL QUESTIONS. ARGUMENTS REGARDING SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & ITS INEVITABLE STRENGTHENING THROUGH GENETIC REINFORCEMENT ARE SOPHISTICATED BUT FALLACIOUS. WHILE SOME R DOES SEEM TO EXIST BETWEEN IQ & SOCIAL STANDING, THIS MIGHT BE DETERMINED BY A GREAT MANY NONGENETIC FACTORS RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH STATUS & MONEY IN OUR SOCIETY PROVIDE. SUCH IDEOLOGICAL & RACIST OVERTONES IN HERITABILITY DISCUSSIONS RAISE SERIOUS QUESTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC ETHICS; THE WIDE DISSEMINATION & POSSIBLE MISINTERPERTATIONS OF THEIR CONCLUSIONS ARE MAJOR PROBLEMS. SCIENTISTS DO HAVE A CERTAIN OBLIGATION TO CONSIDER THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR RESEARCH & THE POSSIBLE MISUSE OF RESULTS. STUDIES OF HERITABILITY OF IQ SHOULD CERTAINLY CONTINUE; STUDIES WHICH EMPLOY RACE AS THEIR MAJOR VARIABLE, HOWEVER, PARTICULARLY IN VIEW OF OUR TREMENDOUSLY IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE VALUE OF IQ, SHOULD BE STOPPED. 1 FIGURE. C. LELAND.

A NEW LOOK AT THE CONCEPT OF 'INTELLIGENCE TESTS' IS REQUIRED, IN VIEW OF THE CONTROVERSIAL 'GENETIC INEQUALITY OF THE RACES' & 'STERILIZATION OF THE LOW IQ' THEORIES FOSTERED IN SOME PLACES TODAY. INTELLIGENCE IS MOST AMBIGUOUSLY DEFINED, YET POPULARLY SO, AS "WHAT IQ TESTS MEASURE." THIS LACK OF CLEAR DEFINITION FOR THE TERM IMPLIES A REAL LACK OF A THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE & AN ATTENDANT VALIDITY QUESTION IN REGARD TO WHAT IQ TESTS DO MEASURE. SOME R DOES EXIST BETWEEN THE IQ TEST SCORE & SUCCESS IN SCHOOL & SOCIETY, BUT ARE WE REALLY MEASURING INTELLIGENCE WITH IQ TESTS, OR IS IT FACTORS OF MOTIVATION, 'TEST-WISENESS', CULTURAL BACKGROUND, ETC? IQ TESTS ARE FOUNDED ON AN UNSTATED THEORY: THEY TEST KNOWLEDGE & DEVELOPED SKILLS ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THOSE QUALITIES MEASURE INTELLIGENCE. THEY MAKE NO ALLOWANCES FOR THE DIFFERENTIAL IN SUBJECT'S ACCESS TO INFORMATION, OR FOR VARIABLES IN MOTIVATION, INTEREST, ETC. NO ACCOUNT IS TAKEN OF INDIVIDUAL'S VARYING CAPACITIES TO DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TYPE DEMANDED BY THE TEST, WHILE SUCH ASPECTS OF INTELLIGENCE AS CREATIVITY ARE IGNORED ENTIRELY. THE TESTS ASSUME THE EXISTENCE OF 'GENERAL INTELLIGENCE'--SOMETHING LIKE ABSTRACT REASONING ABILITY--DESPITE THE FACT THAT PSYCHOMETRICIANS THEMSELVES ARE DEEPLY DIVIDED AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ENTITY. 3 FIGURES. C. LELAND.

SUMMARY The question of the genetic or environmental determination of human development has always been controversial. Intelligence tests, which assume a very large genetic component continue to be used frequently in the West and increasingly in the developing world as a tool for legitimating the allocation of persons to rôles in society. The results from intelligence tests are also used to demonstrate and explain racial and societal differences in intellectual development. The statistic at the centre of the debate, heritability, is invariably misinterpreted and is of more limited use than many would wish to believe.RESUME Les statistiques et I' "héritocratie"La détermination de l'évolution humaine, sur le plan génétique ou de l'environnement constitute un problème qui a toujours suscité des controverses. Les tests de capacité intellectuelle, censés faire partie très importante de la génétique, continuent à servir, fréquemment dans les pays de l'Ouest et de plus en plus dans le tiers‐monde, aux fins de justifier la désignation de certains individus à des rales spécifiques dans la société. On se sert également des résultats de tests de capacité intellectuelle pour démontrer et expliquer les divergences raciales et d'ordre social dans le développement intellectuel. L'élément statistique sur lequel se concentre le débat, à savoir la transmissibilité. devient infailliblement l'objet d'interprétation trompeuse.RESUMEN Las estadísticas y la heritocraciaLa cuestión de la determinación genética o ambiental del desarrollo humano ha sido siempre objeto de controversia Los tests de inteligencia, que suponen un componente genético muy grande, siguen siendo usados frecuentemente en Occidente y cada vez más en los países en desarrollo como herramienta para legitimar la asignación de personas a diversos roles en la sociedad. Los resultados de tests de inteligencia también se usan para demostrar y explicar diferencias raciales y sociales en el desarrollo intelectual. La estadística que es centro del debate, a saber, la transmisión hereditaria, se interpreta invariablemente en forma errónea y es de uso más limitado de lo que muchos quisieran creer.