Controversial Validity Of Iq Testing

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When one speaks of intelligence or how bright another person is, the often quoted figure is the IQ or intelligence quotient. It is the most often used standard of how smart a person is. This paper shall look at what intelligence tests measure, how the IQ tests measure intelligence and interrogate their history. It shall then apply the tests to school policy and hence evaluate their validity.

Labeling bias exists when a test claims to measure one thing but actually measures something else. Tests that claim to assess such traits as “aptitude” or “intelligence” imply that they are measuring something innate, given that many people assume that these traits are genetic. However, Jencks notes that “almost all psychologists now agree that while an individual’s score on an intelligence or aptitude test depends partly on his or her genetic makeup, it also reflects a multitude of environmental influences” (p. 56). Thus, such tests are racially biased estimates of the innate traits that most laypeople think these tests are purporting to evaluate. Fortunately, this bias can be eliminated by simply changing the names of what these tests claim to measure.

In today’s modern world, recent scientific research has been conducted, which reveals that world-wide IQ test scores have risen, and continue to rise every year. In Alison Gopnik’s article, “Smarter Every Year? Mystery of the Rising IQs,” she discussed how these recent scientific discoveries relate to our society throughout the last century. It is evident that in our society a person’s level of intelligence is extremely important in our culture which is obsessed with being knowledgable. In her article, Gopnik addresses the historical evidence that supports the conclusion that people are getting smarter as the years go on because of today’s society. Gopnik effectively explains the fact that people’s IQs are rising every year, by using the results

Some racial groups value hunting knowledge because they are required to hunt for their food for survival, and some increase their chances of survival if they have the academic intelligence to succeed in a paid job. Considering this, standardised IQ tests fail to create statistically comparable results due to the fact that each race places different loadings of importance on different abilities (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Kidd, 2005). It would be unreasonable to expect an Amazonian tribe member to understand a question such as “which design best completes the sequence?” for example, because this may not be the language or type of question they are accustomed to (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2012). Yet failure to understand such questions might affect their score and imply they are unintelligent according to a standardised IQ test. This is known as a ‘test bias’, because the issue lies within the construction of the measuring tool rather than a lack of intellect (Sternberg, 1980). As this example highlights, it is necessary to acknowledge racial differences in scientific endeavours in order to achieve total congruency, due to the diversity of cultural values.

The issue of race and intelligence became prominent in the United States in the late 1960s (Rose 786). While some may argue that race correlates with the intelligence of a person, this paper will show that this is not the case and there are other factors that may determine one's intelligence. The measure of intelligence has many influences such as environment, social economics, biased standardized test, stereotypes, and genetics. These factors will be examined throughout this paper along with providing insight on how standardized tests may be biased toward different races.

The American Psychological Association studies have shown that environmental factors can contribute to an individual’s intelligence factor. Different revolution factors, natural selection factors, and environmental differences have an impact (Saletan 4). For example, a black kid living in a run down neighborhood may do worse than a white kid living in a rich neighborhood. Due to this, most children feed off of their peers, either at school or even at home. People in disadvantaged groups generally score lower on IQ tests than those who are not disadvantaged (Jackson 1). Different races have different advantages due to

Differences have been observed in mean IQ levels for racial/ethnic groups, as measured by intelligence tests

In today’s modern world, recent scientific research has been conducted, which reveals that world-wide IQ test scores have risen, and continue to rise every year. In Alison Gopnik’s article, “Smarter Every Year? Mystery of the Rising IQs,” she discussed how these recent scientific discoveries relate to our society throughout the last century. It is evident that in our society a person’s level of intelligence is extremely important in our culture which is obsessed with being knowledgeable. In her article, Gopnik addresses the historical evidence that supports the conclusion that people are getting smarter as the years go on because of today’s society. Gopnik effectively explains the fact that people’s IQs are rising every year, by using the results of scientific research to support her point, and by explaining theories which state how the world’s social and economic environment are significant factors towards a person’s level of intelligence.

There is a relationship between intelligence and culture because intelligence is culturally shaped and defined and some cultures support and identify it as very vital in the context of social and ecological aspects. In the early years, there was a bias towards intelligence tests because they used English language and culture. The formation of Wesler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Addition (WAIS,IV) in 2008 by David Wesler was meant to minimise the bias. According to Westen, Burton and Kowalski (2006), intelligence assists human beings to take control of their lives and it varies cross culturally because the power dynamics differ in each society and this leads to differences in behaviour and line of thinking. These authors describe intelligence as multifaceted, functional and can be defined by culture because it is universal and studying intelligence using different culture as a sample that can be used to question Western ideas about intelligence with some emphasis on the assessment of skills and abilities using culturally appropriate methods (Benson, 2003)

When discussing biases in testing, intelligence tests are highly discussed especially when addressing cultural bias. Culture, which is defined as the belief systems and value orientation, including customs, norms, practices, and social institutions (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998) has a significant influence on all aspects of the individual, and problems can occur with instruments that do not consider cultural differences (Whiston, 2009). Many researchers have studied cultural bias of intelligence tests as they relate to African-Americans. As known, many instruments including intelligence tests were designed to be administered to white or European Americans. Although cultural bias in testing does not focus only on African-Americans, it is one focus group.

Binet and Simon were asked to design a test to scientifically diagnose “inferior” intelligence. The Binet-Simon Intelligence test would come about several years later as a result of this earlier test (Nicolas & Levine, ). Binet’s intelligence test, the Binet-Simon Scale was a success because it was “inexpensive, easy to administer, objectively scorable, and predictive of classroom performance” (Siegler, 1992, p. 185). The test allowed schools to identify students that learned at a slower rate than their peers, which would make them eligible for special education. One of Binet’s goals in developing the intelligence test was to assist teachers and school administrators to place children in classes that would be appropriate for their individual learning

Stanley Rothman; a past professor at Smith College, and Max Snyderman; a researcher at Harvard University had said that “...the majority of experts in the field believe it is impossible to adequately define intelligence, that intelligence tests do not measure anything that is relevant to life performance, and that they are biased against minorities…” (Rothman & Snyderman, 1988, p. 98). Many people advocate that the I.Q. test is culturally biased and does not efficiently represent the general population. The I.Q. test has a large part in an individual's life and influences the outcome of their future- what kind of college they get accepted in, what job they are hired for, and how much money they make. There are so many different components that could influence the results of the test; such as the impartiality of the test towards others of different cultures, the economic status of an individual, and the plausibility that the knowledge of a person could be measured. The IQ test does an unsatisfactory role of being representative of the general population’s mental capacity and knowledge. There needs to be a more decisive method that can be used to test people in a fair manner, rather than giving them a bigotry standardized test.

To begin, when speaking of employment opportunities that require modest to eminent levels of complexity, the use of cognitive ability tests is recommended. Now, although this is a recommendation, the tests are also valid for other job types. One of the most alluring conditions of cognitive ability tests is that they are known for validity in a large capacity of organizations and jobs. In all actuality, they are one of few predictors that are available and deemed valid. While these tests are recommended, they are faced with two major concerns. One, the concern of an adverse impact on minorities since scoring is low for this class. Two, the reaction from applicants is typically unfavorable. For this reason, this is one of the most controversial

Another debate was provoked by American psychologist Arthur Jensen that argued that 80% of intellectual abilities of a person come from his or her genes. He made this assumption after conducting an experiment were he evaluate IQ of African race against Caucasians and identified that the former had significantly lower IQ points. For many environmentalists, however, such drastic differences in IQ testing are due to socially biased methods of testing (McLeod). Moreover, it only proves that society is very important in enhancing or decreasing intellectual abilities as the majority