Describe how African Americans have been unfairly stigmatized because of their performance on standardized IQ tests; and state the counterarguments against the claim that IQ differences among races are due to genetics

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that, historically, African-American children have scored an average of about 15 points lower on standardized IQ tests than European-American children. One persistent claim is that African Americans score below average in IQ because they are genetically incapable of climbing out of poverty. Psychologists have responded to such claims with a number of counterarguments. One counterargument is that as a group, African Americans are more likely than European Americans to live in environments that are physically, educationally, and intellectually impoverished. When unequal education is part of the equation, IQs may tell us little about how heredity affects intelligence. Indeed, one study found that placing poor African-American children into European-American adoptive families increased the children's IQs by an average of 13 points, bringing them into line with those of European-American children. That is, providing African-American children with the same environmental experiences available to European-American children erased IQ differences. Another example that lower African-American IQ scores are not genetic is provided by Ray Friedman and his colleagues who administered a 20-item test to African-American and European-American students. Before the election of Barack Obama, African-American students performed more poorly than European-American students. During the election, African-American students performed just as well as their European-American counterparts. Apparently President Obama is providing a role model, inspiring better academic performance in African-American students. Further, although IQ predicts school performance, it does not predict later career success. In this regard, "street smarts," or what psychologist Robert Sternberg calls practical intelligence, is often seen by minority cultures as more important than "book learning," or what Sternberg calls analytic intelligence. Most psychologists have concluded that there is no scientific evidence that group differences in average IQ are based on genetics. In fact, studies that used actual blood group testing found no significant correlations between ethnic ancestry and IQ scores. This is because it does not even make genetic sense to talk about "races" at all, that is, obvious external markers, like skin color, have little to do with underlying genetic differences. Thus, group differences in IQ scores are based on cultural and environmental diversity, as much as on heredity. To conclude otherwise reflects political beliefs and biases, not scientific facts.