Mainstream Science on Intelligence: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|1994 public statement published in the Wall Street Journal}}

[[File:WSJ-Gottfredson.png|thumb|The statement as it appeared in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' on Tuesday, December 13, 1994]]

"'''Mainstream Science on Intelligence'''" was a public statement issued by a group of researchers led by psychologist [[Linda Gottfredson]]. It was published originally in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' on December 13, 1994, as a response to criticism of the book ''[[The Bell Curve]]'' by [[Richard Herrnstein]] and [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]], which appeared earlier the same year.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McInerney|first=Joseph D.|date=March 1996|title=Why Biological Literacy Matters: A Review of Commentaries Related to The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3037831|journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology|volume=71|issue=1|pages=81–96|doi=10.1086/419269|jstor=3037831|s2cid=88113127|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The statement defended Herrnstein and Murray's controversial claims about [[race and intelligence]], including the claim that average [[intelligence quotient]] (IQ) differences between racial and ethnic groups may be at least partly genetic in origin.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staub |first=Michael E. |date=8 May 2019 |title=The Mismeasure of Minds |work=Boston Review |url=https://bostonreview.net/race/michael-e-staub-mismeasure-minds}}</ref> This view is now considered discredited by mainstream science.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bird |first1=Kevin |last2=Jackson |first2=John P. |last3=Winston |first3=Andrew S. |date=2024 |title=Confronting Scientific Racism in Psychology: Lessons from Evolutionary Biology and Genetics |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Famp0001228 |journal=American Psychologist |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=497–508 |doi=10.1037/amp0001228 |pmid=39037836 |quote=Recent articles claim that the folk categories of race are genetically meaningful divisions, and that evolved genetic differences among races and nations are important for explaining immutable differences in cognitive ability, educational attainment, crime, sexual behavior, and wealth; all claims that are opposed by a strong scientific consensus to the contrary. ... Despite the veneer of modern science, RHR [racial hereditarian research] psychologists’ recent efforts merely repeat discredited racist ideas of a century ago. The issue is truly one of scientific standards; if psychology embraced the scientific practices of evolutionary biology and genetics, current forms of RHR would not be publishable in reputable scholarly journals.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=25 May 2017 |title=Intelligence research should not be held back by its past |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2017.22021 |journal=Nature |volume=545 |issue=7655 |pages=385–386 |doi=10.1038/nature.2017.22021 |pmid=28541341 |bibcode=2017Natur.545R.385. |quote=Historical measurements of skull volume and brain weight were done to advance claims of the racial superiority of white people. More recently, the (genuine but closing) gap between the average IQ scores of groups of black and white people in the United States has been falsely attributed to genetic differences between the races.}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Gavin |date=2 March 2018 |title=The unwelcome revival of 'race science' |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science |url-status=live |access-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220023319/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science |archive-date=February 20, 2019}}</ref><ref name="VoxConsensus">{{cite web |last1=Turkheimer |first1=Eric |last2=Harden |first2=Kathryn Paige |last3=Nisbett |first3=Richard E. |date=June 15, 2017 |title=There's still no good reason to believe black-white IQ differences are due to genes |url=https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/6/15/15797120/race-black-white-iq-response-critics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504055356/https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/6/15/15797120/race-black-white-iq-response-critics |archive-date=May 4, 2021 |access-date=29 April 2021 |website=Vox |publisher=Vox Media}}</ref>

The statement was drafted by Gottfredsen, a professor of [[educational psychology]] at the [[University of Delaware]]. It was sent to 131 researchers whom Gottfredsen described as "experts in intelligence and allied fields". Of these, 52 signed the statement, 48 returned the request with an explicit refusal to sign, and 31 ignored the request.<ref name="Gottfredson 1997 17–20" /><ref name=":0" />

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journal=Educational Researcher|year=2010|volume=9 |issue=2|pages=95–109|url=http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/Educational_Researcher/3902/095-109_03EDR10.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810063251/http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/Educational_Researcher/3902/095-109_03EDR10.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-08-10|doi=10.3102/0013189x10363171|pmid=22383855|pmc=3289095}} (2009 [[American Educational Research Association|AERA]] distinguished lecture)

*{{citation|journal=Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology|volume=17|issue=2|year= 1996|pages= 155–173|title=Intelligence testing and social policy

|first=Luis M. |last=Laosa|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2333-8504.1995.tb01667.x|doi=10.1016/S0193-3973(96)90023-4|url-access=subscription}}

*{{citation|last1=Plomin|first1=R.|author-link=Robert Plomin|last2=Petrill|first2= S. A. |year=1997c|title= Genetics and intelligence: What's new?|journal= Intelligence|volume= 24|pages= 53–77|doi=10.1016/s0160-2896(97)90013-1}}

*{{citation|last=Schlinger|first=Henry D.|year=2003|title=The myth of intelligence|journal=The Psychological Record|volume=53|pages=15–32|