Cultural Issues and Intelligence Testing
This journal entry responds to the cultural inadequacies in intelligence testing which stems from the foundations laid by authors Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray who penned The Bell Curve. Their belief encompasses the concept that IQ tests are accurate measures of intelligence and that IQ is a strong predictor of school and career achievement (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). While these beliefs are testable the following belief that IQ is heritable and genetic is yet to be proven. There may exist pivotal environmental factors that ultimately disprove or reduce this school of thought.
Racial differences in IQ have been viewed as a factor of genetics, which can limit a person’s potential to be highly intelligent (Nisbett et al., 2012). I would dare to say that genetic inadequacies are not limited to specific races but that genetics may play a role in all races and therefore limit certain levels of intelligence in an individual based on genetics of the parents. I’m more inclined to view environmental factors as the cause of limited intelligence.
In the United States we are still racially divided into communities that tend to have their own cultures and standards of living, which can be restrictive to advanced intelligence. Educational systems in certain areas that have low-income are likely to be less funded than better-funded public and private schools in higher income areas. Better resources in a person’s environment can improve their opportunity to have a high IQ. My view of intelligence challenges the notion that racial differences are more of an impact than a person’s environment. Take for instance, children from a race with traditionally lower intelligence scores who have been adopted by wealthy parents from another race and culture have been known to be of higher intelligence than the group they were born into. If race were a factor here then this scenario would be impossible. Racial limitations on intelligence are a product of people who are limited in their ability to understand how learning is achieved. Learning and intelligence is advanced primarily through the environment in which you place the individual in their youth.
This theory does not include the idea that people regardless of their abundance of available resources are always going to have a higher IQ than those with fewer resources. I do believe people are capable of reaching a limit of their capabilities because of their genetic make-up but not because of race. Additionally, certain cultures have developed certain thought processes that can impact how a person answers questions on