Are there IQ differences between blacks and whites in America?”
Myths about group differences in IQ and behavior depend very much on myths about individual differences in IQ and behavior. For example, some untenable ideas about the heritability of IQ are a central component of hereditarian explanations of group differences. Because of this overlap, discussion of myths about group differences often needs to include consideration of individual differences. In this column I focus on IQ and behavior myths with a special emphasis on myths related to race or groups as a whole and to cultural factors. Myth: Biological or genetic determinism is a nothing more than a scientific discipline that studies the biological basis of all forms of human behavior. Reality: Biological or genetic determinism as applied to human behavior is an ideology rather than a scientific discipline. It proposes that humans differ in fundamental abilities because of innate differences, that these innate differences are biologically inherited, and that human nature guarantees the for
The race and intelligence debate is a controversial issue, occurring mostly in the United States[citation needed], and where considerations on both the nature of race and the meaning and measurement of intelligence have the potential to pre-empt the entire debate, according to many scholars.Important related questions include whether intelligence can be accurately described by a single number, and whether the nature of intelligence is the same across cultures, as well as the emerging consensus that “races” as they are commonly understood are a social rather than a biological category.At the base of the debate is the observation that intelligence quotient (IQ) tests have demonstrated significant differences in the average scores of different population groups, particularly US Blacks and Whites (racially self-identified for the most part). No consensus exists regarding the meaning and/or relevance of these differences, and numerous interpretations have been proposed to clarify them. A pa
