ARTHUR JENSEN Consensus and Controversy Essays in Honour of Arthur Jensen Falmer International Master-Minds Challenged Psychology Series Editors: Drs Sohan and Celia Modgil 1 Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and Controversy 2 Hans Eysenck: Consensus and Controversy 3 Noam Chomsky: Consensus and Controversy 4 Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy 5 B.F.Skinner: Consensus and Controversy ARTHUR JENSEN Consensus and Controversy EDITED BY Sohan Modgil, Ph.D. Reader in Educational Research and Development Brighton Polytechnic AND Celia Modgil, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology London University CONCLUDING CHAPTER BY Arthur R.Jensen University of California, Berkeley The Falmer Press (A Member of the Taylor & Francis Group) New York Philadelphia and London USA The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 242 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106–1906 UK The Falmer Press, Falmer House, Barcombe, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5DL © Selection and editorial material copyright Sohan and Celia Modgil 1987 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. First published in 1987 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Arthur Jensen: consensus and controversy. (Falmer international masterminds challenged; 4) Contents: General introduction/Julian Stanley— Human learning/Philip Vernon and Lazar Stankov— Genetics of Human abilities/Robert Plomin, Oscar Kempthorne, and Thomas Bouchard—[etc.]. 1. Intelligence tests. 2. Educational tests and measurements. 3. Test bias. 4. Learning ability. 5. Intelligence tests—Social aspects. 6. Jensen, Arthur Robert. I. Modgil, Sohan. II. Modgil, Celia. III. Series. BF431.A5895 1986 155.8′2 86–14931 ISBN 0-203-97584-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 1-85000-093-X (Print Edition) Jacket design by Caroline Archer Contributors Dr Sohan Modgil and Dr Celia Modgil Brighton Polytechnic University of London Professor Julian Stanley The Johns Hopkins University Professor Philip A.Vernon Professor Lazar Stankov University of Western Ontario University of Sydney Professor Robert Plomin Professor Thomas Bouchard, Jr University of Colorado University of Minnesota Professor Robert Gordon Dr Janice Scheuneman The Johns Hopkins University Educational Testing Service Princeton Professor Lorrie Shepard Professor Steven Osterlind University of Colorado University of Missouri-Columbia Professor Robert Nichols Professor James Flynn State University of New York University of Otago Professor Robert Sternberg Yale University Dr Christopher Brand Professor James Pellegrino University of Edinburgh University of California Santa Barbara Professor Hans Eysenck Professor John Carroll University of London North Carolina University at Chapel Hill Professor Peter Schönemann Purdue University Professor Carl Bereiter Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Dr William Havender Berkeley USA Professor Arthur Jensen University of California Berkeley Acknowledgment The undertaking of, this Falmer International Master-Minds Challenged Psychology Series was only possible in collaboration with the numerous distinguished contributors herein. We are greatly indebted to them for demonstrating their trust by accepting our invitation to join forces to provide statements of how Jensen’s theory is seen in relation to particular disciplines. The volume has been greatly enhanced by the recognition given to it by Arthur Jensen, who increased our confidence in the project by kindly agreeing to write the concluding chapter. We thank Professor Jensen for his very kind and generous support and for his edifying contribution to the content. We are further grateful to Falmer Press, a member of the Taylor & Francis group. We express our very sincere gratitude to Malcolm Clarkson, Managing Director, Falmer Press. Sohan and Celia Modgil December 1985 Contents I INTRODUCTION 1 Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy 2 Sohan and Celia Modgil II INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 2 Introductory Chapter 6 Julian C.Stanley III HUMAN LEARNING: LEVEL I/II THEORY 3 Level I and Level II Revisited 19 Philip A.Vernon 4 Level I/Level II: A Theory Ready to Be Archived 28 Lazar Stankov INTERCHANGE Vernon replies to Stankov 44 Stankov replies to Vernon 45 IV GENETICS OF HUMAN ABILITIES 5 Genetics of Intelligence 47 Robert Plomin 6 The Hereditarian Research Program: Triumphs and 63 Tribulations Thomas Bouchard, Jr INTERCHANGE Plomin replies to Bouchard 83 Bouchard replies to Plomin 84 V TEST BIAS: PSYCHOLOGICAL viii 7 Jensen’s Contributions Concerning Test Bias: A Contextual 89 View Robert A.Gordon 8 An Argument Opposing Jensen on Test Bias: The 184 Psychological Aspects Janice Dowd Scheuneman INTERCHANGE Gordon replies to Scheuneman 203 Scheuneman replies to Gordon 206 VI TEST BIAS: EDUCATIONAL 9 The Case for Bias in Tests of Achievement and Scholastic 210 Aptitude Lorrie A.Shepard 10 Psychometric Validity for Test Bias in the Work of Arthur 227 Jensen Steven Osterlind INTERCHANGE Shepard replies to Osterlind 236 Osterlind replies to Shepard 241 FURTHER INTERCHANGES Gordon replies to Shepard 242 Gordon replies to Osterlind 244 Scheuneman replies to Osterlind 247 Osterlind replies to Gordon 249 Osterlind replies to Scheuneman 250 VII SOCIAL-CLASS AND RACE DIFFERENCES 11 Racial Differences in Intelligence 253 Robert C.Nichols 12 Race and IQ; Jensen’s Case Refuted 262 James Flynn INTERCHANGE Nichols replies to Flynn 276 ix Flynn replies to Nichols 277 VIII INTELLIGENCE: AN OVERVIEW 13 ‘Gee, There’s More Than g!’ A Critique of Arthur Jensen’s 281 Views on Intelligence Robert Sternberg IX INTELLIGENCE 14 The Importance of General Intelligence 297 Christopher Brand 15 Measuring Versus Understanding Individual Differences in 316 Cognitive Abilities James Pellegrino INTERCHANGE Brand replies to Pellegrino 329 Pellegrino replies to Brand 335 X INTELLIGENCE: MENTAL CHRONOMETRY 16 Intelligence and Reaction Time: The Contribution of Arthur 337 Jensen Hans Eysenck 17 Jensen’s Mental Chronometry: Some Comments and 350 Questions John B.Carroll INTERCHANGE Eysenck replies to Carroll 363 Carroll replies to Eysenck 365 XI INTELLIGENCE: DEFINING THROUGH FACTOR ANALYSIS 18 Jensen’s g: Outmoded Theories and Unconquered Frontiers 368 Peter H.Schönemann XII EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS 19 Jensen and Educational Differences 386 Carl Bereiter 20 Educational and Social Implications 397 William R.Havender x XIII CONCLUDING CHAPTER 21 Differential Psychology: Towards Consensus 413 Arthur R.Jensen Author Index 468 Subject Index 479 To Prem with gratitude and love for effort unending Part I: Introduction 1. Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy SOHAN AND CELIA MODGIL INTRODUCTION During the last thirty years, Arthur Jensen’s brilliant contribution to knowledge has been well-known world-wide. From its early transmission, his work has not been without its critics. Naturally, criticisms persist, although his work continues to be frequently acknowledged with great admiration in the channels of psychology. With such prolific work, it would seem justified to consider the discrepancies, the omissions, together with the various interpretations which have been and are currently being highlighted. No theory or practice in modern psychology has been the object of more stringent attack than mental testing, and among the most severe criticisms is that of cultural bias. Despite counterclaims, Jensen concludes that ‘the currently most widely used standardized tests of mental ability—IQ, scholastic aptitude, and achievement tests—are, by and large, not biased against any of the native-born English-speaking minority groups on which the amount of research evidence is sufficient for an objective determination of bias, if the tests were in fact biased’ (Jensen, 1980). Further, ‘for most non-verbal standardized tests, this generalization is not limited to English-speaking minorities.’ Tests ‘became popularly perceived as one of the villains in the 1950s.’ Jensen writes of how in the course of his studies he came to believe that nearly all standard IQ tests were grossly biased against virtually everyone but the white middle class. ‘The message essentially was that psychological tests are trivial, defective, and culture biased, and so we need not be concerned about the social group differences reflected by the tests: the differences were not “real” differences at all, but merely artefacts of the tests themselves.’ However, Jensen was led to see that a more dispassionate stance could be taken and subsequently maintained a close watch on the controversy over bias in mental tests. Since about 1970, Jensen has entered into prolific research and thinking in relation to the analysis of the merits and validity of tests. Jensen emphasizes that ‘the practical applications of sound psychometrics can help to reinforce the democratic ideal of treating every person according to the person’s individual SOHAN AND CELIA MODGIL 3 characteristics, rather than according to his or her sex, race, social class, religion, or national origin.’ CONTINUING THE DEBATE: THE STRATEGY OF THE BOOK The book has as its objective the evaluation of elements of Jensen’s work from the perspectives of a range of areas