Intelligence Tests

Standardized tests used to measure intelligence, as well as African American performance on them and possible factors that might affect the scores of African Americans taking the tests. Since the development of the first scientific intelligence tests in the early 1900s, the issue of how to define and measure intelligence has been a subject of controversy.

One of the main issues of controversy is whether heredity or environment is more important in determining intelligence. Another issue is whether some groups are more “naturally” intelligent than others. Moreover, the issue of whether the most widely used intelligence tests actually measure innate cognitive abilities is also a subject of great debate. These issues have been particularly important for members of minority groups, given the history of discrimination in the use of intelligence tests in the United States.

The best-known measure of intelligence is the intelligence quotient, or IQ. There is no single test for IQ—various types of tests are used for different populations. An average IQ is 100, while the “normal” range of IQ scores is from 85 to 115.

Most IQ tests are reliable—that is, people who take them consistently obtain the same scores when they are retested. However, serious questions exist about the validity of IQ tests. For a test to be “valid,” it must actually measures what it claims to measure. The results of valid tests can be used to make predictions about certain outcomes.

While IQ is fairly good at predicting academic success, few researchers still believe that it is an accurate measure of general intelligence. Many now look to the general mental factor (referred to as g) as a better measure of some basic ability that underlies intelligence. However, researchers still face the challenge of defining g and designing tests that accurately measure it across different populations.

Despite the widespread use of intelligence tests in society, many scholars believe that such tests are biased against African Americans and other minority groups. Indeed, in the past, intelligence tests have been used to discriminate against minorities. In the early 1900s, for example, European immigrants to the United States were given intelligence tests upon their arrival at Ellis Island, the main immigration center in New York harbor. Those who failed the tests—which were administered only in English (despite the fact that many immigrants could not speak or understand English)—were denied entry into the country. In one sample of 178 immigrants who arrived in 1917, 80 percent of the Jews, Russians, and Hungarians tested were labeled “feebleminded” as a result of the tests.

Another early large-scale use of intelligence testing in the United States occurred during World War I. At that time, psychologists from Stanford University in California devised tests called the Army Alpha and Beta to screen military recruits. However, answering many of the questions on the test required specific cultural knowledge. This bias favored recruits from upper-to middle-class urban areas who had more formal education. According to the Army tests, the average mental age of male recruits was just thirteen years, [Page 449]and scores for African Americans were significantly lower than for whites. For many, the Army tests reinforced their belief that African Americans were less intelligent than white Americans.

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