This article presents a synthesis of arguments disputing the existence of racial-ethnic differences in mental ability, and it challenges the classicist model of “intelligence” on which hereditarian assumptions of racial disparity are based. A review of the literature reveals the following eight major premises held by supporters of this perspective: (a) intelligence is unidimensional and can be represented by a single factor, g; (b) intelligence is fixed within individuals and across generations; (c) IQ tests accurately measure this fixed ability; (d) IQ tests are equally valid across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups; (e) intelligence determines individuals’ professional and social standings; (f) environment plays little role in determining an individual’s intelligence; (g) the intelligence of populations is deteriorating over time; and (h) scores on IQ tests are consistent with classical statistical and measurement theory. Each premise is refuted on the basis of historical, sociological, psychological, and statistical evidence.

Azibo, D. ( 1988 ). Understanding the proper and improper usage of the comparative research framework . Journal of Black Psychology, 15, 81 - 91 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Bell-Scott, P. , & Taylor, R. L. ( 1989 ). The multiple ecologies of Black adolescent development . Journal of Adolescent Research, 4, 119 - 123 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Binet, A. , & Simon, T. ( 1905 ). Sur la necessité d’établir un diagnostic scientifique des états inferieurs de l’intelligence . L’année psychologique, 11.

Google Scholar

Gardner, H. ( 1983 ). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York : Basic Books .

Google Scholar

Gibbs, J. T. ( 1998 ). High risk behaviors in African American youth: Conceptual and methodological issues in research . In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 55 - 86 ). Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum .

Google Scholar

Gould, S. J. ( 1981 ). The mismeasure of man. New York : Norton .

Google Scholar

Graham, S. ( 1992 ). “Most of the subjects were White and middle class”: Trends in published research on African Americans in selected APA journals, 1970-1989 . American Psychologist, 47, 629 - 639 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Greenfield, P. M. ( 1998 ). The cultural evolution of IQ . In U. Neisser (Ed.), The rising curve (pp. 81 - 124 ). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar Crossref

Guilford, J. P. ( 1956 ). The structure of intellect . Psychological Bulletin, 53, 267 - 293 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Hacker, A. ( 1992 ). Two nations: Black and White, separate, hostile, unequal. New York : Scribner .

Google Scholar

Hagen, J. W. , & Conley, A. C. ( 1994 , Spring). Ethnicity and race of children studied in child development, 1980-1993 . Society for Research in Child Development Newsletter, pp. 6 - 7 .

Google Scholar

Herrnstein, R. J. , & Murray, C. ( 1994 ). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York : Free Press .

Google Scholar

Jensen, A. R. ( 1969 ). How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement? Harvard Educational Review, 39, 1 - 123 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Jones, J. M. ( 1991 ). Psychological models of race: What have they been and what should they be? In J. D. Goodchilds (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on human diversity in America (pp. 7 - 46 ). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar Crossref

Layzer, D. ( 1995 ). Science or superstition? In R. Jacoby & N. Glauberman (Eds.), The bell curve debate: History, documents, opinions (pp. 653 - 678 ). New York : Times Books .

Google Scholar

Loehlin, J. C. , Lindzey, G. , & Spuhler, J. ( 1975 ). Race differences in intelligence. San Francisco : Freeman .

Google Scholar

Lynn, R. ( 1998 ). Decline of genotypic intelligence . In U. Neisser (Ed.), The rising curve (pp. 335 - 364 ). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar Crossref

McLoyd, V. C. ( 1998 ). Changing demographics in the American population: Implications for research on minority children and adolescents . In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 3 - 28 ). Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum .

Google Scholar

McLoyd, V. C. , & Randolph, S. ( 1984 ). The conduct and publication of research on Afro-American children: A content analysis . Human Development, 27, 65 - 75 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

McLoyd, V. C. , & Randolph, S. ( 1985 ). Secular trends in the study of Afro-American children: A review of child development, 1936-1980 . In A. Smuts & J. Hagen (Eds.), History and research in child development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (pp. 78 - 92 , 50 , 4 - 5 , Serial No. 211).

Google Scholar

Mundy-Castle, A. C. ( 1974 ). Social and technological intelligence in Western and non-Western cultures . Universititas, 4, 46 - 52 .

Google Scholar

Neisser, U. ( 1998 ). Rising test scores . In U. Neisser (Ed.), The rising curve (pp. 3 - 22 ). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. ( 1981 ). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Mill Hill Vocabulary Scales (Research suppl. 1). London : H. K. Lewis .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. , & Court, J. H. ( 1989 ). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Research suppl. 4). London : H. K. Lewis .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. , Raven, J. C. , & Court, J. H. ( 1993 ). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Section 1). Oxford, UK : Oxford Psychologists Press .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. , Raven, J. C. , & Court, J. H. ( 1994 ). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Section 5A). Oxford, UK : Oxford Psychologists Press .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. , Raven, J. C. , & Court, J. H. ( 1995 ). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales (Section J, general overview). Oxford, UK : Oxford Psychologists Press .

Google Scholar

Raven, J. C. ( 1941 ). Standardization of the progressive matrices . British Journal of Medical Psychology, 19, 137 - 150 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Sternberg, R. J. ( 1988 ). The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence. New York : Penguin .

Google Scholar

Thurstone, L. L. ( 1938 ). Primary mental abilities (Psychometric monographs, No. 1). Chicago : University of Chicago Press .

Google Scholar

Thurstone, L. L. ( 1946 , February). Theories of intelligence . Scientific Monthly, pp. 101 - 112 .

Google Scholar

Thurstone, L. L. ( 1947 ). Multiple factor analysis. Chicago : University of Chicago Press .

Google Scholar

U.S. Bureau of the Census , ( 1994 ). Statistical abstract of the United States: 1994. Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office .

Google Scholar

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . ( 2000 ). Civilian labor force 16 years and older by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, 1988, 1998, and projected 2008 [Online]. Available: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t05.htm. Washington, DC : Author .

Google Scholar

Waldman, I. D. ( 1998 ). Problems in inferring dysgenic trends for intelligence . In U. Neisser (Ed.), The rising curve (pp. 365 - 376 ). Washington, DC : American Psychological Association .

Google Scholar Crossref

Wechsler, D. ( 1958 ). The measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence ( 4th ed. ). Baltimore : Williams & Wilkins .

Google Scholar Crossref

Wechsler, D. ( 1991 ). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition. San Antonio, TX : Psychological Corporation .

Google Scholar

Wechsler, D. ( 1997 ). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition. San Antonio, TX : Psychological Corporation .

Google Scholar

Wetrogan, S. (1988). Projections of the population of states by age, sex, race: 1988 to 2010 (Current population reports, Series P-25). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Google Scholar

William T. Grant Commission on Work, Family and Citizenship . ( 1988 ). The forgotten half: Pathways to success for America’s youth and young families. Washington, DC : Author .

Google Scholar

Wober, M. ( 1974 ). Towards an understanding of the Kinganda concept of intelligence . In J. W. Berry & P. R. Dasen (Eds.), Culture and cognition (pp. 261 - 280 ). London : Methuen .

Google Scholar

Wober, M. ( 1975 ). Psychology in Africa. London : International African Institution .

Google Scholar