group differences in intelligence Flashcards
(21 cards)
what are fallacies?
errors in reasoning that are typical or well-known
these errors may pertain to the relationship between individuals and groups
what are the types of fallacies?
hasty generalisation
ecological fallacy
what is a hasty generalisation?
take a single instance based on one person and generalise it to a broader group
what is an ecological fallacy?
take something that is true of a group and apply it to all individuals within that group
what are correct inferences?
must be many individual pieces of evidence and big group differences
how do normal distributions show group differences?
overlapping normal distributions
differences are small overall but the ratios are bigger at the extremes
are there sex differences in intelligence?
- Spearman and Cattell found there are no sex differences in general intelligence
- Narrative analysis by Court (1983), Jensen (1998) and Mackintosh (1998) found there are no significant differences between males and females
- Meta-analysis by Irwing & Lynn (2005) found there are no differences up to the age of 15 but adult men score on average 5 IQ points more than women - the effete size remains small (d=0.3)
- Illiescu et al. (2016) recently found non-replications of this - found little evidence of the differences in the variance of IQ scores between males and females - sample was representative of the population
- Little overall difference in cognitive abilities but the sexes could differ in which sub-tests they excel at
what are some sex differences in specific cognitive abilities?
men do better on spatial ability tasks
e.g. spatial visualisation and mental rotation men did better on the spatial ability task called the water-level test
women do better on verbal ability and perceptual speed tasks
women also do better in school: highest for language courses, lower for maths courses
women make up the majority of those in college
explain the water-level test
○ Introduced by Piaget who looked at how children’s ability to understand matured
○ It illustrates a frequently observed sex difference in cognitive ability
○ If you are male, you are relatively more likely to draw horizontally across the glass - the correct line
○ If you are female, you are relatively more likely to draw a line parallel to the direction in which the water flass is tipped
○ You get differences among men and women in college studying liberal arts but not architecture, which suggests a sex difference than can be erased through learning
○ These differences are arguably due to the fact that men are superior at spatial ability tests than women
what are the biological differences between male and female brains that impacts intelligence?
men have larger brains on average but their average intelligence is not higher
suggesting that brain size does not correlate with intelligence but organisation of the brain is what is important
men rely predominantly on one hemisphere to perform specific functions whereas women use both
what are the biological differences between men and women that impact spatial ability?
testosterone may impact spatial ability by shaping the brain in a certain way to make men better at certain tasks
evolutionary differences may impact spatial ability as men needed to hunt, roam and right so had to rely on and develop their spatial skills
how can spatial ability be improved?
environment and training improves spatial ability e.g. women and chess, women and video games
what are the environmental differences between men and women that impact intelligence?
gender stereotypes and socialisation
toy preferences and subject choice at college
gender pay gap and maternity leave
self-fulfilling prophecies
what are some race differences in intelligence?
the Bell Curve book by Herrnstein and Murray (1994) is controversial and considered racist
what were the six assumptions made by the Bell Curve book?
- A general intelligence factor, g, really exists
- IQ tests measure what they should measure, intelligence
- IQ tests roughly measure what people regard as intelligence
- IQ scores are relatively stable
- IQ scores are not biased towards different groups
- IQ is substantially heritable (> 40% and < 80%)
what were the claims made in the Bell Curve book?
backed up by empirical data
1. IQ is the best predictor of college attendance, not social class or wealth
2. IQ predicts job performance better than CV, experience, interview and education
3. IQ is a better predictor of social problems than social class e.g. living in poverty, ending up in prison, not having a job
4. A cognitive elite is emerging in the US
what were the recommendations made in the Bell Curve book?
conversative in nature
1. Stop immigration and welfare, which creates conditions that reduce IQ
2. Understand IQ cannot easily be raised - only deficits reduced
3. End affirmative action for failing students, and invest in gifted students instead
differences in IQ between races
- Average IQ of a white person is roughly 100 whereas for black people it is 85 with a difference of 1 standard deviation between them of 15
- East Asians on average score higher on IQ tests than White people and Hispanics on average score higher than Black people
- Average income in the USA follows the same distribution: Asian –> White –> Hispanic –> Black
- IQ has been found to predict violent crime so could IQ explain the correlation between race and violent crime?
- Left-wing people prefer external explanations of crime and suggest that discrimination and deprivation might cause Black people to have a lower IQ and to commit more crime
- Right-wing people prefer internal explanations of crime and suggest that a low IQ might cause Black people to commit more crime and be more deprived and discriminated against
- Correlations can be interpreted either way and people have strong commitments to particular conclusions being true which causes controversy
- Some people think that if internal explanations for crime are offered then this opens the door for racism
key quote from the Bell Curve book
“If the reader is now convinced that either the genetic or environmental explanation has won out to the exclusion of the other, we have not done a sufficiently good job of presenting one side or the other. It seems highly likely to us that both genes and environment have something to do with racial differences. What might the mix be? We are resolutely agnostic on that issue; as far as we can determine, the evidence does not yet justify an estimate.”
says that racial differences in IQ and intelligence may have a genetic component - controversial - but environment also has an impact
this proportion cannot be measured
what is the hereditarian thesis?
the differences in IQ and other characteristics e.g. race or sex are due to genes
what are some reasons to doubt a hereditarian thesis?
○ India’s average IQ is 80-85 (low figures)
○ Africa’s average IQ is 70-85 (low figures)
○ USA and UK’s average IQ is 95-100 (comparatively higher)
- Somalis do worse than White British people in GCSEs on average
- This is consistent with the average IQ from their countries from which they come - relatively lower than British
- Same is true for Chinese people who score better than White British people
- This is consistent with the average IQ from their countries from which they come - relatively higher than British
- IQ of the Igbo Tribe from Nigeria should be low, like the average African IQ, but they are one of the highest levels of IQ
- Same is true for Indian people, IQ should be low like the average but tend to perform better than Native White people
§ Median income for White people is about $60,000
§ Median income for East Asian immigrant groups are higher than this - possibly due to higher IQ
§ However, Indian immigrants have the highest median income yet have a below average IQ comparatively
