What is Jensonism and How Did IQ Testing Leave Its Mark?

Arthur R. Jenson, a well-known educational psychologist is regarded by many as the father of modern academic racism. He established a belief that intellectual ability was largely determined by genetic factor and socioeconomic factors had very little to do with it, this was later recognized as Jensonism. In the Harvard Educational Review (1969) “How Much Can We Boost IQ and scholastic Achievement?” he rejected welfare program such as Head Start based on his finding. He explained that this would be a misplaced fund because ultimately these programs would not help minorities substantially advance academically. Critics today condemn his findings as racist while other appreciate his approach to his findings calling him unafraid. There are critics, such as Professor Detterman, who in 1998 regarded his work as misunderstood claiming he did not have racist intentions rather he was taking a step towards a greater discovery that is supported today by many psychologists that can agree there is a hereditary factor in intelligence. While the debate continued, a book in response to Jensen’s “Bias in Mental Testing” called “The Cognitive Basis of Intellect” by Professor Grover (1981) argued that it is possible to create tests of general intelligence that are removed from “cultural bias”. Lastly, she points out the severe implications of his findings on links between genetics and intellectual capacity. They not only shaped the perspective society has on minority groups, they also diminished the quality of their education. She states that his apologist overlooks his politically incorrect position to justify his bravery in science have and because of this have failed to see that “you cannot social science from human rights”.

 Jensen’s approach to Differential Psychology undoubtedly left an impact on society. He taught as a graduate professor at the University of California, Berkeley until he passed away October 2012. Psychologist now agree that your gene expression and environment do impact your brain development, however when it comes to intellect, environmental input is most impacting. The IQ exam stemmed out of a scale called Binet-Simon scale. A French psychologist named Alfred Binet created this scale to identify the students who had learning disabilities. This scale went through several revisions and ultimately when it got to the U.S. it was revised by professors in Stanford. It was renamed the Stanford-Binet scale and while it used to find students with learning disabilities it was also used to find the students who had above average intelligence. This test, like many other tests, claim that if you score high you are typically gifted, if you score low you “often face some sort of cognitive disability”. Jenson came to his conclusion by having a diverse group take an IQ test and when he noticed that minority groups were scoring low on conceptual abilities, abstract thinking, and problem solving as opposed to white people, this became the basis of his research. Although most professionals denounce his findings, there is an issue with lower test score in more minority populated schools. While test like the ACT or SAT don’t count your “intelligence quotient” they do suggest for many if you’ll be successful in academics and the professional field. This is often discouraging to many students who face this “achievement gap” and don’t understand socioeconomic factor behind it.

Works Cited:

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/science/arthur-r-jensen-who-set-off-debate-on-iq-dies.html

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/traits/intelligence

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/arthur-jensen

https://www.famousscientists.org/alfred-binet/

https://www.russellsage.org/sites/default/files/Ayres_BinetSimon%20Test_0.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/

http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/12/local/me-sterile12