Intelligence and public policy
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (August 2010) |
A large body of research indicates that IQ ("intelligence quotient") and similar measures vary between individuals and between certain groups, and that they correlate with socially important outcomes such as educational achievement, employment, crime, poverty and socioeconomic status.
In the
Use of cognitive tests in the United States legal system and public policy
History
In the early 20th century, eugenics legislation was passed in many US states which allowed, or encouraged, sterilization of "feeble-minded" individuals.
In the 1927 case Buck v. Bell, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes closed the 8–1 majority opinion upholding the sterilization of Carrie Buck, who along with her mother and daughter was labeled "feeble-minded", with the infamous phrase, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
Eugenics fell out of favor in the middle part of the century and is now widely denounced, though memories of the period continue to influence public policy.
US education
The existence of educational achievement gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups is broadly accepted; the source and stability of the gaps[
The
A major area of controversy regarding the
Employment
One summary of the relationship between employment policy and
Cognitive ability tests represent the best single predictor of job performance, but also represent the predictor most likely to have substantial adverse impact on employment opportunities for members of several racial and ethnic minority groups. Debates over the use of these tests in selection often involve trade-offs between two criteria that are valued by decision makers – that is, efficiency and equity. Findings and methods from decision research can help us frame these trade-offs, but in most cases they cannot be avoided.[7]
Before the late twentieth century, on the basis of studies showing widely varying
These findings have major significance. For example, racial groups differ in average performance on mental ability tests: East Asians on average score higher than Whites, who on average score higher than Blacks (see Race and intelligence for a more thorough discussion). Race-blind hiring on the basis of cognitive test score, among the best predictors of job performance, tends to lead to under-representation of some racial groups in favor of others, a phenomenon called "adverse impact" or "disparate impact" in employment law. (In contrast, "disparate treatment" refers to deliberate discrimination.)
In 1971, in the case
The Act proscribes not only overt discrimination but also practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation. The touchstone is business necessity. If an employment practice which operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance, the practice is prohibited.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act generally prohibits employment practices that are unfair or discriminatory. One provision of Title VII, codified at 42 USC 2000e-2(h), specifically provides that it is not an "unlawful employment practice for an employer to give and to act upon the results of any professionally developed ability test provided that such test, its administration or action upon the results is not designed, intended or used to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin." This statute was interpreted by the Supreme Court in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 US 424 (1971). In Griggs, the Court ruled that the reliance solely on a general IQ test that was not found to be specifically relevant to the job at issue was a discriminatory practice where it had a "disparate impact" on hiring. The Court gave considerable weight in its ruling to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulation interpreting Section 2002e-2(h)'s reference to a "professionally developed ability test" to mean "a test which fairly measures the knowledge or skills required by the particular job or class of jobs which the applicant seeks, or which fairly affords the employer a chance to measure the applicant's ability to perform a particular job or class of jobs." In other words, the use of any particular test would need to be shown to be relevant to the particular job or class of jobs at issue.
In 1989, the US Supreme Court decision in Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio[11] reduced the defendant's burden of proving business necessity to a burden of producing evidence of business justification. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 overturned that portion of the Wards Cove decision.
These decisions added a legal dimension to trade-offs between "efficiency and equity" referenced by Murphy. Though cognitive testing is generally inexpensive, reliable and valid, US employers risk expensive legal action if such testing produces disparate impact. In practice, companies have responded with a variety of strategies, from abandonment of cognitive testing to maintenance of racial hiring quotas. The latter derives from enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's "four-fifths rule", which states that any group selection rate that is less than four-fifths (80%) of the highest rate will be regarded by Federal enforcement agencies as evidence of adverse impact.[12]
Attempts to formulate a test with reliability and validity equal to cognitive testing, but that does not produce disparate impact, have generally failed.[13]
Microsoft is known for using non-illegal tests that correlate with IQ tests as part of the interview process, weighing the results even more than experience in many cases.[14]
US military service
All US military recruits take the Armed Forces Qualification Test, an intelligence test that strongly measures the
The Military Doesn't conduct IQ tests any more, Instead Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is conducted. The (ASVAB) test has nothing to do with IQ test and the scores between the two tests vary. The Minimum Score in the test is 31. Those who score less than 31 in Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery are also selected.
The U.S. military uses the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT), as higher scores correlate with significant increases in effectiveness of both individual soldiers and units.[16]
US crime
In its 2002 ruling on the case
The
- "[I]t appears that even among those States that regularly execute offenders and that have no prohibition with regard to the mentally retarded, only five have executed offenders possessing a known IQ less than 70 since we decided Penry. The practice, therefore, has become truly unusual, and it is fair to say that a national consensus has developed against it."
In overturning the Virginia Supreme Court's holding, the Atkins opinion stated that petitioner's IQ result of 59 was a factor making the imposition of capital punishment a violation of his eighth amendment rights. In the opinion's notes the court provided some of the facts relied upon when reaching their decision
At the sentencing phase, Dr. Nelson testified: "Atkins' full scale IQ is 59. Compared to the population at large, that means less than one percentile. ... Mental retardation is a relatively rare thing. It's about one percent of the population." App. 274. According to Dr. Nelson, Atkins' IQ score "would automatically qualify for Social Security disability income." Id., at 280. Dr. Nelson also indicated that of the over 40 capital defendants that he had evaluated, Atkins was only the second individual who met the criteria for mental retardation. Id., at 310. He testified that, in his opinion, Atkins' limited intellect had been a consistent feature throughout his life, and that his IQ score of 59 is not an "aberration, malingered result, or invalid test score." Id., at 308.
Individuals with IQs below 70 have been essentially exempted from the death penalty in the U.S. since 2002, even though this cannot be definitely confirmed.[18]
US Social Security
The Social Security Administration also uses IQ results when deciding disability claims. In certain cases, IQ results alone are used (in those cases where the result shows a "full scale IQ of 59 or less") and in other cases IQ results are used along with other factors (for a "full scale IQ of 60 through 70") when deciding whether a claimant qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits.[19]
Race issues
The public policy implications of intelligence research have often been defined by debates surrounding race and intelligence.[20][21]
References
- ^ a b "Reaching Out...Raising African American Achievement". Archived from the original on 2005-05-25. Retrieved 2005-07-11.
- ^ "Topic Galleries – chicagotribune.com". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Achieving Equitable Education in Calhoun County
- ^ Educational Studies: A Jrnl of the American Educ. Studies Assoc.
- ^ Gottfredson, L. S. (2006). "Social consequences of group differences in cognitive ability" ("Consequencias sociais das diferencas de grupo em habilidade cognitiva"). In C. E. Flores-Mendoza & R. Colom (Eds.), Introducau a psicologia das diferencas individuais (pp. 433–456). Porto Alegre, Brazil: ArtMed Publishers. PDF
- ^ Murphy, K.M., Can Conflicting Perspectives on the Role of g in Personnel Selection Be Resolved? Human Performance, 15(1&2):173–186 (2002).
- ISBN 0-631-21505-0.
- ^ Hunter, J.E. and Hunter, R.F. (1984). "Validity and utility of alternate predictors of job performance." Psychological Bulletin, 96(1):72–98.
- ^ FindLaw for Legal Professionals – Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code
- ^ FindLaw for Legal Professionals – Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code
- ^ Uniform Employee Selection Guidelines Questions and Answers
- ^ Rich Karlgaard (October 31, 2005). "Talent Wars". Forbes. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ Military.com (2022-08-09). "ASVAB Scores and Army Jobs". Military.com. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
- ^ "RAND Corporation" (PDF)., "MR818.ch2.pdf" (PDF).
- ^ "Daryl Renard Atkins, Petitioner v. Virginia". Cornell Law School. June 20, 2002. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
- ^ Steve Sailer (June 24, 2002). "IQ Defenders Feel Vindicated by Supreme Court". UPI. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
- ^ "Disability Evaluation Under Social Security". Social Security Administration.
- ^ a b c d Winston, Andrew S. (29 May 2020). "Scientific Racism and North American Psychology". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.
- ^ S2CID 222163480.
[T]he claims that genetics defines racial groups and makes them different, that IQ and cultural differences among racial groups are caused by genes, and that racial inequalities within and between nations are the inevitable outcome of long evolutionary processes are neither new nor supported by science (either old or new).
- ^ S2CID 4449918.
Historical measurements of skull volume and brain weight were done to advance claims of the racial superiority of white people. More recently, the (genuine but closing) gap between the average IQ scores of groups of black and white people in the United States has been falsely attributed to genetic differences between the races.
- ^ S2CID 6593169.
- ^ PMID 22963427. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- S2CID 85351431.
- ^ Birney, Ewan; Raff, Jennifer; Rutherford, Adam; Scally, Aylwyn (24 October 2019). "Race, genetics and pseudoscience: an explainer". Ewan's Blog: Bioinformatician at large.
'Human biodiversity' proponents sometimes assert that alleged differences in the mean value of IQ when measured in different populations – such as the claim that IQ in some sub-Saharan African countries is measurably lower than in European countries – are caused by genetic variation, and thus are inherent. . . . Such tales, and the claims about the genetic basis for population differences, are not scientifically supported. In reality for most traits, including IQ, it is not only unclear that genetic variation explains differences between populations, it is also unlikely.
- S2CID 205044224.
There is an emerging consensus about racial and gender equality in genetic determinants of intelligence; most researchers, including ourselves, agree that genes do not explain between-group differences.
- Sungthong, R., Mo-suwan, L., and Chongsuvivatwong, V., "Effects of haemoglobin and serum ferritin on cognitive function in school children," Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 11, no. 2 (2002): 117–22