The Problem of IQ Testing

IQ testing was curated in the early 1900s as a means of identifying children falling behind their peers; the effects of this test linger today, with cognitive ability assessments like ACT testing representing its traces. However, this seemingly benign test has had an incredibly grim impact on everything from the field of psychology to political rhetoric, specifically in the United States. When examining systemic bias in society, it is impossible to ignore the detrimental effects of IQ testing as it is applied to minority groups; by virtue of faulty assumptions, the implicit bias of its endorsers, and numerous ethical violations, IQ tests remain one of the most harmful psychological assessments still utilized today.

The methods by which intelligence quotient (IQ) testing is carried out are littered with misassumptions, even the broadest assumption about the assessment: that IQ testing is reliable, is inherently erroneous when deconstructing test components. More pointedly, one of the most problematic assumptions that IQ testing operates on is the basis of comparing test results to samples of largely white, middle-class, English-speaking individuals. Walters (2021) describes contemporary IQ testing as “culturally loaded for Whiteness” in response to the usage of those specific samples, which demonstrates one of many faulty components of the assessment. 

The best testament to this argument comes when examining the consequences of the 1994 book The Bell Curve, a race-realist work pushing eugenicist rationalizations based on findings of intelligence quotient testing; the book conducts its analysis on faux descriptive statements extrapolated from the results of IQ testing. Quaye (2015) details two of these extrapolations: IQ is unevenly distributed throughout the population by race, and cognitive ability is dominantly determined by genetics. While these two arguments are easily rebuffed when examining data that are controls for environmental factors, the assumptions IQ testing relies on often lead to its support of askew conclusions such as these, illuminating the margin for harm done by its usage. 

Additionally, IQ testing is not only detrimental in the assumptions it operates on but the social assumptions it instills with its inaccurate results. It has been proven to a significant degree that IQ test results rely primarily on socioeconomic factors, leaving the genetic ‘analysis’ of IQ test results as “misplaced, and misguided, but also down-right racist” (Quaye, 2015). However, this evidence does little to deter race-realist scientists and pundits from using IQ testing data to prove their points, whether it be the inherent superiority of whiteness, a justification for racial segregation, or even genocide. The assumptions IQ testing operates on and perpetuates, are incredibly harmful to the societal progression towards equality.

To understand this concept perpetuated by modern-day IQ testing, one must refer back to the original test constructed by Alfred Binet in the early 1900s. He explicitly created the test to identify children who needed increased assistance and warned against deceptive conclusions being drawn from its data. Unfortunately, psychologist Lewis Terman co-opted Binet’s assessment and created the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale, a test characterized by its eugenicist leanings (Walters, 2021). Following this original co-option by Terman, a slew of problematic intelligence scales were developed, namely the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test.

Along with systematic issues in its process and application, the issues of Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test go far beyond its psychometric and data hang-ups. One of the most incriminating aspects of this test’s shortcomings is the political and ideological engagements of the authors themselves, primarily Jean-Philippe Rushton. Rushton has been and continues to be publicly brash about his race-realist views, relaying sentiments such as: “Any country with large Black populations will have large problems” (stated at the 1996 American Renaissance conference). Along with this, Rushton’s extensive work on race and racial crime has been cited favorably by several popular neo-Nazi organizations such as Stormfront and David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan (Cronshaw et al., 2006). 

While Rushton’s opinions and associations alone do not necessarily make him guilty of wrongdoing regarding his work, the clear biases and ethical issues within his work do. Coupled with the scientific issues, ignoring Rushton’s ideological positions would be negligent, as they demonstrate a clear, present narrative and motive for his scientific derelictions. By the acutely outlined reasons demonstrated by the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices test, the shortcomings of IQ testing regarding control for personal bias by its curators are explicit, and should therefore deem its awry findings trivial.

The most noticeable point of issue with intelligence quotient testing comes from its ethical and scientific snags. Unethical practices characterize the modern-day concept of IQ testing, and these were present from the first application of IQ testing following the creation of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. More specifically on this topic, the conceptual and methodological issues defined by Cronshaw et al. (2006) regarding the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test are a manifestation of the inherent problems of IQ testing. 

This application of the Raven Matrices IQ test was done in South Africa, a country with decades of political and social polarization--most importantly--apartheid and racial segregation. Given the political circumstances of the country, it is a logical conclusion to assume the Black-African individuals who participated in the application of the test outlined in Rushton et al. (2004) were aware of the negative beliefs surrounding Black academic performance. It is very possible that those in the Black-African sample could have fallen victim to stereotype threat, a phenomenon defined by Cronshaw et al. (2006) as:

...fearing one’s performance on a test of intelligence will confirm an unfavorable stereotype about one’s own group can impair performance on the test…previous studies have shown that simply asking participants to indicate their ethnicity at the outset of a testing session is enough to induce stereotype threat. (p.284)

During this application of the test, Rushton’s data was deprived of control for this factor, omitting what the participants were told about the test, or how information on their race was obtained. In addition to this, Rushton failed to ensure the three sample groups included in his data (White, East Indian, and Black-African) were substantially equivalent regarding social characteristics like economic and educational status (Cronshaw et al., 2006). The comparative analysis of these non-equivalent sample groups is unrealistic, and Rushton’s attempt to equivalize them displays a pattern of brazen irresponsibility and possible dishonesty. Furthermore, it’s not just Rushton who is the only one guilty of using IQ testing results to bolster a race-realist, bio-essentialism narrative; Rushton, and those similar to him, are simply an extension--a foreseen consequence of the concept of IQ testing, of which has innately flawed and biased psychometric attributes.

The conceptual, methodological, and psychometric thresholds of intelligence testing are sub-par at best, fueling racial stratification, and serving as a veil of justification for the marginalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities on an economic and political front. The tendency for intelligence quotient testing to be built on perpetuating false assumptions, procedurally victim to the bias of its authors, and captivated by shocking ethical shortfalls characterizes it as one of the most insidious psychological tools still used today. For the sake of psychology’s integrity, and the journey towards a more inclusive and equitable society, IQ testing should be on a long list of concepts now considered an inconsequential pseudo-science.

---

Author Allanah Graham is a sixteen year old writer living in the Appalachian region of America. She is interested in the intellectual fields of philosophy and politics, and enjoys reading works that correspond to those interests.

References

• Cronshaw, S.F., Hamilton, L.K., Onyura, B.R., Winston, A.S. (2006). Case for non-biased intelligence testing against black Africans has not been made: A comment on. International Journal of Selection Assessment, 14 (3), 278-287. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2006.00346.x

• Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. A. (1997). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in  American Life. Free Press. Quaye, R. (2015). The assault on the human spirit: The Bell Curve. The Black Scholar, 25 (1), 41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.1995.11430700

• Rushton, J.P., Skuy, M., Bons, T.A. (2004) Construct validity of Raven’s advanced progressive  matrices for African and Non-African engineering students in South Africa. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12 (3), 220–229.  Construct Validity of Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

• Walters, A.S. (2021). The contribution of psychological assessment to systemic racism.  Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter, 37 (9), 8-8. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbl.30572