IQ Tests and Scientific Racism

Abstract

In this study, the political impacts and the theoretical roots of IQ testing movement in the US will be examined. Just after the first translation of the first IQ test into English in the US, it became an instrument of racist and discriminatory policies, such as the immigration act of 1924. The Welfare Reform of the 1996 was another instance of this trend. Racist and discriminatory aspects of IQ testing movement rely heavily on the hereditarian theory defended by most of the prominent figures in the movement, besides being influenced by the racist political ideas still strong in the US. Scientific racism is an offshoot of the hereditarian theory, which goes beyond comparing individuals, and ranks entire “races” on a continuous scale of intelligence. The feasibility of this idea depends on certain assumptions, such as that a single measure can represent intelligence, that it is genetically determined, and that the concept of race corresponds to a biological reality. These assumptions will be challenged in the paper.

Keywords

• IQ
• general intelligence
• genetics
• racism
• USA

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

1059B192202453

Thanks

I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Sahotra Sarkar from UT Austin, for his guidance in my postdoctoral research and for introducing me to the debates in IQ testing.

IQ Testleri ve Bilimsel Irkçılık

Abstract

Bu çalışmada ABD’deki IQ test hareketinin siyasi etkileri ve dayandığı teorik temel incelenecektir. İlk IQ testinin ABD’de İngilizceye çevrilmesinden hemen sonra, bu testler, 1924 göç yasası gibi ırkçı ve ayrımcı politikalara alet edilmiştir. 1996’daki Sosyal Güvenlik Reformu da bu eğilimin bir başka örneğidir. IQ test hareketinin ırkçı ve ayrımcı yönleri, alandaki önemli figürlerin savunduğu kalıtımcı teoriye dayanmanın yanında, ABD’de halen etkili olan ırkçı politik fikirlerden de etkilenmiştir. Bilimsel ırkçılık ise kalıtımcı teorinin, bireyleri kıyaslamanın ötesine geçen ve tüm “ırkları” tek bir sürekli ölçek üzerinde sıralayan bir yan dalıdır. Böyle bir fikrin geçerliliği, tek bir ölçeğin zekâyı yansıtabileceği, zekânın büyük ölçüde genetik olarak belirlendiği ve ırk kavramının biyolojik bir gerçekliğe denk düştüğü varsayımına dayanır. Makalede, bu varsayımlar eleştirilecektir.

Keywords

• IQ
• genel zekâ
• genetik
• ırkçılık
• ABD

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

1059B192202453

Thanks

Doktora sonrası araştırma sürecindeki yönlendirmelerinden ve beni IQ tartışmaları alanıyla tanıştırmış olmasından dolayı UT Austin'den Prof. Dr. Sahotra Sarkar'a teşekkür ederim.

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