Re: Re: Creativity, genius and the science/faith interface

From: A. Alexander Beaujean (abeaujean@ureach.com)
Date: Sun Aug 24 2003 - 21:20:07 EDT

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    > Isn't this more to do with being a persecuted people, and with
    parental attitude, rather than the
    > population as a whole getting smarter? IQ is not a reliable
    indicator of intelligence

    IQ, at least as measured by the most common instruments
    (Wechsler, Stanford Binet, Raven) are highly reliable for the
    majority of the population (95%). They usually have a
    reliability around .9 (or above), which make them one of the
    best in the social sciences.

    IQ and intelligence, of course, are two different concepts: one
    a score and the other a latent variable. But as a proxy for
    intelligence, IQ does a good job.

    John Carroll wrote a book called "Human Cognitive Abilities"
    that does a great job showing the difference between general
    ability (intelligence) and ability in general (a test score).

    ; I suggest you
    > can score higher on an IQ test if you've had lots of practice
    at IQ test type questions -

    You can certainly artificially increase a score on certain
    subtests, but that does not, ipso facto, raise your IQ.
    Moreover, the more "culturally fair" IQ tests tend to be much
    less prone to artificial inflation.

    if you're
    > in a family where your parents are very keen for you to
    succeed and continually challenge you with
    > word games, puzzles and the like, then you will score higher
    on an IQ test because you've had
    > practice, rather than any innate superior intelligence.

    But the two are highly intertwined. People with high IQs tend to
    come from families who have lots of mental activities, but the
    mental activities, in and of themselves, do not necessarily
    raise one's IQ (otherwise Head Start and similar programs would
    be unquestioned, phenomenal successes). 30+ years of modern
    behavior genetics has shown genetic variables tend to account
    for over 50% of the intelligence variance, and non-shared
    environment variables most of the rest. These mental
    stimulation activities may artificially raise one's IQ in early
    childhood, but they tend to have little effect long-term.
    Long-term, those with a higher IQ will purposefully seek out
    stimulating environments (e.g., math, science, etc.) that
    matches their penchants and abilities, in spite or despite of
    what occurred early in their lives.

    Such prejudice makes you all the
    > more determined to succeed.
    >It has nothing IMHO to do with evolution, which is about change
    over the
    > generations and inheriting traits. It's simply that it's more
    important to realise your own
    > potential to the fullest extent if you're in a persecuted
    minority.

    If prejudice = determination to succeed, then most minority
    groups in America and the world would have tons of success.
    Instead, what you see is that Jews and Asians tend to succeed in
    spite of the prejudice, while many other groups do not (this
    does not speak for a given individual, but on the average for
    groups). Lynn and Vanhanen wrote a book last year called "IQ and
    the Wealth of Nations" that shows the IQ distribution across
    nations, and it appears that intelligence is the mediating
    variable on whether one succeeds in spite of whatever
    persecution they encounter.

    Not that I 100% agree with them, but Rushton's "Race, evolution,
    and behavior" amply shows how evolution and intelligence relate,
    as does Levin's "Why Race Matters."

    Alex
    -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
    A. Alexander Beaujean
    University of Missouri-Columbia
    http://www.missouri.edu/~aab2b3

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