Race and Intelligence

Letters to the EditorSHOCKLEY

Educational Experiences of Immigrant Women of Racial Minority Gronps in the Nova Scotian Post-Secondary Contexts

Fact and value judgement in science.

From one point of view, the passions aroused by the gene’s-eye view are difficult to explain. As Ågren (2021; this volume) shows clearly, the methods of Williams (1966) and Dawkins (1976) continue to be useful for many problems (e.g., Boomsma 2016: R1254)—even Dawkins’ throwaway remarks about green beards (1976: 96; Hamilton 1964: 25) still generate valuable science (e.g., Gruenheit et al. 2017; Gardner and West 2010); and yet the methods were never more than a part of the biologist’s toolkit (Dawkins 1982: Ch. 1; Williams 1992: 31; Grafen 1992; Kitcher 2001: 407; Haig 2012; Boomsma 2016). In any case, as Ågren also shows, the gene’s-eye view differs only subtly from one sort of organism-centered approach (e.g., Hamilton 1964; Brockmann et al. 1979; Grafen 1999). Many of the initial disputes about the gene’s-eye view were cleared up long ago by Williams (1985) and especially Lloyd (1988, 2001), who showed how different biologists, interested in different questions, had been using terms like “unit of selection” to mean different things (Maynard Smith 2001). But consider the following, from a review of Ågren (2021) in the journal Evolution:Why would disclaimers like this seem necessary? Winther’s framing, so puzzling from one point of view, does I think make better sense if we consider the contributions of two giants of evolutionary genetics: R. A. Fisher and R. C. Lewontin. 

The Parallax View: A Commentary on Ågren

Problem. The academic performance of Blacks has been documented as being much below that of other racial and ethnic groups (Castenell, 1984; Jordan, 1981; Lee, 1985; Mboya, 1986; Mickelson, 1990; Herrnstein &amp; Murray, 1994; White, 1984). This study attempted to determine the relationships among personality, the development of identity status, and academic achievement among Black adolescents. -- Method. A total of 136 Black adolescent students (64 males and 72 females) was used in this study. They were in the age range of 13 to 18 years and were members of classes from integrated middle, junior high, and high schools. The Black Identity Scale (BIS) and the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) were group-administered in one sitting and the California Achievement Test (CAT) was group-administered separately in another sitting. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis and canonical correlation analysis. -- Results. 1. The overall academic achievement of Black adolescents was related significantly to abstract thinking, affirmation of the values and worth of their Blackness and origins, and being self-oriented as opposed to grouporiented, warm, sensitive, emotionally stable, and vigorous. Those who are more group-oriented rather than self-oriented tend to do well in comprehension and language expression and less well in language mechanics. 2. There was no relationship found between affinity and achievement. This is in contrast to Muhammad's (1991) finding of a negative relationship between affinity and achievement. From my findings, it appeared that the degree to which adolescents accept themselves as Black persons and accept Black people in general is not related to achievement. 3. Higher identity scores tend to be related to greater boldness, sensitivity, and vigor. The higher affinity scores were related to greater warmth, less abstract thinking, and greater vigor. The higher Extended-self scores were related to greater dominance, sensitivity, and vigor. The lower depreciation scores were related to greater boldness. The depreciation factor on the Black Identity Scale was found to have very little relationship with any of the other variables in the study. -- Conclusions. The major significant relationships found in the study were those involving personality. Personality variables were significantly related to both achievement and identity. There were, however, few significant relationships between identity and achievement. 

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Race and Intelligence

Citations

Letters to the EditorSHOCKLEY

Educational Experiences of Immigrant Women of Racial Minority Gronps in the Nova Scotian Post-Secondary Contexts

Fact and value judgement in science.

The Parallax View: A Commentary on Ågren

The Relationship Among Selected Personality, Identity Status, and Academic Achievement Factors Among Black Adolescents

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