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ITS
MARGARET MEAD
Barnard College
ABSTRACT
A discussionof the methodologyof racial intelligencetestingis both pertinent
and necessary.Three problemsare involved: measurementof (i) the racial admixture factor; (2) the social status factor; (3) the linguisticdisabilityfactor. The
methodologyof each of thesephases of the problemis discussed.
The unquestioning
quotationof the resultsin one fieldof researchby workersin anotherfieldcarrieswithit at leasttacitapprovalofthemethodology
whichproducedthoseresults.The sociologistis, therefore,
verymuchconcernedwiththe methodsemployedin experimental
psychology,
whichfurnishes
him withso
muchoftherawmaterialforgeneralization.
Perhapsno resultsof
experimental
psychology
have been utilizedso widelyand so unof
criticallyas the resultsof intelligence
testing,and particularly
the intelligence
testingof different
racial and nationalitygroups.
In the discussionof race problems,a controversy
so encumbered
by worn-out
dogmasand hotpartisanships,
thisquantitativetype
of materialwas particularly
welcome.
The firstresearchto be generallyexploitedwas thearmytesting. But hereso manyopponentsof the resulting
generalizations
and so manydefenders
came forwardwithdestructive
criticism,
of thetestscarefully
triedto warnthelaymanagainstunjustified
becametoo publicto be dangerous.
thatthemischief
conclusions,
cautionquotethe
No discussionstodaywhichpretendto scientific
armytestswithoutmanyexplicitreservations.But the criticisms
of
of thearmytestswerein greatpartdevotedto the deficiencies
all intelligence
tests,ofverbaltests,or ofgrouptestsas such. Far
'This articlewas submittedfor publicationin August, 1924. Since the author
is out of the country,it has been necessarilyimpossibleto include the resultsof researchespublishedsubsequentto that time.
657
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658
lessattention
was devotedto thespecialproblemsinherent
inracial
and nationality
testing.Thus, whilethe writeron generalsocial
problemshas learnedthatthemethodology
of intelligence
testing
is stillin swaddlingclothes,he is notso consciousthata methodology adequate to deal withracial and nationalitytestinghas not
evenbeenborn. And,unwarned,
he drawsfreelyand uncritically
upon the findingsof special studieswhichappear fromtimeto
timein the scientific
journals. Many of thesestudiesappear to
have avoidedthepitfallsintowhichthearmytestsfell.They are
oftenindividualtestsinsteadof grouptests; the questionof inequalitiesofeducationis ruledoutwhenschoolgroupsare used as
subjects; the selectionargumentdoes not seem to be so readily
applicablewhenthesubjectsare all takenfromthesame cityand
oftenfromthesamepublicschool.So theseresultscometo be utilized in farotherwaysthantheirauthorsintended.Paradoxically
enough,one of the experiments
mostoftenquoted in heateddiscussionSla
is by theauthorof "On theNeed forCautionin EstablishingRace Norms."2A discussionof the methodology
of this
particularprovinceof intelligence
testing,a provinceso pregnant
withexplosiveresults,wouldseem,therefore,
to be bothpertinent
and necessary.I shall firstreviewthe experiments
whichhave
theneed forone or anotherof thesespecialmethodsubstantiated
ologicalrequirements-nopublishedexperiment
has taken them
all intoconsideration.
The specialproblemsinvolvedin thistypeof testingare three
in number: (i) the practicability
and validityof attemptsto
equate testscoreand amountof racial admixture;(2) the effect
whichsocial statushas on the resultsof such tests-the problem
here is threefold:Does social statusinfluencetest score? Is it
in thecase of immigrant
influential
particularly
groupsor groups
whichsufferfromsocial discrimination
because of theirrace?
What methodsare adequate to evaluatethe social status of the
childrenso tested? (3) Whateffect
does linguistic
disabilityhave
la
Proc.Amer.Psych.Assoc.,1920.
2A.H. Arlitt,
Jour.ofAppliedPsych.,VI
(1921),
378-80.
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659
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66o
official
recordsofthegovernment
schools.Subjectto theaccuracy
of thesegenealogicalrecords,thismethodis thoroughand valid.
But hereGarthadmitsthathis resultsare quiteindeterminate
because the social conditionsforhis variousgroupswereprobably
extremelyvaried beforethe childrenenteredthe government
schools. Methodologically
however,theprocedureis sound.
In his studieson the AmericanNegro,Fergusonhas made a
less objectivemethodthe basis of his determination
of amount
of admixture.In I9I6B he tested907 schoolchildrenin several
Virginiacities,42 1 of whomwerecolored.He made his estimate
of amountofNegrobloodon thebasis ofskincolorgradedby an
eye judgment,
and findsan increasingly
highscorewithincreased
amountof whiteblood. Fromwhichresulthe generalizesas follows:
indicatethatit is a nativeabilityand not an acquired
Such considerations
the mixed fromthe pure negroes,and that skin
capacitythat differentiates
coloris its outwardsign. [Italics mine.] They also indicatethatthetestsused
are primarilytests of native capacity,and the consequentdifferences
found
betweenwhitesand negroesas a wholeare innatedifferences
... . The avof the coloredpeople of this countryin such intelligence
erage performance
workas that representedby the tests of highercapacityappears to be only
as efficient
about three-fourths
as the performanceof the white with the
same amountof training.
I9I6.
6
Society,IX
(I9I9),
721-26.
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66i
op. cit.
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662
place,it is enormously
unpracticalin thatit paresdownthenumber of cases,and themoreexacttheclassification,
themorecases
thereare whichwillhave to be eliminated.
Miss Arlitthas studiedthe effectof social statusupon race
normsmorecarefullythan any otherinvestigator.In most reportedworksocial statushas been a side issue,a checkupon the
mainbodyoftheresults,notthecentralproblem.But Miss Arlitt
undertookto studyit specifically.She describestwo investigations. The firstone'0was made on 304 childrenin the primary
grades,I69 of native-born
whiteparentage,68 of Italian parentage,and 67 Negroes.Theyweredividedaccordingtosocialstatus
and the following
resultswereobtainedwhenthetotalgroupwas
considered:
Very superior....
Superior ...
Average...
Inferior........
Very inferior....
.....
.....
....
MedianI. Q.
I26.9
II8.7
io6.5
....
87
83
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663
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664
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665
Rudolph Pintner21
has emphasizedthe importanceof this
language factor: "The questionof prognosisvalue for school
purposesmustnotbe confused
withthequestionofabsoluteintelligenceof different
racial groups.It seemsto the writerthatnonverbaltestsalone are adequate forthispurpose.It is inconceivable that childrenlivingin an English-speaking
environment,
hearing,speaking,and readingnothingbut English,shouldnot
have a distinctadvantagein tests requiringthe findingof opposites,thehuntingforan analogy,thefilling
in ofan uncompleted
sentence,and thelike,as comparedwithchildrenwhoheara foreignlanguageat homeand, in manycases, are requiredto communicatein a foreignlanguageto some people in theirenvironment.Suchcontrasting
groupsare veryfarfromhavinghad equal
previouspracticeon theelementswhichgo to make up the usual
verbaltest." Pintnermade twostudiesin whichtheperformance
of childrenspeakinga foreignlanguageis comparedwith,thatof
Americanchildren,on the Binet22scale and the Non-Language
test,and on theNationaland theNon-Language.2"The Englishspeakingchildrengained six monthsin the Non-Languageover
their Binet mental age; the foreign-speaking
gained sixteen
months. From which Pintner concludes that ......
when classi-
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666
XIII, 278.
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667
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