The Politics of Intelligence · Episode 1 of 9 · 47 min
How One 1969 Article Reopened the Race-and-IQ Debate
In February 1969 Berkeley psychologist Arthur Jensen published a 123-page article arguing that compensatory education had failed because intelligence is largely inherited and the Black-white IQ gap largely genetic. It set off one of the longest controversies in twentieth-century science. The episode sets out who Jensen was, what he claimed, and how critics responded, and introduces the series' concern with researchers who begin from the answer they want.
Who's who
- Arthur Jensen+7 more episodesBerkeley educational psychologist whose 1969 article reopened the race-and-IQ debate
- Hans Eysenck+2 more episodesLondon psychologist and Jensen's postdoctoral mentor
- Cyril Burt+2 more episodesBritish psychologist whose twin studies Jensen cited extensively
- Lee EdsonNew York Times Magazine writer who coined 'Jensenism'
- Richard Lewontin+2 more episodesHarvard geneticist who refuted Jensen's within- versus between-group inference
- Leon Kamin+2 more episodesPrinceton psychologist who scrutinized the twin-study data
- Lee CronbachStanford measurement authority who responded to Jensen
- James CrowWisconsin geneticist and measured respondent
Where it happens
- University of California, BerkeleyJensen's university and site of protests demanding his dismissal
- University of LondonWhere Jensen did postdoctoral work with Eysenck
Timeline
- 1956Jensen earns his Ph.D. at Columbia and studies with Eysenck
- February 1969Jensen's article appears in the Harvard Educational Review
- August 1969Lee Edson coins 'Jensenism'
- 1970Lewontin publishes 'Race and Intelligence'
- 1974Kamin publishes The Science and Politics of IQ
- 1976Oliver Gillie reveals anomalies in Burt's twin data
Still debated
Whether Jensen's high heritability estimate holds is disputed, since it leaned on Burt's suspect data. Whether Head Start failed, how far the gap has narrowed, and whether publishing the claim was ethical remain argued.
