Race and intelligence is a controversial area of intelligence research studying the nature, origins, and practical consequences of racial and ethnic group differences in intelligence test scores and other measures of cognitive ability.Researchers contributing to this area of inquiry mostly include psychologists, psychometricians, geneticists, sociologists, and anthropologists.
According to Linda Gottfredson, a controversial researcher at the University of Delaware IQ differences among individuals of the same race reflect (1) real, (2) functionally/socially significant, and (3) substantially genetic differences in the general intelligence factor (, p. 311). Also, again according to Dr Gottfredson, average IQ differences among races reflect (1) real and (2) significant differences in the same g factor (, p. 311). However, it is a matter of debate whether IQ differences among races in a given country are primarily environmental, primarily genetic or simply an artifact of an inaccurate use of social racial identification as a proxy for genetics.http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/amp60171.pdf Race and IQ: Molecular Genetics as Deus ex Machina, Richard S.
Full bibliography for the race and intelligence article series.
The modern controversy surrounding race and intelligence focuses on the results of IQ studies conducted during the second half of the 20th century, mainly in the United States and some other industrialized nations. IQ studies outside these nations are few and small. It is uncertain what the average IQ or subgroup IQ tests scores would be with more complete studies in the developing world.
Proponents of partly-genetic explanations of race/IQ correlation have often been criticized because much of their work is funded by the Pioneer Fund. The Pioneer Fund has, in turn, been criticized for poor research methods, and even more strongly characterized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.
Race and intelligence are sometimes portrayed as related in media. People of various races have been portrayed as more or less intelligent in media such as films, books, and newspapers. Likewise, reporting on research in to race and intelligence has been criticized: either for giving scientific theories of race too much credit, or for rejecting the theories of some researchers in the name of racial harmony.
Theories of race and intelligence have been challenged on grounds of their utility. Critics want to know what purpose such research could serve and why it has been an intense an area of focus for a few researchers. Some defend the research, saying it has egalitarian aims or that it is pure science, others say that the true motivation for the reserch is the same as that of the eugenics movement and other forms of scientific racism.e.g., Sternberg, 2003, pp. 386-387e.g., Sternberg, 2003, pp. 386-387.