Race, IQ and Jensen

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1. tokenadultDec 2014
   The first two comments here make me wonder how many people will read the submission through to the end. Please do. This is one of the most clear online presentations of what the Flynn effect is all about. (By contrast, the Wikipedia article is still TERRIBLE.) Contrary to what the second comment posted says, Flynn is a very highly regarded researcher on psychology. Arthur Jensen wrote in 1987, in his festschrift Arthur Jensen: Consensus and Controversy "Now and then I am asked by colleagues, students, and journalists: who, in my opinion, are the most respectable critics of my position on the race-IQ issue? The name James R. Flynn is by far the first that comes to mind. His book, Race, IQ and Jensen (1980), is a distinguished contribution to the literature on this topic, and, among the critiques I have seen of my position, is virtually in a class by itself for objectivity, thoroughness, and scholarly integrity." And Charles Murray, surviving author of The Bell Curve, wrote in his back cover description of Flynn's 2007 book What Is Intelligence? "This book is a gold mine of pointers to interesting work, much of which was new to me. All of us who wrestle with the extraordinarily difficult questions about intelligence that Flynn discusses are in his debt."

   Not everyone knows yet that IQ test scores have been rising steadily around the world throughout the century when IQ tests have been in common use in the developed world. Further gains in IQ are expected in most developing countries, although some developed countries (notably, those in Scandinavia) may be seeing the end of this trend. This phenomenon of IQ test scores rising over time ("secular increase in intelligence," from the point of view of psychologists) is these days called "the Flynn effect" since Herrnstein and Murray referred to it that way in the 1994 book The Bell Curve. That terminology has become mainstream because Flynn was the researcher who did the most to raise awareness of the phenomenon and confirm it across data sets from all over the world. Flynn had some important publications in the flagship psychology research journal in the United States, Psychological Bulletin,[1] that are widely cited to this day. The 2006 lecture text linked here is Flynn discussing the implications of the rise of IQ scores, what they mean for the definition of human intelligence and what societal changes we can expect to go along with rising IQ.

   AFTER EDIT: I don't fully agree with Flynn's political opinions, but he expresses them very thoughtfully, while introducing a lot of interesting data I don't see often mentioned in other books on social policy, in his book Where Have All the Liberals Gone?[2] I liked that book a lot better and learned more from it than I expected to.

   [1] Flynn, J. R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978. Psychological bulletin, 95(1), 29.

   http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pd...

   Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological bulletin, 101(2), 171.

   http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf

   [2] http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-inter...

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2. catzaaApr 2009
   > Yes, because he has demonstrated his scientific objectivity by changing his point of view from time to time, digging up new evidence when scientists say his previously offered evidence is inadequate, and scrupulously honoring his most ardent opponents with credit when their counterarguments prompt him to reconsider his previous publications.

   This is true for Jensen and several other researchers - yet they are treated as pariahs in the public arena.

   Several have questioned the objectivity of Jensen (and other researchers). As I have said before, James Flynn is both a passionate left-wing politician and he freely admits that he is egalitarian. E.g. in “How to defend Humane Ideals: Substitutes for objectivity”:

   > This book was written by someone committed to humane-egalitarian ideals...

   So, how can anyone question Jensen's objectivity but not that of Flynn?

   There are several attacks on Jensen and others holding up Flynn as the poster boy (see at the end). Flynn has not done anything to dispel that. He even wrote a book attacking Jensen indirectly (Race, IQ and Jensen). Here is a quote:

   > However, the last stand of the racist is not without importance, something I will attempt to demonstrate by giving a racist ideologue his say.

   Scientists should search for truth – with not prior preconceptions or beliefs (i.e. he should search for truth and not just justification).

   Here is an example of some Jensen attacks:

   “Resurrecting Racism: The modern attack on black people using phony science” (by the popular anthropologist Francisco Gil-White):

   You can read chapter 6 here : http://www.hirhome.com/rr/rrchap6.htm

   I will not quote it since the whole chapter is full of Jensen attacks.

   The extremely popular “The Mismeasure of Man” by Stephen Jay Gould also have the same attacks Jensen and others.

   The list goes on. There is a saying that I translated to English: “They are not sheared over the same comb” i.e. Flynn are treated differently than those with opposing viewpoints.

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