In reply to my writing: > In a letter to the London Times today (26 August) a correspondent writes > in relation to what she calls �intelligence as measured by the IQ �bell > curve� �: �This is well known for its shortcomings, such as its > continual modification �to serve the ideological commitment of testers� > see > *Lifelines: Biology, Freedom, Determinism* by Stephen Rose).� [I should have written �Steven�! �A.E.]
Donald McBurney replied: >>It seems to me that the correspondent revealed her ignorance of the topic by referring to the bell curve as a measurement device. It is, of course, the result of measurement. Should we take her opinion seriously<< It was not the correspondent�s opinion I was concerned about, rather I was hoping for comments on Steven Rose�s assertion that IQ tests �serve the ideological commitment of testers�. Or, to put it in less ideological terms than Rose�s, that such tests are flawed by class, race, and gender biases, by being culture-bound, or [as another Times correspondent, cited below, claims] by the conflation of �learned knowledge� with intelligence. Steven Rose is an eminent neurobiologist, Director of the Brain and Behavioural Research Group at The Open University, U.K., and a regular contributor to BBC discussion programmes. That his view of IQ tests is widely accepted in Britain is illustrated by another correspondent to the London Times, the Cambridge University Students� Union Women�s Officer, who writes that we should �begin by recognising that IQ testing is an inherently flawed system, one utilised by our American cousins, but rejected in this country�. And the generally favourable reception (outside of specialist journals) of Stephen Jay Gould�s *The Mismeasure of Man* in both Britain and America suggests that in spite of the more widespread general use (I think) of IQ tests in the United States, they are viewed with considerable scepticism in most of the non-scientific academy and the media. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.human-nature.com/esterson/index.html www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=10 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
