How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?

Jensen's argument consisted of a series of related claims.[6] IQ tests are valid measurements of a real human ability—what people generally describe as "intelligence"—that is important to many parts of contemporary life. Intelligence, as measured by IQ tests, is about 80 percent heritable. Intelligent parents are much more likely to have intelligent children than other parents. Remedial educational programs have failed to raise the measured intelligence of individuals or groups. Indeed, one of the most inflammatory sentences is the opener: "Compensatory education has been tried and apparently has failed." The article generated extensive discussion and controversy both in the popular press[7] and in the academic literature.[8][9][10] The article prompted 29 academic rebuttals published in the same journal, which eventually decided to refuse reprints or allow Jensen to respond to critical letters.[11] Some college students also responded to the publication of the paper by burning effigies of Jensen and sending him death threats.[12] In 1982, Schiff et al. conducted an adoption study that aimed to provide a direct answer to the question Jensen had posted in his 1969 paper. They reported that children who were adopted into families of a higher social class experienced, on average, "an increase of 14 IQ points in the mean IQ score estimated with 2 tests and a reduction by a factor of 4 in the probability of repeating a grade."[13]

Jensen's critics argue that most aspects of his analysis were flawed: IQ tests do not provide a stable or meaningful measure of intelligence; IQ is affected by the environment and not solely or mainly a function of genetics; there is no evidence for genetic differences in racial intelligence; and that the entire topic was too controversial to be productively discussed.[14]

Controversy over the article led to the coining of the term "Jensenism"[15] defined as the theory that IQ is largely determined by genes, including racial heritage.[16] The article generated significant attention to,[17] and protests against, Jensen's work.[18]

• History of the race and intelligence controversy

• Hunt, Earl; Carlson, Jerry (June 2007). "Considerations Relating to the Study of Group Differences in Intelligence". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2 (2): 194–213. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00037.x. PMID 26151960.
• Jencks, Christopher; Phillips, Meredith, eds. (25 August 1998). The black-white test score gap. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0-8157-4609-1. Retrieved 15 October 2014. Lay summary – New York Times (15 October 2014).
• Jensen, Arthur R. (Spring 1969). "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?". Harvard Educational Review. 39 (1): 1–123. doi:10.17763/haer.39.1.l3u15956627424k7. ISSN 0017-8055. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2014. reprinted in Jensen, Arthur (1969). "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?". In Harvard Educational Review (ed.). Environment, Heredity, and Intelligence. Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series. 2. Cambridge (MA): Harvard Educational Review. pp. 1–123. ISBN 0916690024. LCCN 71087869. Lay summary (PDF) (27 June 2010).
• Johnson, Wendy (2012). "How Much Can We Boost IQ? An Updated Look at Jensen's (1969) Question and Answer". In Slater, Alan M.; Quinn, Paul C. (eds.). Developmental Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies. Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies. Thousand Oaks (CA): SAGE. ISBN 978-0-85702-757-3. Lay summary (19 May 2013).
• Loehlin, John C.; Lindzey, Gardner; Spuhler, J. N. (1975). Race Differences in Intelligence. Books in Psychology. San Francisco (CA): W. H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-0754-7. Lay summary (PDF) (2 September 2010).
• Tucker, William H. (1996). The Science and Politics of Racial Research. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06560-6. Lay summary (7 November 2010).