Editing Race and intelligence (section)

==Policy relevance and ethics==
{{Main|Intelligence and public policy}}
The [[ethics]] of research on race and intelligence has long been a subject of debate: in a 1996 report of the [[American Psychological Association]];{{sfn|Neisser|Boodoo|Bouchard|Boykin|1996}} in guidelines proposed by Gray and Thompson and by Hunt and Carlson;<ref name="Hunt & Carlson 2007"/><ref>{{harvnb|Gray|Thompson|2004}}</ref> and in two editorials in [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'']] in 2009 by [[Steven Rose]] and by [[Stephen J. Ceci]] and [[Wendy M. Williams]].<ref name="Ceci & Williams 2009">{{harvnb|Ceci|Williams|2009}}</ref><ref name="Rose 2009">{{Cite journal |last=Rose |first=Steven |date=2009 |title=Should scientists study race and IQ? NO: Science and society do not benefit |url=https://rdcu.be/dj5uC |journal=Nature |volume=457 |issue=7231 |pages=786–788 |doi=10.1038/457786a |pmid=19212384 |bibcode=2009Natur.457..786R |s2cid=42846614 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

[[Steven Rose]] maintains that the history of [[eugenics]] makes this field of research difficult to reconcile with current ethical standards for science.<ref name="Rose 2009"/>
On the other hand, [[James Flynn (academic)|James R. Flynn]] has argued that had there been a ban on research on possibly poorly conceived ideas, much valuable research on intelligence testing (including his own discovery of the [[Flynn effect]]) would not have occurred.<ref>{{harvnb|Flynn|2009b}}</ref>

Many have argued for increased interventions in order to close the gaps.<ref name="Brookings">{{cite web |last1=Jencks |first1=Christopher |last2=Phillips |first2=Meredith |title=The Black-White Test Score Gap |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/j/jencks-gap.html |website=New York Times |access-date=2 October 2016 |archive-date=8 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008015238/https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/j/jencks-gap.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Flynn writes that "America will have to address all the aspects of black experience that are disadvantageous, beginning with the regeneration of inner city neighborhoods and their schools."<ref name="Flynn 2008">{{harvnb|Flynn|2008}}</ref> Especially in developing nations, society has been urged to take on the prevention of cognitive impairment in children as a high priority. Possible preventable causes include [[malnutrition]], [[infectious diseases]] such as [[meningitis]], [[parasites]], cerebral [[malaria]], [[Uterus|in utero]] [[Drugs in pregnancy|drug]] and [[Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder|alcohol exposure]], newborn [[asphyxia]], [[low birth weight]], head injuries, [[lead poisoning]] and [[endocrine disorders]].<ref name="Olness 2003">{{harvnb|Olness|2003}}</ref>