Editing Race and intelligence (section)

=== Intelligence and IQ ===
{{Main|Human intelligence|Intelligence quotient|G factor (psychometrics)}}
The concept of intelligence and the degree to which intelligence is measurable are matters of debate. There is no consensus about how to define intelligence; nor is it universally accepted that it is something that can be meaningfully measured by a single figure.<ref name="Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner 2007, pp 350-1">{{harvnb|Schacter|Gilbert|Wegner|2007|pp=350–1}}</ref> A recurring criticism is that different societies value and promote different kinds of skills and that the concept of intelligence is therefore culturally variable and cannot be measured by the same criteria in different societies.<ref name="Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner 2007, pp 350-1"/> Consequently, some critics argue that it makes no sense to propose relationships between intelligence and other variables.<ref name="Sternberg, Grigorenko & Kidd 2005">{{harvnb|Sternberg|Grigorenko|Kidd|2005}}</ref>

Correlations between scores on various types of IQ tests led English psychologist [[Charles Spearman]] to propose in 1904 the existence of an underlying factor, which he referred to as "''g''" or "[[general intelligence]]", a trait which is supposed to be innate.<ref name="deary2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Deary |first1=I. J. |last2=Lawn |first2=M. |last3=Bartholomew |first3=D. J. |year=2008 |title="A conversation between Charles Spearman, Godfrey Thomson, and Edward L. Thorndike: The International Examinations Inquiry Meetings 1931-1938": Correction to Deary, Lawn, and Bartholomew (2008) |url=https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/8897614/a_conversation_between_charles_spareman.pdf |journal=History of Psychology |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=156–157 |doi=10.1037/1093-4510.11.3.163 |hdl=20.500.11820/5417f3c7-e873-40b9-ad73-19c6acc9e35b |access-date=2020-06-25 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806163233/https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/8897614/a_conversation_between_charles_spareman.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Another proponent of this view is [[Arthur Jensen]].{{sfn|Jensen|1998||page=[https://archive.org/details/gfactorscienc00jens/page/445 445ff]}} This view, however, has been contradicted by a number of studies showing that education and changes in environment can significantly improve IQ test results.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ceci |first=Stephen J. |date=1991 |title=How much does schooling influence general intelligence and its cognitive components? A reassessment of the evidence |journal=Developmental Psychology |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=703–722 |doi=10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.703}}</ref>{{sfn|Dickens|Flynn|2006}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Richie |first1=Stuart J. |last2=Tucker-Drob |first2=Elliot |date=June 2018 |title=How Much Does Education Improve Intelligence? A Meta-Analysis |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325832102 |journal=Psychological Science |volume=29 |issue=8}}</ref>

Other psychometricians have argued that, whether or not there is such a thing as a general intelligence factor, performance on tests relies crucially on knowledge acquired through prior exposure to the types of tasks that such tests contain. This means that comparisons of test scores between persons with widely different life experiences and cognitive habits do not reveal their relative innate potentials.{{sfn|Mackintosh|2011|p=359}}