On the Need for Caution in Establishing Race Norms

Abstract

Three hundred forty-three children in the primary grades of a school district were tested by the Stanford Revision. 191 were children of native-born white parents, 87 were Italians (all spoke English without difficulty), 71 were negroes. The separation into groups by occupation followed Taussig's divisions. The median I.Q. for the native white group was 106.5, for the Italian group 85, for the negro group 83.4. This disparity is great, but 37 per cent. of the native-born white came from families of superior and very superior social status whereas 93 per cent. of the negro and 90 per cent. of the Italian group came from families of inferior and very inferior social status. The writer concludes that: (1) There is a difference in the distribution of intelligence in negro and Italian groups as compared with groups of children of native-born white parents which seems to be due to race alone. (2) There is a marked difference in the distribution of intelligence in groups of children of the same race but different social status. This disparity seems to be greater than the disparity between children of the same social status but different race. (3) Race norms which do not take the social status factor into account are apt to be to that extent invalid. From Psych Bulletin 18:12:00695. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)