I note in the article "IQ-like tests." Perhaps a UK version of the SAT, or to a lesser extent, the ACT? The reasoning seems to be the same in both cases (UK and US)...leveling of the playing field. Works for me. Tony
Interesting link, Oxpecker, thanks. Unfortunately, all iq tests can be considered racist. See "The Bell Curve." The SAT is very much an IQ-like test (link.) Now, whether or not a person agrees that tests such as these be used to weed out applicants is certainly debatable. It is my opinion that the more information about an applicant, the more equipped a person is to make a decision. Obviously, this (IQ-SAT-Whatever) is bound to create controversy in the UK, but it will be fun to follow. Tony
As a professional who has performed several thousand vocational evaluations, who teaches assessment at the graduate level, and as a person who has been called upon in a couple hundred depositions related to testing issues, I find using IQ tests for admission to college very frightening. Yes, these instruments can be used to predict school performance, but they are not true predictors of intellingence. Additionally, most instruments for IQ have substantial potential for cultural, language, socio-economic, and racial bias. These instruments cannot measure inspiration or perspiration, energy or effort. A particularly important example is the impact these scores have on people with disabilities. Most instruments have a timed feature which prohibits people with motor issues or communication issues from doing well on the test. The most blatant example is that deaf students were often put in institutions for mentally retarded because they scored poorly on these exams. The reality was, because they had a different primarly language (ASL), they could not do as well in their second language (English). Using IQ tests becomes very dangerous when it is used as a measure for or against a person having an opportunity.
The best predictor of future performance is past performance. IQ testing does not isolate my personal handicap laziness. Racial bias of IQ tests?? Don't believe everything you read. Are you saying the the immigrant visible minority kids who whipped my ass in school were really smarter than they appeared.
Unless you are talking about most of the stocks and mutual funds I buy. Everything is racist. I can't understand Hip Hop music, I can't cook General Tso's chicken, I flunked out of medical school in India because I don't speak Hindi. Most of the people in school these days are morons. I am in a MLS program and people are all torqued off about using APA format when writing papers. IQ-like tests would certainly help weed out the morons. Of course, they should be evaluated in conjunction with past performance. What should not be considered is race, sports abilites, hat size, or anything not directly related to the ability to learn and apply what is learned. I don't want a physician, accountant, or basket weaver who was admitted to university because of anything else but their potential ability to succeed.
Obecve - I understand your concerns, but they are as valid in considering the graduate entrance tests used in the US. The SAT, ACT, GRE, MAT and LSAT correlate very positively with general IQ tests. I have to think that the proposed UK version of IQ-like tests will be quite similiar to what we already work under. It is not up to me to determine if the roze smells any different. Dennis - Either it is racial bias, culture bias, or genetic/biological. But does it matter? IQ scores should be looked at the same way other pertinent data is looked at. From top down as part of the whole. Additionally, IQ scores, or their close cousins, undergrad and graduate entrance exams, should be looked at in perspective. In other words, I think IQ scores are more valuable and valid when used to compare like versus like concerning socioeconomic class, race, and culture. Still, they are only one factor (although it could be argued that they are a disproportionate one) in their ability to predict perfomance. Tony
There is definitely a socioeconomic factor but I don't think it is a bias. People do poorly on IQ type tests because they have not learned the facts and reasoning ability to do well. It is only black people of my generation in the United States who had reasonable access to the middle class. The role models for success do not exist in large numbers. Not learning what is necessary to achieve is the result of an historical institutional bias but what the tests actually test is pretty rudimentary. Canadians, in the past, managed to do well on tests that contained questions on dead white Americans and the questions asked were usually simple enough to be considered general knowledge.
That's very interesting. Of course there are socioeconomic differences, but from what I have seen, there seems to be a significant difference between whites and blacks with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. So if there is not a racial bias in the tests, how would you explain this?
