Richard Lynn

Richard Lynn (born 1930) is a British Professor Emeritus of Psychology [ [http://www.science.ulster.ac.uk/psyri/profiles/ Psychology Research Institute] ] [ [http://www.rlynn.co.uk/ Richard Lynn] ] who is known for his controversial views on racial and ethnic differences. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1952449.stm Call for re-think on eugenics] BBCNews Friday, 26 April 2002] Lynn says that there are race and sex differences in intelligence.

Lynn was educated at Cambridge University. He has worked as lecturer in psychology at the University of Exeter, and as professor of psychology at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, and at the University of Ulster at Coleraine. He has written or co-written more than 11 books and 200 journal articles spanning five decades. Two of his recent books are on dysgenics and eugenics.

In the late 1970s, Lynn wrote that he found a higher average IQ in East Asians compared to Whites (5 points higher in his meta-analysis). In 1990, he proposed that the Flynn effect – an observed year-on-year rise in IQ scores around the world – could possibly be explained by improved nutrition, especially in early childhood.

Like much of the research in race and intelligence, Lynn's research is controversial. He is cited in the controversial book "The Bell Curve". He was also one of the 52 scientists who signed "Mainstream Science on Intelligence", an opinion piece in the "Wall Street Journal" defending "The Bell Curve".Gottfredson, Linda (December 13, 1994). Mainstream Science on Intelligence. p A18.] He sits on the editorial boards of the journals "Intelligence" and "Personality and Individual Differences". ["Intelligence" [http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaleditorialboard.cws_home/620195/editorialboard] and "Personality and Individual Differences" [http://authors.elsevier.com/JournalDetail.html?PubID=603&Precis=EB] publisher's pages.] He also sits on the boards of the controversial Pioneer Fund, and of the Pioneer-supported journal "Mankind Quarterly".

Race differences in intelligence

Past works

1982) [http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-05/rd/lookback-in-discover/] ] Lynn's psychometric studies were cited in the 1994 book "The Bell Curve" and were criticized as part of the controversy surrounding that book. His article, "Skin color and intelligence in African Americans," 2002 "Population and Environment", concludes that lightness of skin color in African-Americans is positively correlated with IQ, which he claims derives from the higher proportion of Caucasian admixture. [http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/publications.asp]

In "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" (2002), [Praeger; [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=027597510X ISBN 027597510X] ] Lynn and co-author Tatu Vanhanen (University of Helsinki) argue that differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) correlate with, and can be at least partially attributed to, differences in average national IQ. One controversial [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W4M-4HNSB50-3&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2006&_rdoc=2&_fmt=summary&_orig=browse&_qd=1&_cdi=6546&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5784de58b721997f35c4a6ef34b80691] study following up on Lynn and Vanhanen's hypothesis, "Temperature, skin color, per capita income, and IQ: An international perspective" (Templer and Arikawa 2006) [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.04.002] is listed as the most downloaded article in "Intelligence" at ScienceDirect (Jan - March 2006). [http://top25.sciencedirect.com/?journal_id=01602896]

More recent works

Lynn's 2006 "" [Washington Summit Books; [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=1593680201 ISBN 1-59368-020-1] ] is the largest review of the global cognitive ability data. The book organizes the data by nine global regions, [Lynn derives these groups from global genetic branches identified in previous genetic cluster analysis (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994, p. 79).] surveying 620 published studies from around the world, with a total of 813,778 tested individuals. Lynn's meta-analysis lists the average IQ scores of East Asians (105), Europeans (99), Inuit (91), Southeast Asians and Amerindians each (87), Pacific Islanders (85), Middle Easterners (including South Asians and North Africans) (84), East and West Africans (67), Australian Aborigines (62) and Bushmen and Pygmies (54). Lynn has previously argued at length that nutrition is the best supported environmental explanation for variation in the lower range, [In "RDiI" Lynn surveys NGO reports of four different signs of severe malnutrition - underweight, anemia, wasting, and stunting - for five developing regions, ranking Latin America as suffering the least malnutrition, followed by the Middle-east, Asia/Pacific, Africa, and finally South Asia, suffering the worst malnutrition of any region (ch. 14).] and a number of other environmental explanations have been advanced (see below). Ashkenazi Jews average 107-115 in the U.S. and Britain, but lower in Israel. [Lynn's data is somewhat weak on Ashkenazi Jews (Malloy 2006), and only allows an indirect, weighted estimate in Israel (103), compared with (similarly indirect) estimates of 91 for Israeli Oriental Jews, and 86 for Israeli Arabs. Israeli Ashkenazi's scores may average lower than U.S. and British Ashkenazi, Lynn suggests, due to selective migration effects in relation to those countries, and to immigrants from the former Soviet Block countries having posed as Ashkenazim. The data isn't necessarily strong enough, however, to rule out identical scores for Ashkenazi across these nations (Malloy 2006).] Lynn argues the surveyed studies have high "reliability" in the sense that different studies give similar results, and high "validity" in the sense that they correlate highly with performance in international studies of achievement in mathematics and science and with national economic development.

Following "Race Differences in Intelligence", Lynn co-authored a further paper [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.06.001] along the lines of "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" with Jaan Mikk (Šiauliai University, Lithuania) - in press in "Intelligence" - and has co-authored a second book on the subject with Vanhanen, "IQ and Global Inequality", which was published later in 2006. [Discussed in Lynn and Mikk 2006. See review by Rushton in "Personality and Individual Differences" (October 2006). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.05.007] ]

Lynn's most recent book is "The Global Bell Curve: Race, IQ, and Inequality Worldwide", published in June 2008. [cite book |title=The Global Bell Curve: Race, IQ, and Inequality Worldwide |last=Lynn |first=R. |authorlink= |year=2008 |publisher= Washington Summit Publishers |location=Augusta, GA |isbn=ISBN 1-59368-028-7 |pages=378 pp ] In describing the book, Lynn says "it concludes that IQ is a key explanatory variable for the social sciences, analogous to gravity in physics." [cite web |url=http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/publications.asp |title=Publications |accessdate=2008-07-27 |author=Lynn, R. |date= |work= |publisher=] It has already been reviewed by J. Philippe Rushton. [cite journal |last=Rushton |first=J. P. |authorlink=J. Philippe Rushton |year=2008 |month=July |title=The Global Bell Curve: Race, IQ and Inequality Worldwide (Book review) |journal= Personality and Individual Differences |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=113–114 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2008.03.008 |accessdate= |quote=Lynn shows in detail that similar racial IQ/socio-economic hierarchies are present within Africa, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.]

Immigration

Lynn has spoken against immigration in Britain at a 2000 "American Renaissance" magazine sponsored conference, citing problems of unemployment, crime, illegitimacy, and low IQ, considering African and African-Caribbean immigants to perform worse in these measures than Indian and Chinese immigrants. [http://www.amren.com/005issue/005issue.html] Lynn spoke on his book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" at a 2002 "American Renaissance" conference. [http://www.amren.com/0204issue/0204issue.html]

ex differences in intelligence

Lynn's research correlating brain size and reaction time with measured intelligence led him to the problem that men and women have different size brains in proportion to their bodies, but consensus for the last hundred years has been that the two sexes perform equally on cognitive ability tests. In 1994, Lynn controversially concluded in a meta-analysis that an IQ difference of roughly 4 points does appear from age 16 and onwards, but detection of this had been complicated by the faster rate of maturation of girls up to that point, which compensates for the IQ difference. This reassessment of male-female IQ has been bolstered by Paul Irwing's meta-analyses in 2004 and 2005 which conclude a difference of 4.6 to 5 IQ points (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4183166.stm BBC coverage] ). Irwing finds no evidence that this is due primarily to the male advantage in spatial visualization, and concludes that some research previously presented to show that there are no sex differences actually shows the opposite.However, Lynn and Irwing's findings are not without controversy. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,1635380,00.html Guardian reporting Lynn & Irwing study and Blinkhorn's reply, 2005] ]

Dysgenics and eugenics

In "Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations" (1996, out of print), Lynn discusses dysgenics in modern societies.Richard Lynn: "Dysgenics: genetic deterioration in modern populations" Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 1996., ISBN 978-0275949174]

The history of eugenics is reviewed, from the early writings of Bénédict Morel and Francis Galton through the rise of eugenics in the early 20th century and its subsequent collapse. Three main concerns of eugenicists are identified: deterioration in health, intelligence and conscientiousness. Lynn suggests that natural selection in preindustrial societies favoured traits such as intelligence and character but no longer do so in modern societies. The author argues that due to the advance of medicine, selection against those with poor genes for health was relaxed. With constant appearance of mutant genes, the prevalence of genetic disorders like phenylketonuria is increasing each generation. [Modell, B. and Kuliev, A. M. (1989) Impact of public health on human genetics. "Clinical Genetics". 36: 286-298.]

Regarding intelligence, Lynn examines sibling studies. Lynn concludes that the tendency of children with a high number of siblings to be the least intelligent is evidence of dysgenic fertility. Lynn concedes that there has been a genuine increase in phenotypic intelligence, but argues that this is caused by environmental factors and is masking a decline in genotypic intelligence (see Flynn effect).

Lynn surmises that those with greater educational achievement have fewer children, and that this corroborates the evidence that intelligence and fertility are negatively correlated. Continuing the theme of correlates of fertility, socioeconomic status appears to have a negative effect on fertility, which Lynn thinks is because there is increasingly ineffective use of contraception with declining socioeconomic class. Regarding intelligence, Lynn agrees with Lewis Terman’s comment in 1922 that “ [t] he children of successful and cultivated parents test higher than children from wretched and ignorant homes for the simple reason that their heredity is better”. [Terman, L. M. (1922) Were we born that way? "World's Work". 44: 660-682, p. 671)]

Lynn goes on to present evidence that socioeconomic status is negatively correlated with indicators of conscientiousness such as work ethic, moral values and crime. Next the genetic basis of differences in conscientiousness is discussed, and Lynn concludes that twin studies provide evidence of a high heritability for the trait. The less conscientious, such as criminals, have more offspring.

While most of the book discusses evidence for dysgenics in developed countries, Lynn acknowledges that it is less strong in developing countries, but concludes that “dysgenic fertility […] is a worldwide phenomenon of modern populations” (p. 196).

Lynn concludes with an examination of counterarguments. These include that the traits discussed are not genetically determined, that intelligence and fertility can be inversely related without dysgenics, that socioeconomic classes do not differ genetically, and that there is no such thing as a ‘bad gene’. These arguments are dismissed, and Lynn asserts that these trends represent a serious problem. Finally, he expresses support for eugenics, which is the subject of his next book, "Eugenics: A Reassessment".

A review of "Dysgenics" by W.D. Hamilton, FRS, Royal Society Research Professor in evolutionary biology at the University of Oxford, was published posthumously in 2000. [citation|first=W.D.|last=Hamilton|journal=Ann. Hum. Genet.|year=2000|volume=64|pages=363–374
doi = 10.1046/j.1469-1809.2000.6440363.x
title = A review of Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations] In this lengthy review, written according to the author in "rambling essay format", Hamilton writes that Lynn, "discussing the large bank of evidence that still accumulates on heritability of aptitudes and differentials of fertility,shows in this book that almost all of the worries of the early eugenecists were well-founded in spite of the relative paucity of their evidence at the time"; in the second half of the review, several directions not covered in Lynn's book are explored.

Another review of "Dysgenics" was written in 2002 by N.J. Mackintosh, FRS, Emeritus Professor of Experimental Psychology in the University of Cambridge. [citation|first=N.J.|last=Mackintosh|journal=J. biosoc. Sci.|year=2002|volume=34|pages=283–284
title = ] Mackintosh writes that, "with a cavalier disregard for political correctness, he argues that the ideas of the eugenecists were correct and that we ignore them at our peril." While recognizing that the book provides a valuable and accurate source of information, he criticizes Lynn for "not fully acknowledg [ing] the negative relationship between social class and education on the one hand, and infant mortality and life expectancy on the other." He calls into question Lynn's interpretation of data. He also points out that according to Lynn's reading of the theory of natural selection, "if it is true that those with lower IQ and less education are producing more offspring, then they are fitter than those of higher IQ and more education"; he writes that on the contrary the eugenecists' arguments rest not as Lynn suggests on some "biological imperative, but rather on a particular set of value judgements."

In "Eugenics: A Reassessment" (2001),Richard Lynn: "Eugenics: a reassessment" Praeger, Westport, Conn c2001., ISBN 978-0275958220] Lynn argues embryo selection as a form of standard reproductive therapy would raise the average intelligence of the population by 15 IQ points in a single generation (p. 300). If couples produce a hundred embryos, he argues, the range in potential IQ would be around 15 points above and below the parents' IQ. Lynn argues this gain could be repeated each generation, eventually stabilizing the population's IQ at a theoretical maximum of around 200 after as little as six or seven generations.

"Eugenics" received praise in the American Psychological Association Review of Books (Lykken 2004) as " [an] excellent, scholarly book ...one cannot reasonably disagree with him on any point unless one can find an argument he has not already refuted.", as well as by the journal "Nature" [Martin 2001 [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v414/n6864/full/414583a.html] ] as a "comprehensive histor [y] " and a welcome one, "given the importance of the topic" of dysgenic trends.

Lynn has also been known to argue based on eugenic principles for the extinction of entire cultures based on their "incompetence." In Lynn's own words,

"What is called for here is not genocide, the killing off of the populations of incompetent cultures. But we do need to think realistically in terms of "phasing out" of such peoples. If the world is to evolve more better humans, then obviously someone has to make way for them. ... To think otherwise is mere sentimentality."cite journal | last =Lynn | first =Richard | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Review of the book 'A New Morality from Science' | journal =Irish Journal of Psychology | volume =2 | issue =3 | pages =205–209 | publisher = | date =Winter 1974 | quote=If the evolutionary process is to bring its benefits, it has to be allowed to operate effectively. This means that incompetent societies have to be allowed to go to the wall. This is something we in advanced societies do not at present face up to and the reason for this, according to Cattell, is that we have become too soft-hearted. For instance, the foreign aid which we give to the under-developed world is a mistake, akin to keeping going incompetent species like the dinosaurs which are not fit for the competitive struggle for existence. What is called for here is not genocide, the killing off of the populations of incompetent cultures. But we do need to think realistically in terms of "phasing out" of such peoples. If the world is to evolve more better humans, then obviously someone has to make way for them otherwise we shall all be overcrowded. After all, ninety-eight per cent of the of the species known to zoologists are extinct. Evolutionary progress means the extinction of the less competent. To think otherwise is mere sentimentality. | url =http://www.prometheism.net/articles/review.html | accessdate = 2008-06-26 ] cite web|url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=361|title=Race and 'Reason' - Academic ideas a pillar of racist thought|publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center]

Elsewhere Lynn makes clear which "incompetent cultures" need "phasing out": "Who can doubt that the Caucasoids and the Mongoloids are the only two races that have made any significant contributions to civilization?" (cited in New Republic, 10/31/94)"

However, Lynn has stated that he was actually summarizing the views of another author in these quotations. The quotations are from a book review.

The Pioneer Fund

Lynn currently serves on the board of directors of the Pioneer Fund, and is also on the editorial board of the Pioneer-supported journal "Mankind Quarterly", both of which have been the subject of controversy for their dealing with race and intelligence and eugenics, and have been accused of racism. Lynn's Ulster Institute for Social Research received $609,000 in grants from the Pioneer Fund between 1971 and 1996. [http://www.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/pioneer/pfspread/pfp6.htm]

Lynn's 2001 book "The Science of Human Diversity: A History of the Pioneer Fund" [Rowman & Littlefield; [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0761820418 ISBN 0761820418] ] is a history and defense of the fund, in which he argues that, for the last sixty years, it has been "nearly the only non-profit foundation making grants for study and research into individual and group differences and the hereditary basis of human nature ... Over those 60 years, the research funded by Pioneer has helped change the face of social science."

Controversy

Lynn's work on global racial differences in cognitive ability, mostly surveys, has been accused of misrepresenting the work of other scientists' studies, and has been criticized for its associated measurement difficulties, distortion, and conclusions drawn from extremely poor and very limited samples.

For example, the majority of the data points in Lynn's book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" were not even based on residents of the countries in question. The “data point for Suriname was based on tests given to Surinamese who had migrated to the Netherlands, and the “data point” for Ethiopia was based on the IQ scores of a highly selected group that had emigrated to Israel, and, for cultural and historical reasons, was hardly representative of the Ethiopian population. The data point for Mexico was based on a weighted averaging of the results of a study of “Native American and Mestizo children in Southern Mexico” with result of a study of residents of Argentina [ Hunt, E. & Wittmann, W. (2008). National intelligence and prosperity. Intelligence. Vol. 36, 1, January-February pp. 1-9. ] . It was also found that the “data point” that Lynn and Vanhanen used for the lowest IQ estimate, Equatorial Guinea, was actually the mean IQ of a group of Spanish children in a home for the developmentally disabled in Spain. Corrections were applied to adjust for differences in IQ cohorts (the “Flynn” effect) on the assumption that the same correction could be applied internationally, without regard to the cultural or economic development level of the country involved. While there appears to be rather little evidence on cohort effect upon IQ across the developing countries, one study in Kenya (Daley, Whaley, Sigman, Espinosa, & Neumann, 2003) shows a substantially larger cohort effect than is reported for developed countries (p.?) [ Hunt, E. & Wittmann, W. (2008). National intelligence and prosperity. Intelligence. Vol. 36, 1, January-February pp. 1-9. ]

Other studies have found that blacks in Africa with a good education score better on IQ and other standardized tests than do whites. Crawford-Nutt (1976) found that African black students enrolled in westernized schools scored higher on progressive matrix tests than did American white students. The study was meant to examine perceptual/cultural differences between groups, and demonstrated that one’s performance on western standardized tests correspond more closely with the quality and style of schooling that one receives more so than other factors [ Crawford-Nutt. D. (1976). Are black scores on Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrixes an artifact of method on test presentation? Psychologia Africana, 16, 201-206. ] . Buj (1981) showed Ghanaian adults to score higher on a ‘culture fair’ IQ test than did Irish adults; scores were 80 (Ghanaian) and 78 (Irish), respectively [ Buj, V. (1981). "Average IQ values in various European countries." Personality and Individual Differences, 2:168-169. ] . Shuttleworth-Edwards et al (2004) conducted a study with black South Africans between the ages of 19–30, where highly significant effects for both level and quality of education within groups whose first language was an indigenous black African language, was revealed. Black African first language groups (as well as white English speaking groups) with advantaged education were comparable with the US standardization in IQ test scores (e.g. WAIS-III) [Shuttleworth-Edwards A., Kemp R., Rust A., Muirhead J., Hartman N., Radloff S. (2004). Cross-cultural Effects on IQ Test Performance: A Review and Preliminary Normative Indications on WAIS-III Test Performance. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology, Developm, Volume 26, Number 7, October 2004 , pp. 903-920(18)]

Research also shows that between 43.8 and 48.9 percent of all African immigrants in the United States hold a college diploma [ Charles C.Z, Massey, D.S., Mooney, M. and Kimberly C. Torres, (2007). Black Immigrants and Black Natives Attending Selective Colleges and universities in the United States. American Journal of Education 113 (Feb. 2007)] [US Census Bureau, Census 2000. "5% Public Use Microdata Sample."] . This is slightly more than the percentage of Asian immigrants to the U.S., nearly “double” the rate of native-born white Americans, and nearly four times the rate of native-born African Americans [ Williams D.R. (2005). The Health of U.S. Racial and Ethnic Populations. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60:S53-S62 (2005)] [The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 26 (Winter, 1999-2000) African Immigrants in the United States are the Nation's Most Highly Educated Group. pp. 60-61doi:10.2307/2999156 ] . Black immigrants from Africa have also been shown to have rates of college graduation that are “more” than double that of the U.S.-born population, in general [Williams D.R. (2005). The Health of U.S. Racial and Ethnic Populations. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60:S53-S62 (2005)] . For example, in 1997, 19.4 percent of all adult African immigrants in the United States held a “graduate degree”, compared to 8.1 percent of adult whites (a difference of “more than” double) and 3.8 percent of adult blacks in the United States, respectively [The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 26 (Winter, 1999-2000) African Immigrants in the United States are the Nation's Most Highly Educated Group. pp. 60-61doi:10.2307/2999156] . This shows that America has an equally large achievement gap between white Americans and African born immigrants as between native born white and black Americans.

This suggests that African born blacks residing in western countries as a group possess IQs that are between 5 points and a full standard deviation (15 IQ points) above that of whites living in these countries [Gottfredson, L. S. (1998). The general intelligence factor. Scientific American Presents, 9(4), 24-29.] [Ostrowsky L. (1999). College dropouts and standardized tests. Academic Questions, Springer New York Volume 12, Number 2 / June, 1999] [ Cross, T. (1994). Black Africans Now the Most Educated Group in British Society. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 3 (spring, 1994), pp.92-93] [Williams D.R. (2005). The Health of U.S. Racial and Ethnic Populations. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60:S53-S62 (2005)]

In a critical review of The Bell Curve, psychologist Leon Kamin accused Lynn of disregarding scientific objectivity, misrepresenting data, and racism.cite journal|url=http://mysite.du.edu/~psherry/bellcrv.html|first=Leon|last=Kamin|journal=Scientific American|year=1995|month=February|volume=272|title=The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life|quote=Lynn's distortions and misrepresentations of the data constitute a truly venomous racism, combined with scandalous disregard for scientific objectivity. Lynn is widely known among academics to be an associate editor of the racist journal "Mankind Quarterly" and a major recipient of financial support from the nativist, eugenically oriented Pioneer Fund.] Kamin argues the studies of cognitive ability of Africans in Lynn's meta-analysis cited by Herrnstein and Murray show strong cultural bias. Kamin also criticized Lynn for "concocting" IQ values from test scores that have no correlation to IQ.cite journal|url=http://mysite.du.edu/~psherry/bellcrv.html|first=Leon|last=Kamin|journal=Scientific American|year=1995|month=February|volume=272|title=The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life|quote=In 1992 Owen reported on a sample of coloured students that had been added to the groups he had tested earlier. The footnote in "The Bell Curve" seems to credit this report as proving that South African coloured students have an IQ "similar to that of American blacks," that is, about 85 (the actual reference does not appear in the book's bibliography). That statement does not correctly characterize Owen's work. The test used by Owen in 1992 was the "nonverbal" Raven's Progressive Matrices, which is thought to be less culturally biased than other IQ tests. He was able to compare the performance of coloured students with that of the whites, blacks and Indians in his 1989 study because the earlier set of pupils had taken the Progressive Matrices in addition to the Junior Aptitude Tests. The black pupils, recall, had poor knowledge of English, but Owen felt that the instructions for the Matrices "are so easy that they can be explained with gestures." Owen's 1992 paper again does not assign IQs to the pupils. Rather he gives the mean number of correct responses on the Progressive Matrices (out of a possible 60) for each group: 45 for whites, 42 for Indians, 37 for coloureds and 28 for blacks. The test's developer, John Raven, repeatedly insisted that results on the Progressive Matrices tests cannot be converted into IQs. Matrices scores, unlike IQs, are not symmetrical around their mean (no "bell curve" here). There is thus no meaningful way to convert an average of raw Matrices scores into an IQ, and no comparison with American black IQs is possible.] Furthermore, Kamin argues Lynn selectively excluded a study that found no difference in White and Black performance, and ignored the results of a study which showed Black scores were higher than White scores.cite journal|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071022043901/http://mysite.du.edu/~psherry/bellcrv.html|first=Leon|last=Kamin|journal=Scientific American|year=1995|month=February|volume=272|title=The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life|quote=Lynn chose to ignore the substance of Crawford-Nutt's paper, which reported that 228 black high school students in Soweto scored an average of 45 correct responses on the Matrices--HIGHER than the mean of 44 achieved by the same-age white sample on whom the test's norms had been established and well above the mean of Owen's coloured pupils.]

Journalist Charles Lane made similar criticisms in his "New York Review of Books" article "The Tainted Sources of 'The Bell Curve'" (1994), [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=2056] which was replied to in the same publication by the Pioneer Fund president of the time, Harry F. Weyher. [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2008] .

Notes

References

*Beaujean, A. A. and Osterlind, S. J (December 2005). Assessing the Lynn-Flynn Effect in College Basic Academic Subjects Examination ( [http://www.isironline.org/archive/2005/beaujeanflynn.pdf PDF] ). International Society for Intelligence Research manuscript.
*Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Menozzi, P., & Piazza, A. (1994). "The history and geography of human genes". Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
*Flynn, J. (1982). "Bulletin of the British Psychological Society", 35, 411.
*Flynn, J. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: massive gains 1932 to 1978. "Psychological Bulletin", 95, 29-51.
*Flynn, J. (1987). Massive gains in 14 nations: what IQ tests really measure. "Psychological Bulletin", 101, 171-91.
*Lykken, D. (2004). The New Eugenics. "Contemporary Psychology", 49, 670-672.
*cite book
author = Lynn, R.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1978
month =
title = Human variation: The biopsychology of age, race, and sex
chapter = Ethnic and Racial Differences in Intelligence, International Comparisons
editor =
others =
edition =
pages =
publisher = Academic Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-12-529050-0
url =