Race and intelligence

Race and intelligence is the study and debate over group differences in measured cognitive ability and the contributions of genetics, environment, and social conditions.

Intelligence quotient: A standardized score designed to summarize performance on cognitive tests relative to an age-based reference group. IQ scores are the most familiar measurements used in debates about group cognitive differences.
Race: A socially constructed system for classifying people, often based on perceived ancestry and physical traits. The groups compared in this debate are shaped by histories and social definitions, not fixed biological partitions.
Francis Galton: A British polymath who founded eugenics and promoted statistical study of heredity and human ability. His work helped establish hereditarian approaches to ranking human populations.
Racial realism: The view that racial categories correspond to enduring biological divisions among human populations. It supplies a biological premise that critics dispute when interpreting score gaps.
Eugenics in the United States: A movement that promoted reproductive control and restrictive immigration policies in the United States, including forced sterilization. Intelligence testing and hereditarian claims were used to legitimize discriminatory state programs.
Psychometrics: The science of measuring psychological traits, abilities, and states. Its models define how cognitive tests are constructed, scored, and interpreted.
Human genetic variation: Genetic differences among humans, distributed unevenly across individuals and populations. Patterns of ancestry-related variation do not map neatly onto conventional racial categories.
Alfred Binet: A French psychologist who developed an early practical intelligence test with Théodore Simon. His test was designed to identify children needing educational support, not rank racial groups.
Social constructivism: The view that social categories and meanings are produced through historical and cultural processes. It emphasizes how racial classification and unequal social conditions shape observed outcomes.
Racial segregation in the United States: The legally enforced separation and unequal treatment of racial groups in the United States. Segregated schooling and resources created conditions that affected educational opportunity and test performance.

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