Genes, Brains, and Human Potential The Science and Ideology of Intelligence

104 PRETEND INTELLIGENCE

structure together with enhanced self- esteem, self- confi dence, and sense
of self- effi cacy.
Th at is, the Flynn eff ect further supports the suggestion that an IQ test
score is an index of specifi c background learning rather than some
so- called strength in a mythical g. Th e explanation is supported by several
other observations. Th e rise in scores is steeper in developing countries
in which the demographic changes are occurring relatively faster. In con-
trast, there are reports of the eff ect leveling off in at least some developed
countries in which neoliberal economic policies have reduced social mo-
bility. Fi nally, as just mentioned, adoption of children from lower- class
into middle- class homes results in massive IQ gains.

IQ: THE PHONY MEA SURE OF POTENTIAL

Intelligence is viewed as the most impor tant ingredient of human poten-

tial. But there is no generally accepted theoretical model of what it is (in

the way that we have such models of other organic functions). Instead,

psychologists have adopted physical meta phors: mental speed, energy,

power, strength, and so on, together with simple ge ne tic models of how it

is distributed in society. Th e IQ test was in ven ted to create scores that cor-

respond with such meta phors, with the distribution— who is more or less

intelligent— already presumed.

Th is circularity in IQ testing must not be forgotten or overlooked. IQ

tests do not have what is called “construct” validity, in the way that a

breathalyzer is calibrated against a model of the passage of alcohol in the

bloodstream. Th ey are constructed on the basis of prior beliefs of who is

or is not intelligent. But by creating a numerical surrogate of a social class

system, they make that system appear to spring from biological rather

than social forces. Such ideas are dangerous, because they demean the

real mental abilities and true potential of most people in everyday social

situations.

What is clearly missing, above all, is a respectable theoretical model of

intelligence. Th is is what I construct in the next couple of chapters.

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