Proposes that a direct and authoritative challenge to the scientific racism of the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries was urgently needed, and was one of the leading rhetorical contributions of W.E.B. DuBois. Specifically examines three issues: social Darwinism, the eugenics movement, and psychologists' measurement of intelligence.…

The author provides an historical review of how he came to construct the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Concepts underlying the WAIS are related to prior work in psychometrics. (RD)

An examination of the historical record fails to uncover any support for the claim that the racially biased Immigration Act of 1924 was passed with the help of the intelligence testing community. (GC)

The issue of factor indeterminacy in factor analysis has been the subject of considerable debate in recent years. The same issue was also discussed widely in the 1920s and 1930s. The history of the issue, the literature on the subject, and parallels between early and modern work are discussed. (Author/JKS)

Intelligence Quotient scores are only predictors of performance, not precise measures of intelligence. They are most useful in conjunction with other assessments of potential such as achievement tests and daily performance. An explanation of how scores are derived and a brief history of IQ testing are included. (IAH)

The author provides a comprehensive study of one of the most cited but least studied authorities on Black educational history, Horace Mann Bond. The author highlights both the social conditions that confronted all Black Americans during the first three decades of the twentieth century and the Black academic response of that time. (Author/CT)

The use of the family history chart and the "Binet-Simon Scale" to study mental retardation in the early 20th century are considered, along with the implications of this practice. With the thesis that mental retardation was primarily familial and hereditary, limiting reproduction and segregation were viewed as appropriate approaches.…

Describes how Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.) testing came to be used in the Los Angeles, California public schools. Argues that the test generated more confusion and frustration among teachers and administrators than previously believed. Concludes that, despite pressure to use I.Q. scores exclusively for student classification, individual teachers…

An historical overview of investigations concerned with delineating the structure and composition of infant intellectual activity is presented. Earlier conceptualizations characterized infant intelligence as a unitary trait or factor. Recent studies contend that infant intellectual activity is comprised of varied sets of relatively independent…

This article disputes psychological test results from the 1920s that indicated low performance by Blacks. Inaccurate experimental research procedures and conclusions of tests are observed. Cultural determinants, heredity, and influence of test instruments on data are examined. (DF)

This book is a biography of Dr. K. S. Cunningham, founding director of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Cunningham is considered one of the most influential figures in the development of education, psychology, and the social sciences in Australia. The biography examines Cunningham's early family life, his educational experiences,…

In the United States today tests of the ability to perform well in school divide society and define opportunity. Higher education has become a major focus of aspirations people hold for their children, and educational testing determines who qualifies for higher education. This history recounts the development of intelligence testing and its early…

Considers individual differences in cognitive and social functioning and how and why those differences are measured. Presents some issues that are believed to be historically important to the development of testing, particularly intelligence testing, and consequently to the practice of school psychology. Discusses some continuing problems with…

Ethnic, racial, and religious discrimination in selective college admissions was commonplace in the 1920's, but it is doubtful that the College Board's 1926 innovation, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), was developed to be used as an instrument of prejudice. By 1926, the use of quotas by elite colleges had made discrimination in admissions…

This bulletin attempts to present: (1) the comparative extent to which farm and nonfarm groups are receiving public secondary education; and (2) the relation of significant factors concerning high schools and the farm population to participation in secondary education by farm children. The data here presented must be regarded as incomplete but…