Considers problems that arise at the interface between psychology and education, including inadequate training of school psychologists, the controversy over the use of IQ tests, and insufficient financial resources. Analyzes the role of social and economic forces controlling the policies that affect American schoolchildren. (Author/GC)

R. Herrnstein and C. Murray, in "The Bell Curve," stated six propositions concerning a "g" factor of intelligence. These propositions are found to be reasonably well supported in the scientific literature. These conclusions can be reached whether or not one accepts Herrnstein and Murray's claims about the social significance of…

Delineates the current consensus regarding the nature and the development of intellectual ability. Examines when one would expect general abilities to moderate the relationship among domain-specific and other processes. Reviews recent studies in which general abilities were used as independent variables or covariates. Suggests that generally,…

Examines five themes in "Testing for Competence Rather than for "Intelligence" (D. C. McClelland, "American Psychologist," 1973), and reviews relevant literature. Despite wide acceptance of McClelland's views, other evidence that does not show that competency testing surpasses cognitive ability testing in predicting…

Examines WAIS-R profiles of 194 college students diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) to assess where they yield unique and interpretable profiles. Results show nearly 94% match profiles found in the WASI-R standardization sample. Also, shapes fail to explain a significant proportion of variation in student academic skills. (Author/JDM)

Reviews the use of IQ scores in determining special education placement. It argues that although IQ is central to state education codes and their eligibility criteria for special education, the evidence shows that many children exhibiting psychometric scores that would make them eligible are never referred. (Author/CR)

Investigates the stability of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) by testing a sample of 65 children from low socioeconomic status families. Mean scores for the group were roughly equivalent, correlation coefficients were high, and change scores for the majority of…

Argues that Herrnstein and Murray's "The Bell Curve" (1994) merely restates the notion that intelligence can be reduced to a single ordinal measure, i.e., the primary factor for determining group or individual social-class status. Evidence from the biological sciences and quantitative genetics is presented that reveals that social…

The third edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) is reviewed. A comparison of the WISC-III with the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) is included. Discusses shortcomings of the WISC-III while noting that overall, there are substantial improvements in the WISC-III over the WISC-R. (KW)

Critical thinking comprises the mental processes, strategies, and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. The study of critical thinking combines the educational, philosophical, and psychological traditions of thought. R. Ennis offers a philosophical taxonomy suggesting that critical thinking results…

The controversy over standardized testing of Black students is reviewed: the mismatch of the tests to students' language and culture, the consequences of low test scores to Blacks, proposals to change the existing situation, and the role of the test publishers. (SJL)

Problems with experimental research on mental retardation include: (1) difficulties with defining mental retardation; (2) neglect in demonstrating causal relationships; and (3) reliance on methodology not necessarily appropriate for defining the criteria of retardation. The author advocates abandoning definitions based on intelligence tests and…

Statistical bias in measurement and ethnic-group bias in testing are discussed, reviewing predictive and construct validity studies. Item bias is reconceptualized to include distance of item content from respondent's experience. Differing values of mean and standard deviation for bias parameter are analyzed in a simulation. References are…

The Ramey and Haskins intervention experiment is examined. Narrow transfer of training from cognitive intervention techniques to IQ test performance in early childhood, rather than enhancement of the g factor itself, is hypothesized as a cause of the typical fadeout of early IQ gains in later childhood. (Author/RD)

This article examines the potential contribution of latent trait models to the study of intelligence. Nontechnical introductions to both unidimensional and multidimensional latent trait models are given. Multidimensional latent trait models can be used to test alternative multiple component theories of test item processing. (Author/CTM)