Mental Abilities by Arthur Jensen Presentation

1. MENTAL ABILITIES- LEVEL 1 & LEVEL
2 INTELLIGENCE BY AR JENSEN
Faheema Yasmin Abdul Khalik Semester 3: Mental abilities
Roll no: 220326
Central University of Haryana

2. ◦ ARTHUR ROBERT JENSEN
◦ Arthur R. Jensen (1923-2012) was an American psychologist known for his work in psychometrics and
differential psychology, specifically focusing on how and why individuals differ in their cognitive
abilities. Jensen’s research and publications generated significant controversy, particularly regarding
his views on intelligence and race.
◦ Here’s an overview of Jensen’s work and its impact:
◦ Main Areas of Research:
◦ Heritability of intelligence:Jensen argued that intelligence is largely determined by genetics,with
heritability estimates ranging from 60% to 80%. This claim sparked intense debate, with many
accusing him of promoting racist ideology.
◦ Group differences in intelligence:Jensen’s research on IQ differences between racial groups,
particularly between Blacks and Whites, further fueled controversy. He attributed these differences to
both genetic and environmental factors, suggesting that environmental interventions alone might not
be sufficient to close the gap.

3. ◦ Cultural bias in intelligence tests:Jensen acknowledged the potential for cultural bias in
intelligence tests but argued that even when bias is controlled for significant group differences
remain.
◦ Arthur Jensen was prompted to begin his study of factors that affect intelligence when one of
his graduate students questioned the anomalies the student was seeing in his students with
learning differences. The student noted that many of his Black students scored lower on
intelligence tests than their white counterparts and wondered if cultural bias in the tests might
be a factor.
◦ While the student’s white students exhibited a correlation between their abilities in class and on
the playground, the student also noted that his Black students performed better in social
settings than in academic ones.

4. ◦ While the student’s white students exhibited a correlation between their abilities in class and on
the playground, the student also noted that his Black students performed better in social
settings than in academic ones.
◦ From the student’s questions and observations, Jensen was inspired to conduct numerous
experiments to determine whether cultural bias existed in commonly-used tests of intelligence.
◦ Criticism of Jensen’s Theory and Modern Theories
◦ Scientists have long debated the relative influence of nature versus nurture and while there is a
genetic influence on intelligence, most scientists agree that the environment plays an important
role as well. The human genome project was launched in the years since Arthur Jensen’s theories
were published.

5. ◦ The project’s goal was to sequence the DNA or genome of humans, a collaborative effort by international
scientists. As Jensen believed, intelligence is influenced by genetics, but these studies show that both nature and
nurture contribute to human intelligence. In other words, people’s intelligence is a product of both genetics and
environment.
◦ Genetics and Their Influence on Intelligence
◦ While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Arthur Jensen began conducting research into how genetics
influenced intelligence. A student made the comment that it seemed that there was a racial disparity among the
special education students he taught. Inside the classroom, his students, no matter their racial background,
performed at a low academic level. However, when in a general milieu, some of his Black students were equal on a
social level with other students. On the other hand, his white students showed mental deficits whether in the
classroom or in the milieu. So, Jensen began looking for a reason.
◦ Jensen performed studies in which he gave typical g-loaded intelligence tests to a group of racially diverse
students. This type of test states that there is a constant ‘g’ that represents a general correlation between cognitive
tasks. This means that an individual will have a similar outcome no matter what cognitive task they are performing.
Arthur Jensen found that the result of these studies was that these tests were fair across racial lines.

6. ◦ Genetics and Their Influence on Intelligence
◦ While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Arthur Jensen began conducting research into how genetics
influenced intelligence. A student made the comment that it seemed that there was a racial disparity among the
special education students he taught. Inside the classroom, his students, no matter their racial background,
performed at a low academic level. However, when in a general milieu, some of his Black students were equal on a
social level with other students. On the other hand, his white students showed mental deficits whether in the
classroom or in the milieu. So, Jensen began looking for a reason.
◦ Jensen performed studies in which he gave typical g-loaded intelligence tests to a group of racially diverse
students. This type of test states that there is a constant 'g' that represents a general correlation between cognitive
tasks. This means that an individual will have a similar outcome no matter what cognitive task they are performing.
Arthur Jensen found that the result of these studies was that these tests were fair across racial lines.

7. ◦ Intelligence instruments are geared to test for different types of ability. Level I abilities account
for the ability to use memory and associate previous learning with other circumstance. Level II
abilities are abstract reasoning and understanding higher level concepts. Jensen found that
there was no racial disparity in Level I cognitive abilities, but that white and Asian students
scored better than other races in Level II abilities. Due to the fact that academic propensity
requires Level II more than Level I cognitive abilities, white students are better equipped,
genetically, to have success in a school environment.

8. ◦ Jensen (1969) proposed two level-theories of mental abilities, which sparked a debate on the
association of heredity versus environment with intelligence after his studies, got published in
the “Harvard Educational Review” in 1969. He demonstrated clear-cut genetic differences in the
average intelligence of races and social classes. Jensen suggested that two genetically based
levels of intelligence exist.
◦ In other word intelligence consists of two levels of abilities. The Level I ability is associative
learning, which consists of Short-Term Memory (STM), rote learning, attention and simple
associative skills. The Level II is called cognitive learning, which consists of abstract thinking,
symbolic thought, conceptual learning, and use of language in problem solving.

9. ◦ He argued that Level I ability, i.e. associative learning is equally distributed across all racial and
national groups but on the contrary, Level II, i.e., cognitive learning is concentrated more the middle
class Anglo-American populations than in the lower class black populations.
◦ According to him, genetic differences in intelligence exist among people coming from different races,
nationalities, and social classes.
◦ Jensen conducted studies of intelligence comparing identical fraternal twins. Identical twins have
identical genetic dispositions for that their Iqs are assumed to be similar.
◦ Fraternal twins like ordinary siblings genetically less similar, which results in the assumption that
their Iqs less similar. Jensen found support for his views in these findings. Studies with identical
twins produced an average correlation of .86, whereas studies of ordinary siblings produced an
average correlation of .47.
◦ Jensen on basis of his studies believed that genetic factors are more important than environmental
factors for one’s intelligence.