Maggie Smith’s Updates

Intelligence Testing and Cultural Bias

I want to address the topic of intelligence testing as it related to cultural bias. It is very difficult to develop a test that measures innate intelligence without introducing some form of cultural bias The idea of "culture free" testing is a fallacy. A student who is a new English language learner is more than likely to encounter a word they are unfamiliar with and consequently intelligence tests will show their weakness in one skill area and equate it to overall low intelligence, which is a mistaken belief. If anything, the ability to speak multiple languages should be seen as a reflection of high intellect. One of my favorites studies was carried out by Judy Kearin and studied theories of cultural influence on cognitive processing, how this shapes the brain and explanation for differences in ability across cultures.

Media embedded January 30, 2018
 

In the popular show, "Good Times" a rather comedic take was given on an incredibly serious issue of the IQ Test. It showed how such testing could be both socioeconomically and culturally biased as it assumes that particular cultural indicators are known amongst every community and function in the same fashion. 

Media embedded January 30, 2018

This is an example of a content validity question. This bias occurs when the content of a test is comparatively more difficult for one group of students than for others. It makes assumptions that all students have the same life experience and even cultural norms. In fact, these tests are also rooted in a rather oppressive and discriminatory history.

For example, take the early reconstruction era poll tests.Race related cognitive bias testing is nothing new. Poll tests were used to further disenfranchise free African Americans during the Jim Crow era. These tests were introduced as "intelligence tests" that would supposedly demonstratethe intellect and therefore worthiness of Southern Black voters. These literacy tests were made nearly impossible to pass and were used as a means to justify voter suppression. You can find a copy of an early test  here

I have always found IQ testing problematic as I believe it favors the norms of whatever group is controls the narrative and alienates anyone who doesn't adhere to said cultural norms. There are multiple ways to be intelligent and IQ testing is certainly limited in it's ability to show the diverse intelligence of it's test subjects. One test does not sum up the worth or value or a student and an IQ test certainly doesn't take into the acount the broad range of experiences shared in the multicultural U.S classroom.dd