IQ test performance of Black children adopted by White families.
Abstract
The poor performance of black children on IQ tests and in school has been hypothesized to arise from (a) genetic racial differences or (6) cultural/ environmental disadvantages. To separate genetic fac- tors from rearing conditions, 130 black/interracial chil- dren adopted by advantaged white families were studied. The socially classified black adoptees, whose natural parents were educationally average, scored above the IQ and the school achievement mean of the white popu- lation. Biological children of the adoptive parents scored even higher. Genetic and environmental de- terminants of differences among the black/interracial adoptees were largely confounded. The high IQ scores of the socially classified black adoptees indicate malle- ability for IQ under rearing conditions that are relevant to the tests and the schools. It is well known that black children reared by their own families achieve IQ scores that average about a standard deviation (IS points) below whites (Jensen, 1973; Loehlin, Lindzey, & Spuhler, 197S). This finding is at the heart of a continuing contro- versy in the educational arena. Recent studies (Cleary, Humphreys, Kendrick, & Wesman, 1975) confirm the hypothesis that low IQ scores predict poor school performance, regardless of race. Thus, more black children than white children fail to achieve academically and to earn the credentials required by higher occupational status, with its
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“For example, at age seven, Scarr and Weinberg [156] noted that some children were misclassified, with their adoptive parents wrongly believing that the mixed-race children had two Black biological parents.”
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- Authors
- Scarr, S., & Weinberg, R. A.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1976-10
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 726-739
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2172194080
- Semantic Scholar
- e6db5244b970f5390cf2486c7e65f14b0b59967c
- Cited by
- 347
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 16.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Keywords
- Black children, transracial adoption, adoptive families, genetic versus environmental factors, racial differences in intelligence, academic performance, rearing conditions, biological children
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