Arthur R. Jensen, an educational psychologist at the University of California Berkeley who argued that the gap in intelligence-test scores between black and whites was largely due to genetic differences and not cultural or environmental factors, died at the age of 89. While reviled by some–his explosive thesis was first published in 1969 at the height of the civil rights movement–his fundamental view that intelligence is largely rooted in genetics and that population based factors play a significant role in shaping human intelligence have become mainstream. James R. Flynn, an authority on IQ tests who gained prominence with his discovery of the worldwide cultural and environmental influences on IQ, known as the “Flynn effect,” noted that Jensen made “landmark contributions” to psychology, most of which had nothing to do with questions of race.
Additional Resources:
- Arthur Jensen dies at 89; His views on race and IQ created a furor, Los Angeles Times
- A review of Arthur Jensen’s “The g factor”, iSteve
- Arthur Jensen’s rebuke of Stephen Jay Gould’s “The Mismeasure of Man”, Debunker
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