Problem

In what way was the controversy surrounding the publication of The Bell Curve the same as...

In what way was the controversy surrounding the publication of The Bell Curve the same as that surrounding the Burt “scandal”?

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Solution 1

The Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life or Bell Curve: is a book written by Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein in the year 1994. It speaks about the beliefs and works of several psychologists such as Galton, Cattell, Terman, Yerkes, Cyril Burt, and Spearman.

They were all Naturists or Eugenicists, believing in the concept of Eugenics and that “intelligence is greatly inherited”. Murray and Richard finalized their book by concluding six points, they are as follows:

1. There is a general factor of cognitive ability on which humans differ from each other.

2. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Tests designed for measuring aptitude and achievement is accurate.

3. IQ scores measure the same thing that we refer to as “smart” or “intelligent”.

4. IQ scores of a person remain stable over the course of his lifetime.

5. Properly framed IQ questionnaire are perfectly designed for people of social, economic, ethnic, racial diverse people.

6. Cognitive ability or intelligence of a person is heritable and is no less than 40percent or no more than 80 percent.

The ‘Burt Scandal’ is referred to the scandal that charged Burt to make false claims based on fraudulent data in his research works regarding the inheritance of intelligence.

A person known as Leon Kamin first reviewed Burt’s data in his published works and found a number of discrepancies.

A Journalist known as Oliver Gillie found out that the person whom Burt had listed as having gathered data for him, were false. They either did not exist nor had never the experience of collecting any data for Cyril Burt.

A committee was formed to find out whether these claims were true or not. Leslie Hearnshaw found out in the year 1979 that Burt had supported his own position under a pseudonym and had subsequently published with a co-author who never existed.

In a way, the controversy surrounding the bell curve was similar to the Burt Scandal both reflects the age-old controversy concerning nature versus nurture. The age-old question of which is more important genetic or environment, is known as the Nature-nurture controversy. This is one of the oldest questions of psychology.

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