Educability-and-Group-Differences-1973-by-Arthur-Robert-Jensen

246 Educability and Group Differences
twelfth-grade Indians attend schools in which they are in a
minority. Yet on the non-verbal intelligence test, non-metropolitan
North and West Negroes score approximately 0-8 SD (equivalent
to 11-12 IQ points) below the national average, while the Indians
score about 0*1 SD (2-3 IQ points) below the national average.
Even on the verbal ability test the largely bilingual Indians exceed
this Negro group by 0-4 SD (about 6 IQ points). Thus these data
lend no support to Bodmer’s and Cavalli-Sforza’s conjecture. But
they go on to argue that Coleman’s Indian sample may not
adequately represent the 70 to 80 percent of American Indians
who live on reservations. This is mere surmise, but in any case it is
irrelevant to the point being made by these data: they are the very
same Indians who were tested in the Coleman study who also
rated much lower than Negroes on all the environmental indices.
Despite this environmental disadvantage, these same Indians
scored higher than Negroes on the ability and achievement tests.
But what about motivation, self-esteem, and educational aspirations
These factors are commonly mentioned as explanatory
variables in discussions of Negroes’ mental test and scholastic
performance. Gordon (1970, p. 254), for example, states: ‘Moreover,
socially disadvantaged children have been determined by
several investigators to be less highly motivated and to have
lower aspiration for academic and vocational achievement than do
their middle and upper class school peers.’ Further on in the same
passage, Gordon (p. 255) writes: ‘As important as these attitudes
toward school and learning may be, it is in the area of attitude
toward self and others that the crucial determinants of achievement
and upward mobility may lie. . . .’ Coleman et al. attempted to
take account of these motivational and attitudinal factors.
If poor environmental conditions, discrimination, and minority
status depress academic motivation, aspiration, and self-esteem
as a student, we should expect the Indian students to show lower
ratings on these variables than Negroes. If it is argued that Negroes
suffer greater prejudice, discrimination, and the psychological
handicaps they may engender, than do Indians, we should expect
this to show up in Coleman’s motivational and attitudinal assessments.
But on a questionnaire of 16 items intended to assess
school-related attitudes, motivation, self-concept, and educational
aspirations, Negroes showed higher (more favorable) scores than
Indians; in the twelfth grade, Negroes were higher on 14 of the 16