Stephen Gould Hereditarianism

Does Hereditary Influence IQ Scores? Stephen Gould’s monograph, The Mismeasure of Man, examines and denounces the belief of biological determinism. In Chapter 5, titled “The Hereditarian Theory of IQ”, Gould addresses the idea that the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of an individual is strictly based on their hereditary. Gould condemns the belief of hereditarianism through reconstructing and finding inaccuracies in the experiments that leading scientists and researchers in the field, such as H. Goddard, L. Terman, and R. Yerkes, made while supporting the idea of biological determinism. Gould articulates how scientists, who allow their own personal prejudices and bias seep into their data, have inaccurately mismeasured man from the beginning

Yerkes, a psychology professor at Harvard University, became disgruntled over the judgment he faced over his area of expertise. Yerkes wanted the scientific community to accept psychology for being known as the science of how the brain functions. Yerkes persuaded the United States Army to test all recruits during World War I. The results, however, were not what Yerkes had expected. E.G. Boring, one of Yerkes’ associates, concluded from the data of the Army testing that the average mental age of an American citizen is 13 years old, not 16 as previously thought. (226) This statement caused mass hysteria among the American public. Americans believed that the mental age had dropped due to the influx of immigrants, the “feeble-minded” being allowed to breed, and the startling rise of individuals being born with mixed black and white blood. Gould disagrees with Yerkes’ findings because he recognizes the Army testing for what it truly is, an unjust and inaccurate form of testing. Gould points out that Yerkes administered a test to mostly foreigners, who had no previous experience with the English language. Yerkes’ test also included questions of American culture, such as “What is Crisco?”, instead of asking questions that would accurately measure intelligence. (230) Gould addressed Yerkes’ mistakes by stating: “The whole effort, through no fault of Yerkes beyond impracticality and over ambition, became something of a shambles, if not a disgrace.” (231) Unjust testing

The Immigration Restriction Act became set in place due to the results of Yerkes and Boring’s Army tests. The Immigration Restriction Act limited certain groups of immigrants from entering the United States based on the inaccurate data received from Yerkes and Boring’s tests. Slowed immigration, of Jews and other “feeble-minded” ethnicities, happened just as the world entered one of her darkest moments: World War II. According to Gould, over 6 million people, mostly Jews, fleeing the Holocaust were denied entrance to the United States. (263) This statistic shows that prejudice, even if seemingly harmless, can cause irreversible damage. Gould closes the chapter with the haunting statement: “The paths to destruction are often indirect, but ideas can be agents as sure as guns and bombs.”(263) Gould addresses with the ending of Chapter 5, that something as simple as an idea, such as the belief of biological determinism, can have a lasting effect on individuals, and the world, as a