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> ... maybe it's time to make the admission system be based on standardized tests ... Certain genetic groups have lower test scores for biological reasons. Adm

> ... maybe it's time to make the admission system be based on standardized tests ... Certain genetic groups have lower test scores for biological reasons. Admissions officers are given wide latitude for the purpose of admiting token applicants from those groups.

gaadd33 13y ago
Which genetic groups? Any links that reference that?
- Daniel_Newby 13y ago
  Africans, some native American tribes, the untouchables in India, etc. Few of them score highly on admissions tests, but their admission scores political points. Ironically, admissions screening was started to keep out the European jews, who are smarter than average and we know some of the genetic variations that do it. One wonders what the universities were thinking, both wanting to keep them out and choosing such a dumb scheme.
  - gaadd33 13y ago
    Interesting, I didn't know that there was research that showed people in those groups, when having the same socio-economic background as the majority, scored lower. Do you have any links to that?
    - Daniel_Newby 13y ago
      The book The Bell Curve goes into it in detail. The basic observation is that the only thing predicting results on an intellectual test is the results of a previous intellectual test. The correlation is caused by an underlying variable that has been given the name general intelligence. There is no residual correlation with socioeconomic status once the correlation with intelligence has been subtracted. Some politicians call this racism, which is probably why my comment was downvoted. Nothing is further from the truth. The whole point is that less-intelligent people score equally low regardless of race. Why different groups should have different intelligence is probably a result of evolution. It takes a better grade of ancestors to survive 20,000 years of European farming and winters.
eli_gottlieb 13y ago
Certain socioeconomic groups have lower test scores for nutritional reasons (namely: they grow up malnourished and thus don't develop adequately). Try to disentangle this effect before claiming heritable genetic reasons for test scores.

gaadd33 13y ago

Which genetic groups? Any links that reference that?

Daniel_Newby 13y ago
Africans, some native American tribes, the untouchables in India, etc. Few of them score highly on admissions tests, but their admission scores political points. Ironically, admissions screening was started to keep out the European jews, who are smarter than average and we know some of the genetic variations that do it. One wonders what the universities were thinking, both wanting to keep them out and choosing such a dumb scheme.
- gaadd33 13y ago
  Interesting, I didn't know that there was research that showed people in those groups, when having the same socio-economic background as the majority, scored lower. Do you have any links to that?
  - Daniel_Newby 13y ago
    The book The Bell Curve goes into it in detail. The basic observation is that the only thing predicting results on an intellectual test is the results of a previous intellectual test. The correlation is caused by an underlying variable that has been given the name general intelligence. There is no residual correlation with socioeconomic status once the correlation with intelligence has been subtracted. Some politicians call this racism, which is probably why my comment was downvoted. Nothing is further from the truth. The whole point is that less-intelligent people score equally low regardless of race. Why different groups should have different intelligence is probably a result of evolution. It takes a better grade of ancestors to survive 20,000 years of European farming and winters.

eli_gottlieb 13y ago

Certain socioeconomic groups have lower test scores for nutritional reasons (namely: they grow up malnourished and thus don't develop adequately). Try to disentangle this effect before claiming heritable genetic reasons for test scores.