The rise and fall of the Flynn Effect as a reason to expect a narrowing of the Black–White IQ gap
Editorial The rise and fall of the Flynn Effect as a reason to expect a narrowing of the Black–White IQ gap☆ J. Philippe Rushton a, ⁎, Arthur R. Jensen b a Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2 b Department of Education, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94308, United States article info abstract Article history: Received 31 May 2009 Received in revised form 5 December 2009 Accepted 7 December 2009 Available online 6 January 2010 In this Editorial we correct the false claim thatgloadings and inbreeding depression scores correlate with the secular gains in IQ. This claim has been used to render the logic of heritableg a“red herring”and an“absurdity”as an explanation of Black–White differences because secular gains are environmental in origin. In point of fact, whilegloadings and inbreeding depression scores on the 11 subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children correlate significantly positivelywith Black–White differences (0.61 and 0.48,Pb0.001), they correlate significantly negatively(or not at all) with the secular gains (meanr=−0.33,Pb0.001; and 0.13,ns, respectively). Moreover, heritabilities calculated from twins also correlate with theg loadings (r= 0.99,Pb0.001 for the estimated true correlation), providing biological evidence for a true geneticg, as opposed to a mere statisticalg. While the secular gains are ong-loaded tests (such as the Wechsler), they are negatively correlated with the mostg-loaded componentsof those tests. Also, the tests lose theirgloadedness over time with training, retesting, and familiarity. In an analysis of mathematics and reading scores from tests such as the NAEP and Coleman Report over the last 54 years, we show that there has been no narrowing of the gap in either IQ scores or in educational achievement. From 1954 to 2008, Black 17-year-olds have consistently scored at about the level of White 14-year-olds, yielding IQ equivalents of 85 for 1954, 82 for 1965, 70 f…