After carefully reading the article you chose in this unit’s second study, prepare a paper about the controversy that began when Arthur Jensen published an article about racial differences in intelligence. Present both sides of the argument, then evaluate which side has the stronger position. Find at least one other scholarly article from the Capella University Library to support your argument. Make sure to reference all articles and other resources you use in APA (6th edition) format.

 

• Arthur Robert Jensen, Professor Emeritus of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, is known for his work on how and why individuals differ, behaviorally, from one another. In the nature-versus-nurture debate, Jensen is a major proponent of the hereditarian position, which concludes genetics play a significant role in behavioral traits and intelligence.

  Jensen’s most controversial work was published in 1969 in the Harvard Educational Review. It was titled How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement? Among other things, Jensen (Indiana University, 2007) concluded that “racial differences in average IQ scores are not due to any ‘culture unfairness’ intrinsic to the tests.” The work ignited a firestorm of controversy and became one of the most contentious papers in the history of intelligence research.

  Locate at least two articles through the Capella Library databases and other electronic resources about the controversy surrounding intelligence and race. Choose one article that supports the racial difference position and one that opposes it. Each article you reference should have the proper citations. Resources and citations should be formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting. You will use this research to complete the Unit 4 assignment.

  Reference

  Indiana University. (2007). Human Intelligence: Arthur Jensen. Retrieved from http://www.intelltheory.com/jensen.shtml

Review your classmates’ responses during the Participation for this week.

·         Write a 200+ word response answering the following two questions (submit as a Word document):

 

1.  Indigenous religions have been deeply affected by their encounters with modern cultures.  What was the most important or interesting negative consequence of this (introduction of disease, loss of land, forced conversion – feel free to use your own)?

 

2.  What was the most important or interesting positive benefit for indigenous cultures resulting from their contact with modern cultures. (suppression of practices such as human sacrifice, access to labor and life saving technology, opportunity for willing conversion, increase in literacy – feel free to come up with your own)?

 

You may use your responses from the two discussion questions this week.  You should also cite at least one source for each question.  Keep in mind that websites are unreliable sources of information compared with those you can find in the Axia Library.  For example, many websites spread the myth that Native Americans were deliberately infected with smallpox by Europeans.  While many Native Americans indeed died of smallpox, there is no evidence that its spread was intentional.  Websites often use statements found on other websites (or from dubious scholarship) as evidence; be aware of this.