Arthur Jensen

Rushton and Jensen published an extensive review in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law comparing an entirely environmental model with one attributing a genetic component to average differences in cognitive performance between Black and White populations, concluding in favour of a genetic component.

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Jensen was among 52 academics who signed 'Mainstream Science on Intelligence', published in the Wall Street Journal during the controversy following The Bell Curve. The statement notably defended the validity of intelligence tests and presented several average differences between groups as established findings.

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Over several decades, Jensen received substantial funding from the Pioneer Fund, an organisation historically linked to eugenics, research on racial differences and opposition to certain civil rights policies. Documented amounts exceed $1 million over his career.

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Jensen argued that the magnitude of average Black–White differences on various tests increased with their loading on the general factor g, a proposition known as 'Spearman's hypothesis'. This line of research became a cornerstone of his hereditarian interpretation.

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Jensen develops a distinction between associative learning ("Level I") and conceptual or transformational abilities ("Level II"), then discusses average differences between ethnic groups. The model becomes part of debates about educational organisation and attracts criticism concerning its racial assumptions and teaching implications.

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Jensen's work on race and intelligence provoked intense protests on campuses, burning of effigies, death threats and, for a period, protection by bodyguards.

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Jensen contributed to Neue Anthropologie and participated in its editorial activities. The journal was led by Jürgen Rieger and is described by historians and critics as a vehicle for the revival of racial anthropology and eugenics within the German far right.

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In "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?", Jensen argues that compensatory education programmes such as Head Start have little effect on IQ and suggests that a substantial proportion of observed average differences between racial groups might be genetic. The article sparks major scientific and political controversy.

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