174. What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing?

Are gifted and talented programs discriminatory? Why do so many adults still remember their SAT scores? And how did Angela transform from a party girl to an Ivy League psychologist?

• SOURCES:
  • Alfred Binet, 19th-century French psychologist.
  • Stefan Dombrowski, professor of psychology and director of the School Psychology Program at Rider University.
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 18th- to 19th-century German author.
  • Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs in the N.F.L.
  • Robert O'Connell, writer and reporter.
  • Robert Rosenthal, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
  • Amy Tan, author.

• RESOURCES:
  • "What’s the Best Way to Find a Gifted 4-Year-Old?" by Ginia Bellafante (The New York Times, 2022).
  • "Without the Wonderlic, the N.F.L. Finds Other Ways to Test Football I.Q.," by Robert O’Connell (The New York Times, 2022).
  • "The Dark History of I.Q. Tests," by Stefan Dombrowski (TED-Ed, 2020).
  • Grinnell College 2019 Commencement Address, by Amy Tan (2019).
  • "Universal Screening Increases the Representation of Low-Income and Minority Students in Gifted Education," by David Card and Laura Giuliano (PNAS, 2016).
  • "The Supreme Court Ruling That Led To 70,000 Forced Sterilizations," by Terry Gross (Fresh Air, 2016).
  • "Intelligence Is Not Enough: Non-IQ Predictors of Achievement," by Angela Lee Duckworth (Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 2006).
  • "Pygmalion in the Classroom," by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (The Urban Review, 1968).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are Humans Smarter or Stupider Than We Used to Be?" by No Stupid Questions (2021).
  • "America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan (1995).
  • The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan (1989).