Chapter 9 Culture & IQ Tests

When tests find IQ differences between groups of children from different cultures, it does not always necessarily that the children who score lower are inherently less intelligent. There are a lot of things to consider. It is difficult to construct tests that are reliable and valid. In this particular case, it is hard to construct a generalized tests with no cultural bias. Test-maker tried to incorporate knowledge and skills common to many different cultures. But these efforts were disappointing. One reason was that cultures differ in the problem-solving strategies they emphasize (Serpell, 1994). This means that the problem-solving for each cultures is different and will also affect on how well they will do the particular IQ tests.

The other thing to look at is stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is a insecurity that caused by burden of doubt about their abilities and how they think they will performs in the test. This threat occurs when people believe that if they do not do well, they will conform the stereotype of their group. For example, let's say there is a stereotype about indigenous people being bad at math. The negative thoughts they will have will result an anxiety and "disidentification" that will worsen their performance or kill their motivation to even try to do well. 

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