The Upper Limit of Ability Among American Negroes

Abstract

More than three decades of psychometric investigation among American Negroes has yielded a rich fund of information concerning this population group. Perhaps the most generally known finding, and certainly the most emphasized, is that when “comparable” groups of whites and Negroes are tested, the Negro group is almost invariably inferior to the white in psychometric intelligence (intelligence as measured by psychological tests). Preoccupation with the significance of the low average performance of Negro groups has served to divert attention from an equally important phenomenon—the variability of the group, and especially the upper limit reached by its really superior members.