Measurement of Intelligence among Three New Zealand Ethnic Groups

Abstract

A battery of tests of intelligence, consisting of both psychometric and Piagetian instruments, was administered to 60 five-year-old children from 3 New Zealand ethnic groups-Maori, Samoan, and Pakeha-within one month of their commencing school. Maoris and Samoans are members of the Polynesian race, while Pakehas are persons of predominantly European descent. In general there were few significant differences between the ethnic groups, except on some subtests involving expressive language. It appeared that the sex variable confounded patterns of performances, with the Polynesian male groups generally performing at a higher (but not necessarily significant) level than the Polynesian female groups, and the Pakeha groups showing the reverse pattern of female superiority. The low intercorrelations of the tests suggested a wide variety of skills being sampled.

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