J. P. Rushton's Aggregational Errors in Racial Psychology

Abstract

Contrary to Rushton 's postulates, aggregating large cohorts of methodologically weak studies leads to misleading conclusions. The review of his data shows that nonprofessional skull collections were included (race was possibly estimated from skull size) and the impact offactors, such as infant malnutrition and climate, on cranial or brain size was ignored. Statistical reanalyses of cranial data show that cranial size (a) is not a viable indicator of intelligence and (b) is similar in Negroids and Caucasoids from the same settings: It varies with the standard of living and climate (smaller crania are found in underdeveloped, wanner countries), not with race.