tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post8384347463652059642..comments2024-03-14T09:50:44.315+00:00Comments on Psychological comments: Income, brain, race, and a big gapAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-88056259958649730852016-07-10T22:29:47.857+01:002016-07-10T22:29:47.857+01:00I think that studies like this need to go deeper a...I think that studies like this need to go deeper and get at both beliefs about mating and actual practices. Some cultural backgrounds require compulsory marriage and breeding and base their social status system on kinship achievements whereas other groups follow assortative mating practices and delay marriage and breeding which permits them to have accumulated greater capital, all forms considered, which their offspring inherit or acquire through forms of interaction, linguistic and social, which relate to economic achievement more that kinship achievement. Another way to put it is that kinship terminology may have a more powerful role in some cultures over economic role terminology.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04963234454011751483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-473618407495662922015-10-23T03:28:11.187+01:002015-10-23T03:28:11.187+01:00*Household* income potential depends on different ...*Household* income potential depends on different factor for men than for women. I once counseled a young lady with all of two years of high school to her name who had never made more than $40,000/year on doing a career change from the stressful, on-your-feet occupation she currently had. Her new gig affords her an 8-bedroom coop on Park Avenue and a private jet! My advice?<br /><br />"Marry Well".<br /><br />There is no similar option for us males, alas...JediWonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852245795974403028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-27645333358338135502015-10-09T09:00:11.854+01:002015-10-09T09:00:11.854+01:00Analysis of variance. A family suffering from raci...Analysis of variance. A family suffering from racism may have an overall lower achievement score, but the within family variance will still give us a measure of intelligence and personality differences. Similarly, a family enjoying wealth will still show considerable within family differences in outcomes. Adoption studies also contribute relevant findings. Intervention studies as well. You take account of things by conducting research, and comparing results.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-49718775129038295282015-10-09T04:13:17.745+01:002015-10-09T04:13:17.745+01:00Yes, I see your point. However, isn't the poin...Yes, I see your point. However, isn't the point that individuals with differing abilities coming from those families in discriminated social groups are at a disadvantage? How do you take account of the effects of racism?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630004991234729290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-80957992315602279382015-10-08T22:05:06.302+01:002015-10-08T22:05:06.302+01:00If there is no such thing as a neutral experiment,...If there is no such thing as a neutral experiment, would you reject the finding that the adoption of a poor child into a wealthy family boosts their intelligence?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-90936144684774409402015-10-08T21:05:04.761+01:002015-10-08T21:05:04.761+01:00there is no such as thing as 'neutral experime...there is no such as thing as 'neutral experiments'. The study is fundamentally biased by the myth, especially very popular in the anglo-saxon societies, that people earn more because they deserve it, they have better capabilities and so on. This is a blatant fallacy as proven by the almost total absence of social mobility. Most of rich people are doing better because they have more power, stronger social networks and easier access to resources and.... even influence on 'independent' researchers who can justify they are rich because they are 'better'. very old pre-enlightenment ideology Mr Thompson. mariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356870881544271829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-44693802929674871942015-10-08T17:58:27.390+01:002015-10-08T17:58:27.390+01:00Neutral experiments have to be run on all hypothes...Neutral experiments have to be run on all hypotheses, not to prove a prior assumption but to test it against other explanationsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-51716182152891759562015-10-08T17:57:04.675+01:002015-10-08T17:57:04.675+01:00Within families, not between families. That is the...Within families, not between families. That is the point of the observation.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-86836663541942875892015-10-08T12:43:22.509+01:002015-10-08T12:43:22.509+01:00"These differences in ability, even within fa... "These differences in ability, even within families of a particular social class, lead to jobs which are more or less well paid, and thus people of different abilities achieve different social status."<br /> I am certainly very late in adding to this string but this line in Thompson's commentary on the study caught my attention because it does not for a moment consider racial or class discrimination affecting where the children of these families end up in certain educations and jobs. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630004991234729290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-41404638338710062612015-04-09T19:17:15.106+01:002015-04-09T19:17:15.106+01:00A highly plausible hypothesis is that people diffe...A highly plausible hypothesis is that people differ in achievements because they differ in their starting conditions, possibility, class, power etc. but this is an inconvenient evidence. It's better to run 'neutral experiments' and prove with scientific method that rich are more intelligent :) mariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356870881544271829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-28283193608527322752015-04-09T18:21:28.355+01:002015-04-09T18:21:28.355+01:00The empirical project is to find scientific explan...The empirical project is to find scientific explanations for everything. Anglo Saxon scholars have many interests, and if they are obsessional it has served them very well. Difficult problems require sustained enquiry. A highly plausible hypothesis is that people differ in achievements because they differ in abilities, and that is worth testing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-63328093658412146872015-04-09T13:43:56.511+01:002015-04-09T13:43:56.511+01:00to be honest I find the article quite upsetting fo...to be honest I find the article quite upsetting for many reasons. First the authors have a unique and ideological way of framing poverty. Poverty is not a universal concept. On the contrary is a relative notion that highly varies according to culture and geographic areas. Measuring wealth using monetary income is totally misleading. the same income implies big difference in quality of life if you live in Manhattan or in the countryside! Second, I don't see how over a certain level of income can make the difference. If I earn 100k and you 200k how can your childcare be better than mine?! In this sense the study is seriously affected by an ideological bias, a neoclassical tendency to utilitarianism i.e. the more I get the better I'm... Then it seems that they totally ignore the 'quality' of childcare... of course this can be influenced by income, but not always... many studies reveal that some cognitive functions of people living in the jungle are well developed, they can solve some problems much more easily than urban people. How do we measure their income?! Finally I really feel depressed to notice the obsession to find 'scientific' explanations to class/gender inequality. Why Anglo-Saxon scholars are so obsessed to find a scientific explanation to inequality? mariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356870881544271829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-69645144317806580732015-04-02T14:29:46.527+01:002015-04-02T14:29:46.527+01:00"admission to higher education should be base..."admission to higher education should be based on standardized tests of scholastic ability, and the best and most fair procedure, bar none." Not so. Admission occurs at an age when youngsters, particularly males, are still changing quite a lot. So I recommend tests not only of scholastic ability but also of its first derivative. Seriously.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-77134699278887687512015-04-02T00:51:59.961+01:002015-04-02T00:51:59.961+01:00Well, admission to higher education should be base...Well, admission to higher education should be based on standardized tests of scholastic ability, and the best and most fair procedure, bar none. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-36043031435217788502015-04-01T21:41:33.753+01:002015-04-01T21:41:33.753+01:00The correlations observed could be the consequence...The correlations observed could be the consequence of seventy years of using standardized tests as gatekeepers for admission to higher education, in an economy which rewards intellectual accomplishments.Cranberrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-18070995247319436582015-04-01T19:59:13.216+01:002015-04-01T19:59:13.216+01:00The authors say that the income estimate was not d...The authors say that the income estimate was not divided by the number of people in the household (I think they inherited all this from the Ping study) so they cannot be sure how much money was available for each target child who was later scanned.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-10013734724496290652015-04-01T19:57:19.308+01:002015-04-01T19:57:19.308+01:00In fact, I am still working through things, so pos...In fact, I am still working through things, so post will not follow shortly!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-43414984037763780932015-04-01T19:29:11.970+01:002015-04-01T19:29:11.970+01:00The measure of family income seems not so precise,...The measure of family income seems not so precise, from the description in the paper. Total yearly family income--does that include such things as Medicaid, Medicare, and other state and federal benefits? The cost of living and the local welfare benefits provided vary greatly in different states and towns. <br /><br />"Parents were asked to report the level of educational attainment for all parents in the home." Biological parents? Stepparents? Educational attainment for biological parents not in the home was not collected? <br /><br />The statements made to the press in interviews about the paper seem much less careful than the paper's text.Cranberrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-49535828432145477962015-04-01T17:56:40.544+01:002015-04-01T17:56:40.544+01:00ALERT check the data quality before doing any stat...ALERT check the data quality before doing any statistical analysis. Post follows shortlyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-38603888865372325102015-04-01T17:48:00.929+01:002015-04-01T17:48:00.929+01:00Look forward to your findings on this data set. I ...Look forward to your findings on this data set. I had already downloaded copies. By the way, the roundings in the "bins" on education and income are quite crude, and probably affect the interpretation of the lower scores. About to post on that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09320614837348759094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-79382329689550178702015-04-01T17:36:32.493+01:002015-04-01T17:36:32.493+01:00And yes, I would guess this is most likely an over...And yes, I would guess this is most likely an oversight on their part :-)<br /><br />That said, perhaps if someone with the "proper" academic credentials requested the other cognitive measures (reading and vocabulary) for replication purposes, they *might* share it. It's a long shot, of course, but why not?<br /><br />- FDMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-83687216046129774922015-04-01T17:25:27.604+01:002015-04-01T17:25:27.604+01:00I mean, they're "rounded" via Excel ...I mean, they're "rounded" via Excel formatting, but the raw data still have admixture data in the the columns to some level of precision -- you just need to increase the number of decimal points in the excel formatting or make sure that you preserve the decimals when you export it out....<br /><br />-FDMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-35823599424717069792015-04-01T17:21:30.933+01:002015-04-01T17:21:30.933+01:00Emil & James: You're welcome. It *does* c...Emil & James: You're welcome. It *does* contain racial admixture data! The gene categories are rounded to the nearest whole number/integer... if you increase the number of decimal points you'll see it.<br /><br />- FranklinDMadoffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-2336113025621299372015-04-01T16:56:46.349+01:002015-04-01T16:56:46.349+01:00Great observation! I have downloaded all the data....Great observation! I have downloaded all the data. This allows us to compute racial and gender means, SDs. The data has income, various volumes and age too.<br /><br />Too bad it does not contain the racial admixture data, then we could compute whether European admixture% in Africans predicts brain size as expected by genetic theory.<br /><br />I also think they did not mean to share this. So download it quickly before they realize their error.Emil OW Kirkegaardhttp://emilkirkegaard.dknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4624586630299165335.post-3886581334119286342015-04-01T12:19:14.785+01:002015-04-01T12:19:14.785+01:00These tendencies are not unique to the social scie...These tendencies are not unique to the social sciences. Here is a 2010 essay on analogous shortcomings in the field of climatology. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/blog/climategate-not-fraud-but-noble-cause-corruption/?singlepage=true" rel="nofollow">Climategate: Not Fraud, But ‘Noble Cause Corruption’</a>. Unsurprisingly, the field has not healed itself in the ensuing half-decade.AMacnoreply@blogger.com