Students, Anthropologists Protest 'I.Q.' Theories

Students at Adams House and members of a Boston anthropology group circulated petitions this week protesting aspects of "I.Q.", an article in the September issue of The Atlantic by Richard J. Herrnstein, professor of Psychology.

The Adams House petition, signed by 67 students, says, "by giving the impression that we are moving toward 'the removal of arbitrary barriers, 'Mr. Herrnstein's article can be used to justify the social crisis which now confronts us."

The Adams House students say they feel a meritocracy is not inevitable. Their petition states that the syllogism from which Herrnstein derives his conclusion is "based upon the assumption of a viciously competitive and hierarchical society."

Because certain sections of "I.Q." deal "not with science but with political and social theory," the Adams House petitioners say the article is open to political as well as scholarly criticism.

A second petition--with 37 signatures of anthropology teachers, students and staff at several Boston area universities--called Herrnstein's genetic theories "dangerous and unscientific."

The signers of the petition, who are members of the Critical Anthropology Workshop, a Harvard-based group, also expressed concern over the social implications of "I.Q." "Such theories attack the legitimate aspirations of oppressed people for a decent life," the petition stated.

The anthropologists from Brandeis, Northeastern, and Boston University condemned the "irresponsible support of such unfounded conclusions by The Atlantic Monthly, Harvard Educational Review, and The New York Times Magazine."

The Adams House petition specifically discusses the implications of Herrnstein's article for education, medicine, and housing. It also expresses concern that "I.Q." comes at time "when President Nixon is making a major offensive against working people."

Herrnstein said to the Crimson yesterday in regard to the petition controversy that "the truth is not ordinarily decided by petitions."