Not that it comes as a surprise, but the Observer reports that Nature has debunked so-called “research” (announced to the media long before it was published) said to show that men were smarter than women. (Which is based anyway on the total fallacy that IQ tests assess anything other than ability to do IQ tests, a cultural, learned skill.)
The “work” was last week published in the British Journal of Psychology, and immediately attacked by Nature (a far more prestigous journal).
‘We were made aware that Irwing and Lynn’s results were based on a seriously flawed methodology, and had the opportunity to provide timely expert opinion when their paper became publicly available,’ said Tim Lincoln of Nature’s News & Views section.
The author of the Nature article was even more critical. ‘Their study – which claims to show major sex differences in IQ – is simple, utter hogwash,’ said Dr Steve Blinkhorn, an expert on intelligence testing.
It is nice to see science, for once, at least attempting to police its own.
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