Contributions to the History of Psychology: CXII. Intelligence, Behavior Genetics, and the Pioneer Fund

Abstract

Since World War I, political controversies have complicated the longstanding debate on nature versus nurture, especially the question of the source of the observed mean difference in intelligence between white and black groups. The Pioneer Fund, one of the few nonprofit foundations making grants for study and research into human individual and group differences, has been widely and unfairly attacked by those who believe any such research jeopardizes political commitment to legal equality. The four main scholarly areas of research financially supported by Pioneer have been behavioral genetics, cognitive ability, demographic characteristics, and racial variation. This article provides a unique perspective on the history of the Pioneer Fund and some of the controversies that have taken place.