Ken Richardson (psychologist)

Kenneth Richardson (born 21 July 1942) is a British psychologist, author, and former lecturer at the Open University, where he began working in 1971.[1][2] He has written several books highly critical of IQ testing and related concepts in the field of psychometrics, such as Spearman's g.[3][4] He contends that the definitions of intelligence, and the assumptions of its causes, "lie at the core of political ideologies", and has called for IQ tests to be banned.[5] He has supported this position by arguing that IQ tests do not measure cognitive ability, but rather conformity with the culture of the tests' designers.[6][7][8] Richardson debated the measurement of intelligence with philosopher of science Michael Ruse on the BBC's In Our Time.[9]

Richardson's son, Brian Richardson, is a senior manager in the Science Web and Interactive Media Team at the Open University.[1][10]

  1. ^ a b "More than an employer". History of the Open University. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  2. ^ Richardson, Ken (10 January 2004). "Beyond the education crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  3. ^ Kenneally, Christine (9 August 2000). ""The Making of Intelligence" by Ken Richardson". Salon. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  4. ^ Lickliter, Robert (25 April 2018). "An Intelligent Guide to Human Intelligence: It's All about Development". Human Development. 61 (2): 126–129. doi:10.1159/000486465. ISSN 0018-716X. S2CID 149638702.
  5. ^ Canter, David (9 April 1999). "What makes up the mind?". New Scientist. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  6. ^ Richardson, Ken. "Podium: A question of human intelligence". The Independent. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. ^ Gilbert, Ian (2013). Essential Motivation in the Classroom. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 9780415643542.
  8. ^ Richardson, Ken. "What IQ Tests Test" (PDF). Theory & Psychology, 12(3): 283–314. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  9. ^ BBC. "Intelligence". In Our Time. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Brian Richardson". The Open University. Retrieved 16 August 2018.