WASHINGTON,GEORGE, LINCOLN,ABRAHAM, AND JENSEN,ARTHUR - ARE THEY COMPATIBLE

Argues that the conflict over the issue of heredity, environment, and intelligence has become irrational and that the emotion which is the source of this irrationality is generated by the possibility of a conflict between basic American values and scientific findings. The 4 possible outcomes of the debate are placed in a truth table, and their consequences are discussed. The author concludes that correctly believing in an environmental outcome does not necessarily lead to Utopia and that correctly believing in hereditarian outcome does not necessarily lead to social Darwinism. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.