Eugenics - Pseudoscience Flashcards
What are the 4 ways eugenists claimed their beliefs were based in science?
- Animal and plant breeding
- Twin studies
- Pedigree analysis and family history questionnaires
- IQ tests
Why did eugenists use animal and plant breeding as scientific support for their beliefs?
We can improve plant and animal populations through selective breeding, so it should also be able to be applied to humans
Why doesn’t plant and animal breeding actually provide any support of the beliefs of eugenists?
What is improving is subjective. A trait and how it is measured has an ambiguous definition, and which traits are desirable and undesirable can be biased. Social traits targeted by eugenists are also not heritable and far more complex
Why did eugenists use twin studies to support their beliefs?
Let them see genetically identical individuals in different situations to show that social traits were genetic
Why don’t twin studies actually provide any support of the beliefs of eugenists?
No consideration for environmental factors, very small sample sizes. Eugenists cherry-picked the data to show what they wanted to see
Why did eugenists use pedigree analysis to support their beliefs?
They allowed a trait to be traced back through a family’s history to show that trait was inherited
Why doesn’t pedigree actually provide any support of the beliefs of eugenists?
Had a biased and ambiguous definition of what the trait being studied was and how it was defined. Sample sizes were small and they weren’t accounting for any confounding variables
Why were pedigree analysis studies very biased?
They were being conducted to prove a conclusion instead of asking questions and looking for an answer
Why were IQ tests used by eugenists to support their beliefs?
They were believed to be an objective and accurate tool to identify the unfit
Why don’t IQ tests actually provide any support of the beliefs of eugenists?
The tests were structured so a certain group would succeed and everyone else would fail. They only confirmed existing prejudices and not intelligence
Which groups of people were believed to be less intelligent than white men?
Women and people from certain countries
What are the 5 major flaws in the evidence used to support the beliefs of eugenists?
- Small sample sizes
- Poor experimental design due to bias
- Ambiguous definitions of traits
- Social traits are not due to simple genetic inheritance
- Confounding variables aren’t accounted for
