A triarchic theory of Jensenism: Persistent, conservative reductionism

This response to Jensen's target article principally addresses his contribution to information processing accounts of human intelligence differences. Three characteristics of Jensen's research are commended: his persistence in researching a topic and the thoroughness of his scholarship; his willingness to build a research theme upon existing knowledge and to desist from invoking too many new constructs; and his reductionistic orientation. Of three live questions in intelligence research to which he is contributing-reaction times, correlated vectors and mental speed-we address the method of correlated vectors. Using, data from three representative samples tested on the Wechsler Adult intelligence Scale-Revised and on inspection time, we show that inspection time's correlations with WAIS-R subtests fail to support the usual trend found with the method of correlated vectors.