The Chitling Test (originally named the Dove Counterbalance General Intelligence Test) was created by Adrian Dove, State Employment Officer at the Watts State Employment Service office in Watts, California (1966). Published in
''Jet'' magazine on February 9, 1967, it was designed to demonstrate differences in understanding and culture between races, specifically between
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
and
Whites
White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view.
De ...
.
[Hoffarth, G. (2006). Education and Religion in Dominant-Minority Relations. In ''Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity''. Retrieved December 5, 2012, fro]
There have been no studies demonstrating whether the Chitling Test has
Validity (logic), validity in determining how streetwise someone is. Furthermore, the Chitling Test has only proved valid as far as
face validity
Face validity is the extent to which a test is subjectively viewed as covering the concept it purports to measure. It refers to the transparency or relevance of a test as it appears to test participants. In other words, a test can be said to have ...
is concerned; no evidence has been brought to light on the Chitling predicting performance.
History
There has been and there continues to be much debate on the issue of
race and intelligence
Discussions of race and intelligence—specifically regarding claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines—have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With th ...
. The reason for the development of the Chitling Test was to show that blacks and whites are fundamentally opposed in their manner of speech.
[ Some believe that many modern day tests are racially unfair and play to the advantage of the middle class, white population. The Chitling Test showed that black vernacular and ]culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
are different and that blacks, on average, scored higher on this test.
Sample of questions
What follows are two examples from Adrian Dove's 1971 short version of the Chitling Test:[Dove, A. (1971). The Chitling Test. In Psychlotron. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://psychlotron.org.uk/resources/issues/A2_AQA_issues_chitlingtest.pdf.]
A "gas head" is a person who has a:
(a) fast-moving car,
(b) stable of "lace,"
(c) "process,"
(d) habit of stealing cars,
(e) long jail record for arson.
Cheap chitlings (not the kind you purchase at a frozen food counter) will taste rubbery unless they are cooked long enough. How soon can you quit cooking them to eat and enjoy them?
(a) 45 minutes,
(b) 2 hours,
(c) 24 hours,
(d) 1 week (on a low flame),
(e) 1 hour.
See also
* Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity
*Black culture Black culture can refer to:
* African-American culture
African-American culture, also known as Black American culture or Black culture in American English, refers to the cultural expressions of African Americans, either as part of or distinc ...
*African American Vernacular English
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians. Having its own unique grammatical, voca ...
References
{{Reflist
African-American cultural history
Race and intelligence controversy
Intelligence tests