On the possibility of the reemergence of a dysgenic trend with respect to intelligence in American fertility differentials: an update

This paper is simply an update of the authorʹs previous study of this subject (Vining, Intelligence, 6, 241–264, 1982). The previous study examines a cohort of women aged 25–34 yr in 1978. This study examines the same cohort 10 years later, aged 35–44 yr in 1988. An obvious criticism of the previous study is that the women had not completed their child-bearing in 1978. In 1988, they mostly have. The same negative relationship is found between IQ and fertility as is found in Vining (1982). This negative relationship is more pronounced in non-whites than whites. The overall decline in mean IQ implied by these data is less than the one IQ point per generation that is reported in Vining (1982).