Task Variability and the Performance of Black and White Schoolchildren

In the past two decades, academic and task performance differences between Afro-American and White children have received considerable attention. Typically, it is found that Black children's performance on cognitive tasks is markedly lower than White children's, and that Black children's achievement in academic settings is depressed as well (Bosco, 1972; Chovan and Hathaway, 1970; Coleman et al., 1966; Deutsch et al., 1968; Dreger, 1973). Three major explanatory schemes have been advanced to account for these findings. The Black child is alleged to demonstrate (1) an inferior genetic heritage (Jensen, 1973); (2) inadequate home circumstances (Hess and Shipman, 1967; Wachs et al., 1971); or (3) personality and motivational deficiencies (Lessing, 1969; McClelland, 1961). While the specific mechanisms purportedly at work in these three