TETHERING THE ELEPHANT: Capital Cases, IQ, and the Flynn Effect

Capital offenders cannot be executed if they are mentally retarded. Therefore, the IQ scores of offenders are important, and the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Flynn effect is relevant to interpreting their IQ scores. The Flynn effect (IQ gains over time) means that different IQ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology, public policy, and law public policy, and law, 2006-05, Vol.12 (2), p.170-189
Main Author: Flynn, James R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capital Punishment
Criminal Offenders
Female
Forensic Evaluation
Human
Intellectual Development Disorder
Intelligence Quotient
Male
Mentally Ill Offenders
Test Scores
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Summary:Capital offenders cannot be executed if they are mentally retarded. Therefore, the IQ scores of offenders are important, and the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Flynn effect is relevant to interpreting their IQ scores. The Flynn effect (IQ gains over time) means that different IQ tests will give different scores purely as a result of when the tests were normed. Because execution must not be a random result of what test defendants take, a formula is provided to convert IQ scores to a common metric: the norms current at the time the test was taken. The formula also includes a correction based on evidence that the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition inflates IQs because of sampling error. Given the inevitability that opposing experts will offer conflicting diagnoses, IQ scores merit special attention in capital cases.
ISSN:1076-8971
1939-1528
DOI:10.1037/1076-8971.12.2.170