Sandra Scarr
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in Maryland, her family followed her father, who was stationed at the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's largest chemical weapon facility through much of her childhood. Scarr earned her Ph.D. in psychology in 1965 from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she majored in developmental psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
and behavioural genetics
Behavioural genetics
Quantitative human behavioural genetics is a specialisation in the biological field of behaviour genetics that studies the role of genetics in human behaviour employing quantitative-genetic methods. The field is an overlap of quantitative genetics and psychology...
.
Though she initially had a difficult time finding a job because she had a child, she eventually taught at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. In 1983 she accepted a position as chair of the psychology department at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, where she remained until retirement. O'Connell AN (2001).
In the 1960s, Scarr studied identical and fraternal twins' aptitude and school achievement scores. The study revealed that intellectual development was heavily influenced by genetic ability, especially among more advantaged children. It also showed that on average, black children demonstrated less genetic and more environmental influence on their intelligence than white children. Scarr also collaborated with Margaret Williams
Margaret Williams
Margaret Williams is a former municipal politician in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She served as a councillor from 1991 to 2000, representing the city's first ward....
on a clinical study which demonstrated that premature birth
Premature birth
In humans preterm birth refers to the birth of a baby of less than 37 weeks gestational age. The cause for preterm birth is in many situations elusive and unknown; many factors appear to be associated with the development of preterm birth, making the reduction of preterm birth a challenging...
infants who receive stimulation gain weight faster and recover faster than babies left in isolation (the practice at that time).
After moving to Minnesota, Scarr started working with a colleague, Richard A. Weinberg
Richard A. Weinberg
Richard A. Weinberg is an American psychology professor.For most of his career, Weinberg has taught at University of Minnesota after earning his Ph.D there in 1968. He is known for his Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study with Sandra Scarr...
, on the Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study
Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study
The Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study examined the IQ test scores of 130 black/interracial children adopted by advantaged white families. The aim of the study was to determine the contribution of environmental and genetic factors to the poor performance of black children on IQ tests as compared...
. This study concluded that black and interracial children adopted early into white homes had IQ and school achievement scores similar to white children and far above those of black children in the same area of the country. This work is frequently cited in debates about race and intelligence
Race and intelligence
The connection between race and intelligence has been a subject of debate in both popular science and academic research since the inception of intelligence testing in the early 20th century...
.
In the Adolescent Adoption Study, Scarr & Weinberg showed that adolescents, adopted in the first few months of life, did not resemble their adoptive parents or other children adopted into the same family. "Rather than the home environment having a cumulative impact across development, its influence wanes from early childhood to adolescence." Given good rearing environments, genetic differences among people develop more fully.
Scarr served as President of the Society for Research in Child Development, Association for Psychological Science, Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology,and the Behavior Genetics Association
Behavior Genetics Association
The Behavior Genetics Association is a learned society that was established in 1970 and promotes research into the connection between heredity and behavior.- Aims :...
. She was elected to the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
's Board of Directors in 1988, but resigned in 1990. Scarr was also a founding member of the American Psychological Society and was chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of KinderCare Learning Centers
KinderCare Learning Centers
KinderCare Learning Centers is an American operator of for-profit child care facilities founded in 1969. The company provides educational programs for children from six weeks to 12 years old...
from 1994 to 1997.
Scarr was honored by her colleagues with research awards: Distinguished Contributions to Research on Public Policy (American Psychological Association), James McKeen Cattell Award (Association for Psychological Science), and the Dobzhansky Award for Lifetime Achievement (Behavior Genetics Association). She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and other scientific societies.
In 1995, she was a signatory of a collective statement titled "Mainstream Science on Intelligence
Mainstream Science on Intelligence
Mainstream Science on Intelligence was a public statement issued by a group of academic researchers in fields allied to intelligence testing that claimed to present those findings widely accepted in the expert community...
", written by Linda Gottfredson
Linda Gottfredson
Linda Susanne Gottfredson is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Delaware and co-director of the Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society. Gottfredson's work has been influential in shaping U.S...
and published in the Wall Street Journal. She also wrote a favorable review of The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve is a best-selling and controversial 1994 book by the Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray...
.
Scarr retired to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
where she grows Kona coffee
Kona coffee
Kona coffee is the market name for coffee cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona"...
, quilts and raises Labrador Retrievers.
Publications
- Scarr S. Understanding Development. Harcourt (1986) ISBN 0-15-592864-3
- Scarr S. Understanding Psychology. Random House Inc (T); 5th edition (1987). ISBN 0-07-555247-7
- Scarr S. Socialization (Merrill sociology series). C. E. Merrill Pub. Co (1973). ISBN 0-675-09039-3
- Lande JS, Scarr S. Caring for Children: Challenge to America. Lea (1989). ISBN 0-8058-0255-X
- Scarr S. Mother care/other care (A Pelican book). Penguin Books; 2nd ed edition (1987). ISBN 0-14-022760-1
- Scarr S. Psychology and Children: Current Research and Practice. Amer Psychological Assn; Reprint edition (1979). ISBN 0-912704-59-4
- Scarr S. Genetic effects on human behavior: Recent family studies (Master lectures on brain-behavior relationships). American Psychological Association (1977). ASIN: B0006Y2RV0
- Scarr S. Genetics and the development of intelligence. University of Chicago Press (1975). ISBN 0-226-35354-0