Chelsea Slippy

HPEB 300 (Section 004)

1. How does this movie relate to our class (be as detailed as possible since I may not know it)?

The video clip that I watched was Good Times The IQ Test (season 2 episode 5).

Michael, a young African American male, came home from school with a letter from the

school stating that Michael scored low on an IQ aptitude test. In this letter the school advises

that Michael should enroll in a trade school instead of enrolling in an academic school like he

was planning on. His parents were baffled as to why Michael scored so low on the IQ test

when Michael is a straight A student in school. Michael informed his parents that he didnt

even bother to finish answering the questions because he didnt like the questions that were

being asked. He had walked out on the test because he thought that the test was a white

racist test. Further explaining to his parents that the test was made by white people,

administered by white people, and graded by white people. He believed that the test was not

intended to determine how smart the individual was but how white they were and even stated

that the average black individual scores 50 points lower than the average white. He attributes

this difference in score from the different language and culture in the black community. The

questions were focusing on guest rooms and finishing phrases like cup and wall,

saucer, window or table that Michael and the other young African Americans taking the test

did not know because they might have different living situations compared to their white

counterparts. Michael said that his friend Eddie finished the phrase with table because in

his living environment he did not have a saucer to put below his cup before placing the cup

on a table. Michaels sister told her parents about a test that was created by black individuals

and how white individuals scored 35 points less than the black individuals on this test.

From this segment of the episode I have found social math in the stated point difference

between the white and black IQ scores. I found that the IQ test lacked validity because it did
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HPEB 300 (Section 004)
not measure the intelligence of an individual but rather the whiteness of an individual

according to Michael (lack of face). The IQ test was not fair in the content of the questions as

it was not a representative of the backgrounds, cultures, and environments of various

individuals being tested. I also think that when the white people created this IQ test they

were not culturally competent as the questions were directed towards the white community

and excluded the black community (or other races/ethnicities).

2. What did you learn from this film with regards to our class?

From this film I have learned that in order to test or help a population it is important to

gather information ahead of time (culturally competent), so that one knows the individuals

backgrounds, attitudes, education levels, values, languages (vernacular), culture, and other

characteristics before creating/implementing a plan. If a health professional goes into a

community, they need to communicate with gate keepers of that community in order to

assess the needs and gain background on the population. The health professional needs to

know the educational level of a community. For example, if the health professional went into

a community with a rudimentary educational level and conducted a needs assessment that

used hard vocabulary, the data collected would probably not be accurate or answered at all,

especially if the individuals walk out like Michael did on his IQ test.

3. With your personal hat on, what did you feel about how the film-makers and actors

handled concepts related to our class?

With my personal hat on I feel that the film-makers and actors accurately handled the

IQ test and the explanation of Michael experience while taking the exam. If a test is not fair

and biased towards a particular group, individuals that dont identify with the questions

being asked will not want to participate (when Michael walked out). The writer of the script
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HPEB 300 (Section 004)
for the show made a point to emphasis how the IQ test was made, administered, and graded

by white individuals who showed a lack of awareness for the population that they were

testing. When the actor who played Michael was talking about the content in the IQ test, he

spent a lot of time emphasizing the cultural differences between the white and black

individuals and how their experiences shaped their behavior when answering questions.

Michaels friend Edgar did not use a saucer in his home environment because he did not

have one, leading to his behavior of putting the cup on a table and answering the question

based on his personal experience (ecological framework-behavior is influenced by the

community, experiences, teachings from parents, etc.). By using social math to tell the

audience the score discrepancy between the two racial groups, it allowed the audience to

understand how bias the IQ test was towards the white students versus the black students.

4. With your professional health education specialist hat on, discuss how this film could be a

useful educational tool in terms of promoting health. Who would be the most appropriate

audience? What would be the lessons from the film you would want your audience to get?

This episode could be used to show health professionals/educators what not to do in

terms of dealing with a target population. Showing this clip to individuals planning on

working with a diverse group of individuals, supports the idea that one must be willing to

understand the population they will be working with. The health professionals/educators need

to have their target population in mind when brainstorming and planning the program that

they want to implement. Pointing out to the health professionals/educators how being bias

towards a specific group or idea it can cause tension within the population that they are trying

to work with and can even cause the population to become uncooperative in the future. In all
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HPEB 300 (Section 004)
the video should show the audience the importance of creating a fair program for all

individuals involved in a program, test, or needs assessment.