In the 1970s Jensen began researching the idea of test bias, and soon decided it would be beneficial to write a book reviewing the matter.

He argues that in competition for college admission and jobs, IQ tests have the potential to be more fair than many of the alternatives, because they can judge ability in a way that's colorblind instead of relying on the judgement of an interviewer.

[2] The journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences devoted an issue to Bias in Mental Testing in 1981, publishing 28 reviews of the book.

"[5] Bias and Mental Testing has been subject to over 200 book reviews, and has been listed by the journal Current Contests as a citation classic.

It concluded that empirical evidence strongly supported Jensen's conclusion that mental tests are equally valid measures of ability for all English-speaking people born in the United States.

The review further argued that misinformation about bias in IQ tests is very pervasive, and thus it is important for the empirical data in this field to be clearly conveyed to the public.