Final answer:
The belief in racial superiority based on supposed biological differences is known as scientific racism, an ideology steeped in pseudoscience used to justify racist practices. This has been debunked by modern research, which shows that differences in intelligence are not inherent to race but are a result of environmental factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The belief in racial superiority and inferiority, based on the conviction that moral, intellectual, and physical characteristics are biological properties that differentiate the races, is referred to as scientific racism. This discredited ideology, popular until the early 20th century, supported the idea that race is a valid biological concept and suggested differences in human behavior can be partly determined by race.
This notion has been refuted by modern science, which has demonstrated that previous racial categories were not based on science but rather pseudoscience that was often used to justify racist practices. For instance, the claim that the genetics of race determined intelligence, popularized by publications like 'The Bell Curve', has been debunked. Research has shown that any differences in intelligence measures were due to access to education and opportunity, indicating that nurture is a more significant factor than nature in the socialization process.