Is Intelligence Determined by Genetics or the Environment?
The word “intelligence” has no single meaning but it is universally associated with knowledge, mental capability, an amount of reasoning, judgement, and cognitive function. Throughout different eras, the idea of intelligence became an attribute that was wanted, very profitable and was looked for. With time passing, humans began to discover how and why intelligence can vary throughout different people. The question whether intelligence is determined by heredity or the environment has caused intense debates that lead many to believe it is both, but to what extent? Some argue that a person is born with a certain level of intelligence and that one can do little to improve your intelligence.
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In all of the brain research, most of it has been based off the idea on intelligence. The relationship between a person’s genetics and intelligence has been studied through looking at different parts of the brain (Plomin and Spinath). With new information coming out on the idea of intelligence, it was thought that about 60% of intelligence was genetic, while the other 40% was environmental (Plomin). In a study recently done by the University of Stanford, found that when a person who has a has a high IQ who marries a person with a high IQ, their children will tend to have higher IQ scores. The same is true for two low IQ parents, and this shows how different genes can play a role within intelligence of our children. To show that genetics does play a role within a person’s intelligence level, many scientists have done experiments on twins. Since they have the same genetics, scientists will look at their intelligence levels to see how they are the same. In most cases, identical twins had about an 86% of having similar IQ. (Adhikari) An example of the effect of genetics on intelligence is the Curie family. In our society, a person who receives a Nobel Prize can be considered to be intelligence and with great achievement. Two scientists Marie and Pierre Curie were a couple and both won a Nobel Prize. Later on, their daughter Irene Joliot Curie was also a Nobel Prize winner. The possibility of both the parents and the children winning a Nobel Prize, are close to impossible. Did Marie win her Nobel Prize because of the genetics that ran in the family, or the way that she was
General intelligence tends to relate to various degrees with each other (Cohen 2012). An example of this is that if an individual is good in math, they may also be good in spelling. In this weeks reading we reviewed several different models of measurement of intelligence. In regard to these theories and general intelligence (g), the theories are various but have commonality and overlap. The Spearman's two-factor theory is if a test has high correlation with other test than the measurement of g is highly saturated (Cohen, 2012). The greater the importance of g on a test, the better the test is believed to predict intelligence
The bioecological model of intelligence, introduced by Stephen Ceci, concentrates on the potential abilities, environmental influence and internal motivation. To perform well in an intelligent test a person must have the necessary abilities, be in a positive environment and be motivated (Comer et al.,
Traditional theories of intelligence do not account for the ambiguity of classes such as philosophy or for the wide range of interests a child can have. For example, contemporary theories such as Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence and Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences both account for more than the general intelligence accounted for in traditional intelligence theories. According to Robert Sternberg’s Successful (Triarchic) Theory of Intelligence, are Hector’s difficulties in philosophy indicative of future difficulties in the business world? According to Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence, Hector’s difficulty in philosophy will not negatively affect his future. Sternberg would instead focus on elements of successful intelligence like Hector’s involvement and contribution as an individual, as opposed to relying on intelligence measured by tests.
As a mother, I am shocked and dismayed by the general acceptance of the myth of genetic determinism. One's environment, including people one interacts with, has an undeniable influence on how one develops. Nonetheless, many scientists disregard the impact of environment on one's intelligence. I do not deny that one's biology is a crucial part of one's identity. Inheritance of physical traits is obvious. Children often look "just like" their father or mother, or another relative. One's genes determine eye and hair color, height and body build. I believe, however, that what makes us human is not something that can be found in...
interpreted as being caused by genetic or environmental differences among groups? A strong promoter of the belief that there is undoubtedly a racial difference in intelligence is Phillippe Rushton. As a professor of psychology, he argues that there is irrefutable scientific evidence of difference...
The role of intelligence in policy making has always been an ambiguous one. On the one hand, the intelligence community must be independent from policymakers, so the intelligence community can do its job objectively and unbiased. On the other hand, policy depends on intelligence for providing relevant information usable for policy production and implementation (Gookins, 2008). Betts (2002) states that because of this paradox, politicization of intelligence is inevitable. He defines politicization as “to give a political tone or character” or “to bring within the political realms”. Gookins’ (2008) definition is more specific, stating that politicization of intelligence “refers to the influence of partisan, bureaucratic, and personal politics on intelligence analysis”.
This is an essay about the different theories of intelligence; it will discuss which theory is best at determining intelligence in my opinion. The information provided will help describe the pros and cons of each of the theories being used to define intelligence, explain why is it important to assess children’s intelligence, and discuss the type of intelligence I possess. The different theories of intelligence are complex and understanding the elements of each can help an individual choose the one that they believe is the best for determining intelligence. Comparing the positive and the negative elements of each theory of intelligence will allow an individual to see both sides of the theory and the flaws that may be twisted
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
Sir Francis (Galton, 1869) believed intelligence was inherited, and saw conceptualised general mental ability as a largely inheritable trait, and very much like physical traits, having a normal distribution in the population. Biologically, siblings share genes, and evidence shows that (Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner, 2012) intelligence test scores of siblings to be much more similar than the intelligence scores of unrelated people. Identical twins(monozygotic) share 100% DNA and studies show
The true nature of intelligence has been debated more intensely then ever over the last century. As the science of psychology has developed one of the biggest questions it had to answer concerned the nature of Intelligence. Some of the definitions that have been given for intelligence have been the ability to adjust to one’s environment. Of course by such a definition even a person who is generally considered to be dull can be regarded as being intelligent if he can take care of himself. Other definition is such as having the tendency to analyze things around yourself. However it can be argued that such behavior can lead to over-analyzing things and not reacting to one’s environment and dealing with it in an intelligent manner.
On the ‘nature’ side of the debate is the psychometric approach, considered to be the most dominant in the study of intelligence, which “inspired the most research and attracted the most attention” (Neisser et al. 1996, p. 77). It argues that there is one general (‘g’) factor which accounts for intelligence. In the 1880s, Francis Galton conducted many tests (measuring reaction times to cognitive tasks), (Boundless 2013), in order to scientifically measure intelligence. These tests were linked to the eugenic breeding programme, which aimed to eliminate biologically inferior people from society. Galton believed that as intelligence was inherited, social class or position were significant indicators of intelligence. If an individual was of high social standing, they would be more intelligent than those of a lower position. However he failed to show any consistency across the tests for this hypothesis, weakening his theory that social class correlated with intelligence. Nevertheless, his creation of the intelligence test led many to continue to develop...
There are countless studies on whether intelligence is an inherited trait or if it is influenced by environmental factors. A study was conducted with adopted children and non-adopted children to see if a conclusion can be made based on the influence of hereditary and environmental intellectual variation (Leahy). The study was conducted with strict standards to make it valid. For example, the adopted children that were studied were young; they also were brought up in similar backgrounds as the control children. Parents’ occupation was also similar, as this would affect the results if the parents had varying occupations (Leahy). The results from this study showed that:
The ongoing debate on whether nature or nurture is responsible for intelligence seems to be a never-ending argument. There will probably be no definite answer to this argument any time soon, but answers such as Dr. Bigot's prove how intolerant of other opinions people can be. To say intelligence is entirely based on genetics, or one's environment, for that matter, is utterly extremist. An interaction of both nature and nurture is responsible for intelligence.
Emotional intelligence has a large amount of number, which in common with social intelligence. Both of them are relevant with perception and understanding of other’s emotion, oneself and act cleverly way in interpersonal relationships. They are mood driver, a neurological and biological state of mind which are the significant key for human relationship, furthermore they are overlapping, interdependent and multidimensional. Additionally, found that most successful people seem to behave wiser in socially and emotionally, for instance, in the workplace and close relationships (Kang,Day, & Meara, 2005). However, each of them contains and focuses on different elements. According to
The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not