Intelligent Quotient Argument

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Intelligent Quotient: A Matter of Heredity or Environment Intelligent Quotient, or IQ score, is a measure of mental ability. It plays a major role in how individuals’ lives play out. It can be accredited for everything from personality to interests to occupation. The main debate when it comes to the subject of IQ is how a person’s score is influenced by environment and heredity. There are many theories on the matter. Some state that either heredity or environment exclusively determines IQ. Others believe that a person’s score is a result of the two. In this paper, we will analyze all of these theories and prove that while heredity plays a much greater role, they both have a very notable influence. Many people believe that heredity alone determines IQ. There is some evidence to support heredities influence on scores. There are a few obvious signs that IQ is affected by heredity such as: “The fact that children with certain genetic defects (e.g., Down syndrome) have, on average, significantly lower IQ scores than their nondisabled peers” (McDevitt and Ormrod). Many studies have used identical and fraternal twins to really see how much of an effect heredity can have. Since identical twins are genetically the same it can be concluded that if identical twins have a closer IQ score than fraternal twins ,which are only partially genetically similar, then heredity and genetics must have an effect on intelligence. The studies covered identical twins that lived in the same home, identical twins that lived in different homes, and fraternal twins that lived in the same home. The study found that identical twins that live in the same home have the most similar IQ scores, but even when living in different homes identical twins have much clo... ... middle of paper ... ...fect over time. This can be proven by the fact that adopted children’s’ IQ become closer to their biological parents’ IQ as they age. This is because as they get freedom with age they are able to fall into their niche and live out their genetic potential (McDevitt and Ormrod). To simplify, in conclusion, although heredity and environment both play a role in influencing IQ, genetics role is much greater. Genetics dictates what we are going to choose as our environment. The skills we inherit are usually the ones we pursue. The same way that an inheritably athletically skilled person chooses to practice more and become even more athletically skilled as a result of their environment, a person inheritably blessed with intelligence will study more and acquire more knowledge thus raising IQ. Heredity creates environment and niche, which in turn, fosters our genetic skill.

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