Intelligence depends more on genetic than environment

Intelligence is the ability to acquire and retain knowledge and skills.

What is a gene? A gene is the unit of heredity by which a biological
trait is passed down through generations. The percentage of the variation of
a trait is described by Heritability. Some traits are highly heritable like eye
color and can be easily traced. However, these traits are subject to
environmental influences during development.
Intelligence is considered to be even more complicated to trace to one
source because it is a polygenic (polygenic controlled by the interaction of
more than one gene) trait, influenced by many interacting genes.
Genetics and the environment are so interrelated in their influence on
human intelligence that it remains difficult to determine which, if either is
most responsible for determining a person's intelligence. Up to 80% of the
variation found in adult human intelligence is thought to be attributable to
genetics, despite the fact that it is a complicated, polygenic trait
Intelligence can be shaped by different environmental influences.
These influences are mainly of two kinds: biological and sociocultural.
Biological influences act on the physical body, while sociocultural influences
to shape the mind and behavior of an individual. Both sociocultural and
biological influences in the environment affect the development of human
intelligence
Biological influences include everything from nutrition to stress, and
begin to shape intelligence from prenatal (before birth) stages onward.
Nutrition has been shown to affect intelligence throughout the human
lifespan; malnutrition during critical early periods of growth can harm mental
development. Inadequate nutrition can disrupt neural connections and
pathways, and leave a person unable to recover mentally
The family unit is one of the most basic influences on child
development, but it is difficult to untangle the genetic from the
environmental factors in a family. For example, the quantity of books in a
child's home has been shown to positively correlate with intelligence... but is
that due to the environmental impact of having parents who will read to their
children, or is it an indicator of parental IQ, a highly heritable trait?
A child's position in birth order has also been found to influence
intelligence: firstborn children have been found in some studies to score
higher, though criticism has been offered to these studies for not controlling
for age or family size. Moving outside of the family unit, human beings are
substantially shaped by their respective peer groups
Is intelligence inherited? When it comes to the question if intelligence
is inherited there can be only one answer: No! Just because the parents of a

child are intelligent does not mean that their child will be as intelligent as
they are. In fact: our genes define only the framework of our intelligence,
which means that our genes are not responsible on how intelligent we
become as they only define the maximum of intelligence we could achieve.
Scientific research by the British psychologist Dr. Burton (amongst
others) with identical twins which were separated at birth has shown that
about 60% of our intelligence depends on genetic factors and 40% depend
on environmental factors.
Does our environment influence intelligence? Absolutely! The highest
level of intelligence may be reached by genes, but it depends on the
environment we grow up if we can come close to the maximum or only use a
slight percentage of our inherited intelligence.
Let us see some evidences for hereditary influences on intelligence. Falimy study
show that intelligence tends to run in families. Twin studies show a higher
correlation between identical twins in IQ than between fraternal twins. Adoption
studies study show that adopted children resemble their biological parents in
intelligence.

Let us see some evidences for environmental influencies in

ontelligence. Biologically unrelated children raised together in the same
home have some similarity in I.Q.Adoption study show some similarity in I.Q
to their adopative parents, It aso shows that sibling reared together are more
similar in IQ than siblings reared apart. This is true even when identical twins
reared toghether are compared to identical twins reared apart. IQ declines
over time in children raised in deprived environments.
Statisitcs show that people with fewer assets or resources for
knowledge have lesser I.Q than those who have more resources. In more
realistic situations, genetic and environmental influences cannot be so easily
separated.
To conclude, researches generally agree the heredity and environment
have an influence on intelligence. Heredity places an upper and lower limit
on I.Q on a person, whereas environment determines where within these
limits the persons I.Q will lie

==================start: DRAFT
What is Intelligence? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and retain
knowledge and skills. It is very difficult to trace the source of intelligence.
There is not a single gene that determines intelligence but it is influenced by
many interacting genes. This is called polygenic.
A gene is the unit of heredity. This passes down the biological trait through
generations. Heritability describes the percentage of the variation of a trait.
For example, Eye color is a highly heritable trait and can easily be traced.
Environment influences these traits during development.
Genetics and the environment are so interrelated in their influence, it is very
difficult to determine which, is the most responsible for determining a
person's intelligence.
Human intelligence is influenced mainly by the two environmental factors
namely: Biological and sociocultural. Biological influences the physical body
while sociocultural shapes the mind and behavior of an individual
Biological influences include everything from nutrition to stress, and it begins
with the prenatal stage. Nutrition affects intelligence throughout the human
lifespan. Malnutrition during critical periods of growth can harm mental
development. Poor nutrition can disrupt neural connections and pathways,
and leave a person unable to recover mentally
A family influences the childs development. It is difficult to untangle the
genetic factors from the environmental factors. For example, is the childs IQ
depended on the environment where the parent reads to their children? Or
could it be the parental IQ, a highly heritable trait?
Some studies show that the firstborn perform better than the others. These
studies have also been criticized that they have not controlled the age or
family. Peer groups also influences the intelligence.

Statistics show that people with fewer resources are more likely have less IQ
than the people with more resources.
Scientific research by Dr. Burton has shown that 60% of our intelligence is
from genetic factors and 40% are from environmental factors.
To conclude, researches generally agree the heredity and environment have
an influence on intelligence. Heredity places an upper and lower limit on I.Q
on a person, whereas environment determines where within these limits the
persons I.Q will lie.

=================end: DRAFT

Intelligence is the ability to acquire and retain knowledge and skills.

What is a gene? A gene is the unit of heredity by which a biological trait is
passed down through generations of human beings. Heritability describes
what percentage of the variation of a trait in a population is due to genetic
differences in that population (as opposed to environmental factors). Some
traits, like eye color, are highly heritable and can be easily traced. However,
even highly heritable traits are subject to environmental influences during
development. Intelligence is generally considered to be even more
complicated to trace to one source because it is a polygenic trait, influenced
by many interacting genes.
Genetics and the environment are so intertwined in their influence on
human intelligence that it remains difficult to determine which, if either is
most responsible for determining a person's intelligence. Up to 80% of the
variation found in adult human intelligence is thought to be attributable to
genetics, despite the fact that it is a complicated, polygenic trait (polygenic
controlled by the interaction of more than one gene)
Many different environmental influences have been found to shape
intelligence. These influences generally fall into two main categories:
biological and sociocultural. Biological influences act on the physical body,
while sociocultural influences shape the mind and behavior of an individual.
Both sociocultural and biological influences in the environment affect the
development of human intelligence
Biological influences include everything from nutrition to stress, and
begin to shape intelligence from prenatal stages onward. Nutrition has been
shown to affect intelligence throughout the human lifespan; malnutrition
during critical early periods of growth (particularly the prenatal period and
during the second year of life) can harm cognitive development. Inadequate
nutrition can disrupt neural connections and pathways, and leave a person
unable to recover mentally
The family unit is one of the most basic influences on child
development, but it is difficult to untangle the genetic from the
environmental factors in a family. For example, the quantity of books in a
child's home has been shown to positively correlate with intelligence... but is
that due to the environmental impact of having parents who will read to their
children, or is it an indicator of parental IQ, a highly heritable trait?
A child's position in birth order has also been found to influence
intelligence: firstborn children have been found in some studies to score
higher, though criticism has been offered to these studies for not controlling
for age or family size. Moving outside of the family unit, human beings are
substantially shaped by their respective peer groups
Is intelligence inherited? When it comes to the question if intelligence
is inherited there can be only one answer: No! Just because the parents of a

child are intelligent does not mean that their child will be as intelligent as
they are. In fact: our genes define only the framework of our intelligence,
which means that our genes are not responsible on how intelligent we
become as they only define the maximum of intelligence we could achieve.
Scientific research by the British psychologist Dr. Burton (amongst
others) with identical twins which were separated at birth has shown that
about 60% of our intelligence depends on genetic factors and 40% depend
on environmental factors.
Does our environment influence intelligence? Absolutely! The highest
level of intelligence may be reached by genes, but it depends on the
environment we grow up if we can come close to the maximum or only use a
slight percentage of our inherited intelligence.
Let us see some evidences for hereditary influences on intelligence.
Falimy study show that intelligence tends to run in families. Twin studies
show a higher correlation between identical twins in IQ than between
fraternal twins. Adoption studies study show that adopted children resemble
their biological parents in intelligence.
Let us see some evidences for environmental influencies in
ontelligence. Biologically unrelated children raised together in the same
home have some similarity in I.Q.Adoption study show some similarity in I.Q
to their adopative parents, It aso shows that sibling reared together are more
similar in IQ than siblings reared apart. This is true even when identical twins
reared toghether are compared to identical twins reared apart. IQ declines
over time in children raised in deprived environments.

Statisitcs show that people with fewer assets or resources for

knowledge have lesser I.Q than those who have more resources. In more
realistic situations, genetic and environmental influences cannot be so easily
separated.
To conclude, researches generally agree the heredity and environment
have an influence on intelligence. Heredity places an upper and lower limit
on I.Q on a person, whereas environment determines where within these
limits the persons I.Q will lie.

Up to 80% of the variation found in adult human intelligence is thought to

be attributable to genetics, despite the fact that it is a
complicated, polygenic trait.
Both sociocultural and biological influences in the environment affect the
development of human intelligence

Statisitcs show that people with fewer assets or resources for knowledge have lesser I.Q
thnan thise who have more resources
IQ declines over time in children raised in deprived environments

Genetics
A gene is the unit of heredity by which a biological trait is passed down through generations
of human beings. Heritability describes what percentage of the variation of a trait in a
population is due to genetic differences in that population (as opposed to environmental
factors). Some traits, like eye color, are highly heritable and can be easily traced. However,
even highly heritable traits are subject to environmental influences during development.
Intelligence is generally considered to be even more complicated to trace to one source
because it is a polygenic trait, influenced by many interacting genes.
Twin studies in the western world have found the heritability of IQ to be between 0.7 and
0.8, meaning that the variance in intelligence among the population is 70%-80% due to
genetics. Conventional twin studies reinforce this pattern: monozygotic (identical) twins
raised separately are more similar in IQ than dizygotic (fraternal) twins raised together, and
much more than adoptive siblings

Source: Boundless. Genetic and Environmental Impacts on Intelligence. Boundless

Psychology. Boundless, 20 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 01 Nov. 2015
from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychologytextbook/intelligence-11/introduction-to-intelligence-61/genetic-and-environmental-impactson-intelligence-243-12778/

Environment

Many different environmental influences have been found to shape intelligence. These
influences generally fall into two main categories: biological and sociocultural. Biological
influences act on the physical body, while sociocultural influences shape the mind and
behavior of an individual.
Biological Influences
Biological influences include everything from nutrition to stress, and begin to shape
intelligence from prenatal stages onward. Nutrition has been shown to affect intelligence
throughout the human lifespan; malnutrition during critical early periods of growth
(particularly the prenatal period and during the second year of life) can harm cognitive
development. Inadequate nutrition can disrupt neural connections and pathways, and leave
a person unable to recover mentally.
Stress also plays a part in the development of human intelligence: exposure to violence in
childhood has been associated with lower school grades and lower IQ in children of all
races. A group of largely African American, urban first-grade children and their caregivers
were evaluated using self-report, interview, and standardized tests, including IQ tests. The
study reported that exposure to violence and trauma-related distress in young children was
associated with substantial decreases in IQ and reading achievement. Exposure to toxins
and other perinatal factors have also been proven to affect intelligence, and in some cases,
cause issues such as developmental delays.
Sociocultural Influences
The family unit is one of the most basic influences on child development, but it is difficult to
untangle the genetic from the environmental factors in a family. For example, the quantity of
books in a child's home has been shown to positively correlate with intelligence... but is that
due to the environmental impact of having parents who will read to their children, or is it an
indicator of parental IQ, a highly heritable trait?
A child's position in birth order has also been found to influence intelligence: firstborn
children have been found in some studies to score higher, though criticism has been offered
to these studies for not controlling for age or family size. Moving outside of the family unit,
human beings are substantially shaped by their respective peer groups. Stereotype threat is
the idea that people belonging to a specific group will perform in line with generalizations
assigned to that group, regardless of their own aptitude; this threat has been known to
affect IQ scores both positively and negatively. That is, if a person belongs to a group that is
told they are intelligent, they will appear more intelligent on IQ tests; if they are told they
belong to a group that is unintelligent, they will perform worse, even if these distinctions are
random and fabricated (as in lab studies). People's access to education, and specific training
and intervention resources, also determines their life-long intelligence level.

Source: Boundless. Genetic and Environmental Impacts on Intelligence. Boundless

Psychology. Boundless, 20 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 01 Nov. 2015
from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychologytextbook/intelligence-11/introduction-to-intelligence-61/genetic-and-environmental-impactson-intelligence-243-12778/

Is intelligence inherited?
When it comes to the question if intelligence is inherited there can be only
one answer: No! Just because the parents of a child are intelligent does not
mean that their child will be as intelligent as they are. In fact: our genes
define only the framework of our intelligence, which means that our genes
are not responsible on how intelligent we become as they only define the
maximum of intelligence we could achieve. Scientific research by the British
psychologist Dr. Burton (amongst others) with identical twins which were
separated at birth has shown that about 60% of our intelligence depends on
genetic factors (important: these genetic factors only set the framework) and
40% depend on environmental factors.
Does our environment influence intelligence?

Absolutely! As already mentioned our genes set the framework of the

highest level of intelligence that we can reach, but it depends on the
environment we grow up if we can come close to the maximum or only use a
slight percentage of our inherited intelligence.
Do genetics play a role in intelligence? What about the environment a person grows
up in? Explore some of the evidence that exists for each of these factors, as well as
how researchers attempt to answer these questions in the following lesson.

Nature vs. Nurture

There are two major areas of disagreement in the study of intelligence. One area
involves a debate about the basic nature of intelligence. What is the other?
The second debate in intelligence research focuses on one of the most prominent
issues in every field of the social sciences. I am referring to the age old question of
whether nature or nurture is the most important. So what plays a bigger role in
intelligence? Are genetics the most important aspect or is it environment?
Most researchers recognize that both nature and nurture influence intelligence. Both
genetics and the environment interact with one another in this process. However, it
is less clear how much influence each one has. It can be difficult to separate the
influences of heredity and environment, but there is a significant amount of

information that can help us. Let's look at the evidence supporting each side of this
debate.

Genetic Influences
Some of the most convincing evidence for a genetic component to intelligence
comes from twin studies. There have been many studies that compare the IQ of
identical twins and the IQ of fraternal twins. Identical twins share 100% of the same
DNA because they come from the same fertilized egg. Fraternal twins come from
two separate fertilized eggs and they share only 50% of the same DNA. Since both
identical twins and fraternal twins share the same prenatal and home environments,
any similarities or differences in the IQ of identical twins compared to fraternal twins
can reasonably be attributed to DNA.
It was found that identical twins have IQ scores that are more similar than the IQ
scores of fraternal twins. Even identical twins who were raised in separate
households were found to have IQ's that were more similar than that of fraternal
twins raised together. This means we can assume that genetic influences account
for the similar IQ scores of identical twins.
Another way researchers have gathered evidence for the influence of heredity on IQ
is through adoption studies. Adopted children share similar genetics to their
biological parents, while their environment is more closely matched to that of their
adoptive parents. The IQ scores of these adopted children have been found to be
more closely related to their biological parents. This provides evidence for a genetic
component to intelligence as well.
It is important to note that twin studies and adoption studies cannot completely
separate genetic and environmental influences. These studies do, however, provide
support for the idea that genetics play a role in the development of intelligence.

Environmental Influences
So, there's evidence that genetics plays a role in IQ, but what about environment?
There's evidence from a number of different sources that indicates it has a
significant role as well.