Galton's On The Origin Of Species

During the procedure researchers desired to acquire as much information as accessible during the one-week visit. The testing consisted of 50 hours of four personality trait scales, three aptitude and occupational interests and two intelligence tests in which each twin had to fulfill. The researcher’s results show that genetic influences resemble to justify for most of the disparities in human characteristics. Bouchard and Lykken have come to the realization that genetic has a major impact on the characteristics of human and that it is no longer a deliberation. Instead ideas must be looked upon to advance. Our clarifications on fundamental views about skills, interest, parenting, education, abilities, and social behavior come from the viewpoint that individual’s knowledge and judgement shape their character and not the genes. Bouchard and Lykken will be the first to contradict with clarifications and propose their own suggestions. Genetic influence mainly drives intellect. These influences contain education, family setting and social class. Also, in Bouchard and Lykken’s findings are some genetic and environmental influence combinations that determine individual

The brain is one of the most complex, unknown organs of the human body. Researchers often break down the characteristics of the brain to whether tendencies are achieved through nurtured environments or the inheritability of genetics. Intelligence is one of the most controversial topics when it comes to deciding whether environment or genetics are most influential. Many argue that intelligence is based on environmental factors and the unique ability to work hard, but fail to realize the essential cognitive qualities concerning what truly defines intelligence. Although some may consider this trait as based on environment, intelligence is a cognitive attribute established by the nature of genetics.

Gladwell reveals that to excel in the world, one must be born with or introduced to the right tools. These tools may include being born into a high class home, when one is born, as well as being recognized early in school. When Lewis Terman, in 1921, conducted the Genetic Study of Genius observation, he only took into account the subjects I.Q. scores. It wasn’t until later, when he noticed the divergence of three different groups A, B, and C, did he realize that it wasn’t only about scores. The groups were separated by societal class, group A born from the high end of the scale while C was from the lower end. Group A, as well as most of B, did superb at the same time that group C fell out. Intelligence

The role of the environment was minimalized due to Burt’s (1909) theory, intelligence was viewed as a fixed inborn state that could neither be developed or changed (Parrington 1996). Burt’s (1909) influence came from his research through the years 1920 to 1970, when children were segregated by capability. This was noticeable during secondary education

One of the main purposes of the eugenics movement was to attempt to control the level of intelligence in the human race. This is not completely possible, however, as all genes are linked to other genes, and intelligence is affected by many more than just the one gene (Agar, 2006). In contrast to Galton’s theory, intelligence is not actually completely hereditary. Between 47 and 58% of intelligence lies in DNA, and the rest is based on environmental factors (Steen, 1996). Many types of intelligence tests have been created to measure the level of intelligence in humans. Defining intelligence in itself is a difficult task, as there are

Heritability is a statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some trait that is attributable to genetic differences among individuals within a group. The question for the environment and intelligence is: What kinds of experiences hinder intellectual development and what kinds of environmental “nutrients” promote it? Some of the influences associated with reduced mental ability are: Poor prenatal care, malnutrition, exposure to toxins, and stressful family

Many scholars believe that "the new science of behavioral genetics has intellectual roots in the old ideas of Eugenics" (Steen 33). Eugenics disguised a political agenda as a scientific one in an attempt to endow discrimination with credibility. Supporters of genetic determinism theories do the same. Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray defend the theory of genetic determinism in The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, which was published ten years ago. Their book is one of the most widely referenced works regarding the theory that intelligence is inherited. The authors claim that the social order mirrors natural selection, wherein the genetically superior or more intelligent human rises to the top. Of course this means that the lower class, predominantly blacks, are represented as genetically inferior (xxi-xxiii). The authors claim that "ethnic differences in cognitive ability are neither surprising nor in doubt" (269) and attribute the inequality of life among Americans to inherent differences between races in intelligence (127). Their argument rests on the assertion that intelligence is both inheritable and immutable and is supported by intelligence test scores. The text is full of contradictions and a close analysis proves it to be lacking in evidence and smacking of social myth. Their theories are developed using speculation and are tainted by bias. There is no science involved.

Intelligence is most important in today's society. Some individuals have high intelligence, some have low intelligence. An appropriate environment plays an important role in the development of a child’s intelligence. Stephen Jay Gould exchanged many views on intelligence in his book The Mismeasure of Man

Creationists obviously have to account for the fact that the world is not perfect as described in Genesis 1 and 2. They explain this through Genesis chapter 3, where Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. She and Adam her husband who was with her, learned of the knowledge of good and evil, thus ushering in sin into the world. This also brought death upon all creation, as God promised would happen if they ate of the fruit. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, KJV).

Sir Francis Galton was a half-cousin to Charles Darwin, which influenced his early work. He published Hereditary Genius in 1869. In it, he claimed that genius is inherited. (Cohen, 2013; Muskingum, n.d.) Galton spent the later part of his life studying what is now known as eugenics. He believed that an individual’s physical and mental makeup could be improved through selective parenthood. He established a laboratory to collect data from approximately 17,000 individuals. He took physical measurements of each individual such as height, weight, and strength. He believed that by taking physical measurements, he could also measure an individual’s mental abilities (Muskingum, n.d.).

‘Heritability’ refers to how far genetic differences are responsible for variations in traits, characteristics or abilities within a population. Heritability studies may involve twins or adopted children, where it might be possible to distinguish between genetics and environmental influence. These studies generally find that monozygotic twins are more intellectually akin than dizygotic twins; similarly children who have been adopted, remain intellectually comparable with their biological parents. This infers that there must be a genetic component responsible for differences in intelligence. However heritability estimates are inconclusive. (Deary 2001) claims that the heritability estimate tends to be placed between 40% and

POLYGENIC: With the new genetic study technologies of the twenty first century, researchers are able to conduct genome-wide analysis studies as well as single nucleotide polymorphism studies which can be used to determine which genes, if any, code for intelligence. A study by Benyamin et al. (2014) used single nucleotide polymorphism testing to compare the genomes of 17,989 children. The authors looked for genes in which children of similar intelligence shared many single nucleotide polymorphisms. However, the authors did not find any single nucleotide polymorphisms that reached a genome-wide significance value. Thus, the authors concluded that this result points to intelligence being the result of the aggregate effect of many genes within the genome and not just one specific “mother gene”. However, while

Herrnstein and Charles Murray, evidence shows that “intelligence is to a significant extent inherited.” Since 1994 when the book was published, there has been more research on the topic of where it comes from. The battle still exists between stemming from our surrounding environment or being in the genes. Sue Ramsden at University College London did an IQ study with some of her colleagues on 33 adolescents. She did the study 3-4 years later and found the adolescents test scores increased, some dramatically. This evidence shows that intelligence can change throughout one’s life. Upbringing plays a role in an individual being able to explore their own mind and intelligence. If a child is raised without encouragement and direction, they may have a negative view and a harder time wanting to explore knowledge. Reading to child when they’re young, traveling to other cities/states, and communication all are factors in opening the mind of children at a young age that can carry on into adulthood. But here's where the controversy comes in. Some children and adolescents who did not have a good upbringing, had a rocky childhood and un-directive parents still have turned out to be straight A students and have a high, and growing, intelligence in one or more areas. Everyone has different abilities and finding what that is can look easy to some people whereas some may have a more difficult

While this assumption is accepted by a majority of geneticists and behavioral scientists, there is great disagreement on the degree of influence each contributes. Arguments for environmental influences are compelling; at the same time there is growing evidence that genetic influence on intelligence is significant and substantial (Eyesenck, 1998; Mackintosh, 1998; Plomin, 1994; Steen, 1996). The purpose of this paper is to explore the question: "How is intelligence influenced by heredity and environment?"

It has been argued that the propensity towards intellectual plasticity is determined genetically, but that the environment is what governs the moulding of that plasticity. As such, people who have a genetic propensity to intelligence and a highly stimulating infancy will become most intelligent, while those who have a lower genetic propensity to intelligence may still demonstrate high IQ through a highly structured intervention program. This would explain both Ramey’s study, as well as the Devlin argument, and hence support the concept that there might be both a genetic and an environmental influence on intelligence.