James Flynn 's Creation Of The Flynn Effect

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.

Intelligence by definition is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). However, many psychologists argue that there is no standard definition of ‘intelligence’, and there have been many different theories over time as psychologists try to find better ways to define this concept (Boundless 2013). While some believe in a single, general intelligence, others believe that intelligence involves multiple abilities and skills. Another largely debated concept is whether intelligence is genetically determined and fixed, or whether is it open to change, through learning and environmental influence. This is commonly known as the nature vs. nurture debate.

In IQ Study Finds Class Effect by Rick Weiss, he discusses why poor children, and especially black poor children, score lower on average than their middle-income and white counterparts on performance tests. Studies have repeatedly found that genes, not environment, explain most of the differences in IQ among individuals. However, a new study of the interaction among genes, environment and IQ finds that the influence of genes on intelligence is dependent on class.

There they found that the race differences were drastically different from the average where white children scored and average of 106, Mixed-Race children averaged 99, and Black children’s average was 89. The model does have a defect, since poverty, slavery, and White racism has limited the normal levels of intelligence. The study made an analogy which I think help explain the limited intelligence levels. Corn seeds given a normal environment grow plants of full height whereas seeds given a deprived environment grow plants of stunted height. According to this view, cultural deprivation is the cause of any Black–White IQ differences. Another effect is environmental differences between the races, which include common or between family effects. So even if a child is brought up in a household or adopted, each child will be raised the same way. Therefore, leading to a better chance of them having closer to the same IQ test. There are things that could affect this idea, for example different genetics or an event that one sibling experienced but not the other. As children get older, if they are not related, they will grow to be different as they start to reach adulthood. A person's genetic similarities increase as they age, but IQ does decrease in a shared home environment. If someone is born or raised in an academically based parents, they may inherit their

Is ethnicity a component of intelligence. There are many theories on how a person’s race affects their intelligence, like how a genetic factor can influence them or how a social or cultural ethnic background can sway how a person thinks that may not be to the standards of thea dominant ethnicity. That the people who measure the test do not measure the different kinds of intelligence that is valued by that ethnicity maycan be a contributor for the stereotype of ignorance for certain people. The propinquity of race and intelligence has been in dispute since there was a upwelling of intelligence tests, racial prejudice, social and economic status, and genetic variation.

The best way to break down the possible elements that impact an individual’s intelligence is to separate it into four distinct parts: genetic traits, family influence, education through schooling, and non-familial intervention through society (French 2). Three of these involve the environment and how it affects the human mind. Society is a major part of everyone’s mentality, because it guides the actions of its population. Pop culture and actively learning through peers both add basic information to learn from and a comparison to normal actions taken in a healthy environment by people in the world. Family values contribute towards the child by influencing his or her decisions in life, as well as the way he or she views the world. Parents are

Once a person has an idea of what intelligence is and what it means, a final thought one might consider is what influences are responsible for the different types of intellect. Two possible influences are genetics and the environment in which one lives, with genetics being the strongest influence (Santrock, 2009, pg. 302). Most researchers agree that a person’s genetics and environment interact with one another to influence the outcome of that person’s intelligence (Santrock, 2009, pg. 302). Genetic influences should be pretty obvious, so there should be no need to explain it; a person’s environment on the other hand, can involve several factors. An environment can consist of elements such as a person’s school, home, friendships, family relationships, and workplaces. All of these components factor in to influence a person’s intelligence.

The nature side of the debate argues that a person maintains their mental ability only based on what they are born with genetically. This would mean that the environment in which this person is bought up in plays no role in determining their mental aptitude. There are some substantial reasons for humans to be persuaded that genetics play a large part in a person’s intelligence. It is obvious that genes provide humans with their own physical equipment, which is quintessence, their very “being”. Genes and chromosomes are passed down from generation to generations.

The debate on whether humans develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or their environment and how they were raised (nurture) are two controversial issues in central psychology within psychologist and philosophers. For centuries, the disputation between nature and nurture surged on regards to which one of the two has a greater significance: ‘The inborn nature of the individual or the environmental influences that nurture the individual’.( Hockenbury, Don; Hockenbury, Sandra E.. Discovering Psychology (Page 3). Although there have been debates on both issues, psychologist accepted that nature and nurture complement each other and,‘ are impossible to completely disentangle (Sameroff, 2010)’.

Identical twins raised in separate environments are almost as similar in "g" measurements as those raised together. Adopted children and their adoptive parents have a "g" correlation of zero, of course, while adopted children and their biological parents are likely to have the same correlations as any parent –child set. So although genes do not seem to be the sole factor mediating intelligence, their effects do seem to be unvarying and likely not superseded by environment.

Psychologically, nature can be termed as the genetic predispositions impact on human traits. Nurture on the other hand, refers to the influence that learning has on the behavior of persons. The influence of learning is exclusively obtained from the environment. Scholars and lay people continue to argue about whether the strengths and weaknesses of people are as a result of their inherited traits or the ones acquired through learning from the environment. Great social implications have been drawn from the results of this debate. These implications occur in the sense that the intelligence showcased by people depends on their acquired or learned traits. With respect to the inherited traits, there are various traits that are biologically

For many people, the definition of intelligence on an individual is that whom stand out based on their educational accomplishments,ability to perform a hard fast fast and efficiently, and clever remarks. For psychologists;however, a simple definition isn’t sufficient to come to an agreement of the definition of intelligence , hence their developed theories. Some of the contributors to theories are Charles Spearman and his theory of General Intelligence, Louis L. Thurstone and his theory of Primary Mental Abilities, Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences, and Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence.

Intelligence is defined by psychologists as “the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience” (Dr. C. George Boeree 2003). It is an interesting aspect of the human being that psychologists try to understand in terms of the various factors that influence it. The variation in the level of intelligence in human beings is scored using the IQ. It is evaluated across a spectrum of perspectives ranging from biological, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, humanism and behaviorism. But the most debated is how nature and nurture influence intelligence. Nature follows with a biological approach focusing on genetic, hormonal and neuro-chemical explanations of behavior that are acquired, while nurture focuses on all behavior learnt from the environment through conditioning. “Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual” (Saul McLeod , 2007). How nature or nurture influence intelligence or which of them is more influential, is highly studied psychologists. Such studies have been attempted by using twins by isolating from their siblings, and evaluating whether genetic or environmental factors has influence on their intelligence. In their use, identical (monozygote) twins are separated and made to grow in different environmental conditions such as socioeconomic status, parents’ behavior, alcoholism, criminal behavior, emotional adaptation and nutrition while non-identical twins are used as controls. This is done by testing their IQ. (Nature vs Nurture in Intelligence, 2005)

Now days, people are still debating whether intelligence is determined by nature or nurture. "Nature versus nurture" is a phrase used widely to express the long-standing scientific debate about whether we are mainly "made" by our genes or whether influences from the environment are more important in our construction (Englbrecht n.d.). Nature refers to inheritance or genetic. If intelligence is determined by nature, it means that the intelligence is caused by some traits in human that is affected by parents’ genes. Meanwhile, nurture stands for environmental and social influence for example experience, culture or community. So, if someone believes that intelligence is affected more by nurture, it means that

The argument I buy most into is the combination argument, which is nature and nurture influencing each other and that it is a combination of DNA and the environment you grew up in. Why do I believe this? There is a movie I watched based on a girl named Mary Adler in second grade who had math skills far beyond greater than most in her age group. Her mother Diane was also a math genius who was famous for her work on the Navier-Strokes equation and who had many mental health issues due to a mother who decided that her daughter would only focus on this one equation and was overbearing, killed herself when Mary was an infant. Diane Adler did not want that life for her child and left the child to her brother who ended up raising her. When he raised her she was happy, a child, and still very smart and went to college as a six-year-old to take more advanced math classes. Her being raised in a happy environment had no difference in her excellent math skills yet had a big part in her not showing any signs of the mental problems her biological mother had (Abraham, Alex). I understand that this is a just simply a movie and make-believe but it is a situation to use as an example. One study done by Albert R. S. showed that children who are smarter than average have parents who “were well-educated and had attained significantly more formal education than the national norms” (Albert R. S.). Another example to think about is people in rural areas who have the potential to be far greater but