Topic 12: Intelligence 2

You Are Where You Live?

Intelligence is usually thought of as the ability to do well in school, and the first intelligence tests were designed to identify children who were below average in their schoolwork (Santrock , 1998, p144). Today the definition of intelligence is much broader. Intelligence is an umbrella term that is used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities. This can include the ability to reason, to think abstractly, to problem solve, and to learn to name a few. It can also cover creativity, personality, factual knowledge, or similar abstract concepts (“Intelligence” (Internet)) such as moral development or wordly knowledge like Sternberg’s contextual intelligence (Santrock, 1998, p 148). Psychologists are still debating exactly what intelligence is (“Intelligence” (Internet), Santrock, 1998, p 148 ff) Gardner defines at least eight different intelligences, including kinaesthetic, musical and intrapersonal, where academic ability relates to his mathematical logical and verbal intelligences (Santrock, 1998, p 149). In this view, everyone responds to different information according to how it is presented and their own strong and weak intelligences. Academic performance is limited to a few intelligences and if these are not your strengths then you could have problems learning the information or not reach your full potential of achievement. Other concepts of intelligence include a high speed of information processing or an asynchronous development where certain areas are advanced for the age related average, but other areas may be below this average (Santrock, 1998, p 158).

A definition of the general concept of intelligence is “the ability to apply knowledge in order to perform better in an environment” (“Intelligence” (Internet)). As most societies value high performance, and many value high academic performance, the question of what causes intelligence is an important one. The answer indicates whether there is anything that can be done to improve performance. Any human ability can be thought of as coming from the genetic makeup of a person and/or the environment the person is raised in. This is the nature versus nurture debate. If intelligence was totally genetic, then there would be nothing we could do to increase our performance. This can lead to accepted discrimination amongst students where the less academically gifted are ignored as it would be ‘a waste of time’ to try and help them due to their genetic limitations. If intelligence was totally determined by the environment then, given the right circumstances, everyone should perform brilliantly. There would be no excuse for learning difficulties or poor academic performance, it could all be fixed by adjusting the home and school environments (Santrock, 1998, p150ff).

Like most other complex human traits, intelligence is a mixture of inherited genetic ability and the home and school environment of a child (Santrock, 1998, p151 ff). “Evidence suggests that family environmental factors may have an effect upon childhood IQ, accounting for up to a quarter of the variance.” (“Intelligence” (Internet)) “Today most researchers agree that genetics… determine intelligence…in the 50/50 range - 50 percent genetic makeup, 50 percent environmental factors.” (Santrock, 1998, p151). Determining whether the environment or genetics plays a larger role in a human trait like intelligence is often done using twin studies. By studying identical twins (who have the same DNA) and non-identical twins , reared together (in the same environment) or apart, the differences in the intelligence scores can be compared and analysed to determine if nature or nurture is the major determining factor. Several consistent results from these studies are that:
• Identical twins reared apart are very similar in IQ. Identical twins are far more alike in IQ than fraternal twins.
• A stimulating home environment in the years before school has a positive effect on learning and IQ scores. This had led to programs such as ‘Head Start” in USA where children from disadvantaged families are placed in special child care that provides an enriched environment for them (Santrock, 1998, p151 ff).

Do you believe that intelligence is due to how we are raised, or is it just something that we are born with?

References.
Intelligence (Internet) (2008) Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence (Accessed 21 October, 2008)
Santrock, J.W. (1998) Adolescence (7th ed) New York: McGraw-Hill.