06.07.09

Rising above I.Q.

Posted in you've got mail at 12:25 pm by nemo

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/opinion/07kristof.html

June 7, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Rising Above I.Q.
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

2 Comments »

  1. Bill said,

    June 9, 2009 at 12:34 am

    Recent neurological studies show brain regions correlated with intelligence are significantly hereditary.

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126993.300-highspeed-brains-are-in-the-genes.html

    Personality appears to be significantly determined at birth too according to recent research.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10566320

    Also, note that Nisbett omits a number of studies to avoid a Bell Curve type backlash. See this working paper review of the book.

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/faculty/rushtonpdfs/Intelligence%20and%20How%20to%20Get%20It%20(Working%20Paper).pdf

    Sandra Scarr, after conducting the Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study:

    “Within the range of ‘humane environments,’variations in family socioeconomic characteristics and in child-rearing practices have little or no effect on IQ measured in adolescence.” P. 476

    “There is simply no good evidence that social environmental factors have a large effect on IQ, particularly in adolescence and beyond, except in cases of extreme environmental deprivation.” P. 476

    By adulthood, all of the IQ correlation between biologically related persons is genetic. P. 178 Phenotypic g closely reflects the genetic g, but bears hardly any resemblance to the (shared) environmental g. P. 187

    2. From that study the black children adopted by white families matured to have IQs that are consistent with their biological peers; Asian children adopted by white families mature to have IQs that are consistent with their biological peers and which are higher than their adoptive parents.

    Also, note more recent twin studies:

    “Contrary to “culture” theory, the ethnic academic gaps are almost identical for transracially adopted children, and to the extent they are different they go in the opposite direction predicted by culture theory. The gap between whites and Asians fluctuated from 19 to .09 in the NAEP data while the gap in the adoption data is from 1/3 to 3 times larger. This is consistent with the Sue and Okazaki paper above which showed that contrary to popular anecdotes, the values that lead to higher academic grades are actually found more often in white homes. In other words Asian-Americans perform highly despite their Asian home cultural environment not because of it. And though the sample is meager, I find it interesting that the gap between the black and white adopted children was virtually identical (within just 4-6 points) to the gap between whites and blacks in the general population, just like in the Scarr adoption study.”

    http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/004064.html

  2. Darwiniana » Comment on Rising Above I.Q. said,

    June 9, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    [...] Comment on Rising Above IQ The comment below is of interest, and useful, but caution is always required in this field. Thus I can’t as such endorse this comment. [...]

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