4 Chapter 1 Intelligence
Reading Selection 4
INTELLIGENCE
What Is Intelligence?
1 7_J ow can you tell if a person is intelligent? You may think: “an
Howe person does well in school.” Or “an intelligent
Person reads a lot.” It is not easy to define intelligence. Even
Psychologists do not agree on its definition. One definition is:
intelligence is the ability to learn and adapt to the environment.
2 Psychologists who study intelligence fall into two groups. The
first group believes there is one general intelligence. The other
group believes there are many kinds of intelligence. They believe
People can be intelligent in different ways. The different ways
cannot always be me: by intelligence tests. For example,
some people can play musical instruments or sing very well. They
Albert Einstein Yoyo MaReading Assignment 1 Intelligence 5
Heredity and Environment )
3 Heredity and environment both influence intelligence.
Effects of Heredity
4 Children share physical traits! like hair color and eye color with
their parents. Through their genes, parents pass some traits to their
children. This is called heredity. Most psychologists believe
intelligence is inherited (passed from parents to children). The way
genes affect intelligence is complex. For example, there is no single
gene for height. Similarly, there is no single gene for intelligence.
Many genes affect intelligence.
5 Researchers try to understand how heredity and environment
influence intelligence. One way to do this is using twin and
adoption studies. Studying twins helps researchers understand
how genes influence intelligence. Identical twins inherit the e
same genes from their parents. Fraternal twins are like brothers and
sisters. They share half of the same genes.
Effects of Environment
6 The effects of environment on intelligence are divided into
two categories:
1, Shared Environment. Your shared environment influences?
you and your brothers and sisters. You all came from the
same family, so you share the same environment. In your
family, the economic status if you are rich or poor—is the
same for each child. Also, the level of your parents’
education is the same.
2. Non-shared Environment. Some things about your
environment are unique. They are not shared with your
brothers and sisters. For example, how much attention you
received from your parents can be different from your
brothers and sisters. Your friends, your experiences,
activities, and education are also different. These are
examples of non-shared environment,
1. trait (trat) n. Characteristic; feature.
2. ineflurence (in‘flo0-ans) tr, v. Has an effect on,6
Chapter 1
Inteligence
7
‘Twin Studies
There are two kinds of twin:
1. Identical Twins. These twins develop from a single egg. They
are both the same sex. They have exactly the same genes.
2, Fraternal Twins. These are as different as any brothers or
sisters. They develop from different eggs. They can be the
same sex, or they can be of opposite sexes.
Researchers’ interested in intelligence study twins. Identical
twins who are adopted! at birth by different people have similar
intelligence. Fraternal twins who are raised together do not always
have similar intelligence. This shows that intelligence is influenced
more by genes than shared environment. From these studies,
researchers conclude that genes are important to intelligence.
However, shared environment does not appear to be important at all.
Source: Adapted from Introduction to Psychology, (2001). Elgin, IL: McDougal
Littell, pp. 158-159.
ressearchrer (ri-stirch’ar) 1. Person who conducts scholarly or scientific
investigations or inquiries.
asdoptred (2-dopt’-ed) adj. Taken into one’s family through legal means and
raised as one’s own child.