Intelligence: Nature or Nurture?

One of the main bio-sociological debates entails the question of whether

or not intelligence is the result of genetics or the design of environmental
actors. While there is much evidence weighting to support both claims,
some believe in the predominance of one of the factors.
There is much debate mong researchers and scientists over which
influence, genetics or environment, has the largest role in determining
overall intelligence, because both have been scientifically established as
having an impact on intelligence.
Nature
Heritability
The natural genetic make-up interacts with environment from the moment
of conception. A gene is the unit of heredity by which a biological trait is
passed down through generations of human beings. Heritability describes
what percentage of the variation of a trait in a population is due to genetic
differences in that population (as opposed to environmental factors).
Twin studies in the western world have found the heritability of IQ to be
between 0.7 and 0.8, meaning that the variance in intelligence among the
population is 70%-80% due to genetics. Conventional twin studies
reinforce this pattern: monozygotic (identical) twins raised separately are
more similar in IQ than dizygotic (fraternal) twins raised together, and
much more than adoptive siblings.
As a study by a team of UCLA University of California (2009) shows,
human intelligence is highly heritable and genetically determined. This is
due to the quality of axons in the white matter of the brain which is
strongly controlled by genetic factors. The axons are the transmitters and
decoders of the external stimulations an individual may come across. It
shows that the lesser the quality of the axons, the slower the brain
develops and matures to fully comprehend complex thoughts and
knowledge. The qualities of an individuals axons are completely genetic
and cannot be modified in any way. Therefore, it is proven that everyone
is born with different IQ levels genetically programmed that cannot be
altered.
Source: UCLA
Nurture
Biological Influences
Biological influences include everything from nutrition to stress, and begin
to shape intelligence from prenatal stages onward. Nutrition has been
shown to affect intelligence throughout the human lifespan; malnutrition
during critical early periods of growth (particularly the prenatal period and
during the second year of life) can harm cognitive development.

Inadequate nutrition can disrupt neural connections and pathways, and

leave a person unable to recover mentally.

Stress
Stress also plays a part in the development of human intelligence:
exposure to violence in childhood has been associated with lower school
grades and lower IQ in children of all races. A group of largely African
American, urban first-grade children and their caregivers were evaluated
using self-report, interview, and standardized tests, including IQ tests. The
study reported that exposure to violence and trauma-related distress in
young children was associated with substantial decreases in IQ and
reading achievement. Exposure to toxins and other perinatal factors have
also been proven to affect intelligence, and in some cases, cause issues
such as developmental delays.
Dr Rick Hebers Milwaukee Project
Although proven that biological factors may also play some part in
determining human behaviour, it is proven that our intelligence can be
trained and pushed to higher levels. The results based on Dr Rick
Hebers Milwaukee Project shows to stand for the latter. He conducted
a case study on 40 new-borns from Milwaukee whose parents had IQ
lower than 80 and found that the care and love provided, in other words,
the primary socialisation, is essential to a childs mental development.
Early Socialisation
The family unit is one of the most basic influences on child development,
but it is difficult to untangle the genetic from the environmental factors in
a family. For example, the quantity of books in a child's home has been
shown to positively correlate with intelligence.
Childs position in birth order
A child's position in birth order has also been found to influence
intelligence: firstborn children have been found in some studies to score
higher, though criticism has been offered to these studies for not
controlling for age or family size. Moving outside of the family unit, human
beings are substantially shaped by their respective peer groups.
Stereotype Threat
Stereotype threat is the idea that people belonging to a specific group will
perform in line with generalizations assigned to that group, regardless of
their own aptitude; this threat has been known to affect IQ scores both
positively and negatively. That is, if a person belongs to a group that is

told they are intelligent, they will appear more intelligent on IQ tests; if
they are told they belong to a group that is unintelligent, they will perform
worse, even if these distinctions are random and fabricated (as in lab
studies). People's access to education, and specific training
and intervention resources, also determines their life-long intelligence
level.