what does iq tell us?
There has been a disturbingly popular belief over the years that intelligence is genetic. Smart people have smart kids. Stupid people have stupid kids. It’s observable and seems to be backed up by academics claiming that around 70% of our intelligence is genetically inherited. All the smart people who go to good schools from well-established families fall over themselves to agree – they paid for top class education to make the most of their top class abilities. Why waste money educating people with no real prospects?
Professor Robert Plomin, who has been advising the UK government in relation to education policy, and who is confident in his figure of 70%, tells us:
Most of what is currently known about the genetics of intelligence comes from twin and adoption studies, which have documented significant and substantial genetic influence.
I have two serious issues with using adoption and twin studies to guide us in any nature/nurture discussion:
- Perhaps the most crucial stage of development for any person is the nine months spent in the womb of their mother. In terms of nutrition and chemical trauma, twins will generally have similar experiences in this key developmental stage.
- Adoption studies in developed countries can only tell us how children homed with families vetted to ensure they can provide sufficient levels of material and emotional support will fare. No child would be placed with a family who couldn’t or wouldn’t ensure reasonable nutrition and access to education.
The 40-year Barbados Nutrition Study concluded that:
Moderate-to-severe malnutrition during infancy is associated with a significantly elevated incidence of impaired IQ in adulthood, even when physical growth is completely rehabilitated. An episode of malnutrition during the first year of life carries risk for significant lifelong functional morbidity.
In my opinion, IQ tests generally can only give us a vague measure of the opportunities people have had in life. These opportunities include a pleasant incubation in their mother’s womb, decent levels of nutrition throughout childhood, access to reasonable educational facilities and, for most, supportive and encouraging families. However, even taking all this into consideration, high IQs cannot be worshipped as a tool to cure all ills, but should be regarded to be of use alongside a whole range of other competencies that make any life of value.
[Anyone interested in further reading on this subject might want to check out this article.]
I’m not entirely confident in IQ scores as a measure of intelligence. Problem solving skills are affected by (many) things that just can’t be measured.
LikeLike
I totally agree. They can give a rough indication of how well brains processes specific patterns of thinking but tell you nothing about creativity, decision making, social awareness or a whole host of other abilities.
LikeLike
I scored high “gifted” on both IQ tests i’ve done, top 2% or something, but I don’t consider myself smart at all. In fact, I’m glacially slow in working through most problems.
LikeLike
Why am I not surprised? You’re probably slow because you’re a perfectionist seeking the best resolution for problems, rather than because your brain is chugging like a snail. Most geniuses I’ve met have been lacking in basic areas, but I guess it’s a weird experience being out of the bell curve. Does top 2% make you a genius, or is that a separate category from gifted?
LikeLike
It’s considered genius level, from all of the sources I’ve read in the past, when my own tests were evaluated.
LikeLike
And are you wanting to tell us your results?
LikeLike
About the same as John’s – I’m not quite the idiot I pretend to be, a mechanism I adopted years ago when trying to fit in, in school, with others my age, having found that it tends to lower resentment and other consequential defences that seem to arise in humans when faced with those who are different.
LikeLike
Hmmm, perhaps I should have a ‘genius only’ policy for my comments?
LikeLike
When it comes to “should” and “shouldn’t,” I have a really difficult time making that determination for others.
LikeLike
Under appropriate circumstances, I see it as being no different than telling someone my height, as both are qualities that are beyond my control, and for which, I can neither accept credit nor blame.
LikeLike
One down, so i’m told, but like i said, it’s BS. You just can’t measure intelligence. You nailed it in saying pleasant womb experience, nutrition, and curious (patient) parents make all the differences.
LikeLike
That’s not quite true. Problem solving and decision making are directly linked to IQ. Creativity is heavily linked to IQ, or at least, the development of…
I think you’re objecting to what seems to you like gloating, but is no such thing. If we don’t confront the real hindrances in society, we don’t have a chance at fixing anything.
Have a look at this: http://pinkagendist.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/my-recycled-intellectuality-umberto-eco-on-political-correctness
LikeLike
Duly read and commented on your post. Certain aspects of creativity, decision making and problem solving can be linked to IQ, let me dig out some sources … sigh.
LikeLike
Speaking from experience, having a high IQ can frequently get in the way rather than smooth things. I overthink everything. If I’m not mistaken, a high IQ only ensures capacity to learn, not the ability to do anything with it. EQ tends to me more associated with getting shit done.
LikeLike
“IQ only ensures capacity to learn, not the ability to do anything with it”
That’s a good distinction.
LikeLike
“IQ only ensures capacity to learn, not the ability to do anything with it” Yep, that should have been the post conclusion. Dammit.
LikeLike
Exceptionally high – and low – IQ’s fall at the upper end lower ends of the famous bell-shaped curve. Regrettably, so do all of the other human aberrations —
LikeLike
Indeed.
LikeLike
I suspect there is some genetic aspect to IQ, but IQ is also hugely affected by environment, including nutrition after leaving the womb. Hard to know what the balance is between nature and nurture here.
LikeLike
I once had an Biology instructor who maintained that heredity and environment can never be separated.
LikeLike
Why so?
LikeLike
Logic would dictate it’s because they are interdependent.
LikeLike
As in the genetic coding we receive from our parents is affected by their environment, or environment impacts on genetic expression?
LikeLike
All that genetics does is ensure that a certain combination of genes is passed on to us – the vast array of environmental factors, which include everything from the quality of air we breathe, of the food we eat, to the love and support we get from others, as well as our own reactions to successes and failures, determines much as to how those genes are expressed, and I’m sure that that list is far from all-inclusive.
LikeLike
It depends on what you mean by “can never be separated”. In biomedical science we test the effect of genes and environmental conditions all the time. We make statistical inferences about these effects by running sufficiently-controlled experiments using genetically identical mice (i.e., C57BL/6 mice).
Also, in humans we can make statistical inferences, but the limiting factor in finding these genes and environments is effect size. You need a large effect size. My guess is that increasing an IQ score from 120 to 130 cannot be accomplished with one gene alone. IQ score at this level is probably highly polygenic.
LikeLike
I would agree. I view heredity as the very first environmental influence.
LikeLike
I agree, and I think it would be incredibly difficult to get any conclusive data, unless researchers can find willing cohorts from higher end IQ families who’ll allow their kids to be malnourished in the womb and raised in deprived circumstances, to be compared with guaranteed good pregnancies in lower end IQ families who can then go on to have all the nutritional, emotional and educational privileges wealthy upbringing. Twin and adoption studies can never replicate that. I suspect humans are like plants – if you provide optimal circumstances for seedlings they’ll have a healthy mature life. I don’t actually know anything about plants, but I’m assuming that’s right … 🙂
LikeLike
I do, and you are.
LikeLike
I think this is a moot point. Nature and nurture discussions are blah-blah-blah. What we have to deal with is the reality- and the reality is whopping inequality.
People often fixate on this in regards to the gay issue- utterly pointless.
LikeLike
What an odd comparison! The difference is we all agree there’s nothing to ‘fix’ with regards to the gay issue. You did a post lamenting the problems that are caused by low IQs – more than anyone else you should be interested in pinpointing the reasons behind this. You also stated you think it’s largely due to genes, which prompted this post. Nature/nurture is vital to our understanding of issues like this, and to our ability to address the underlying causes.
LikeLike
I enjoyed your analysis. Studies the one in Barbados underscore the importance of getting these kids adequate nutrition!
LikeLike
There are loads more but my brain gave up on processing it all. This is a defensive post from a person with low IQ, or at the very least an uncooperative brain! 🙂
LikeLike
Speaking of intelligence, I found this article fascinating:
http://atheistuniverse.net/group/science/forum/topics/science-bits-news-videos?commentId=6381005%3AComment%3A348774&xg_source=msg_com_gr_forum
LikeLike
I got a link to you telling a story about posting Atheist brand shoes. It was very interesting, but was that your intention?
LikeLike
It should have led you to an article posted by Doone giving some insight into how the brain works: The Global Workspace In Your Head. I clicked on the link you provided, and went directly there.
LikeLike
This is an interesting discussion.
LikeLike
Yes, it’s making my head hurt …
LikeLike
Well, my kids are a lot cleverer than am. My father insists this is because it skips a generation, a point he loves to remind me of when something mechanical breaks and I have to call one of the kids to fix it.
Sigh….
LikeLike
Don’t do yourself down Ark. Askthebigot and her friends were very impressed with your smartypants – you always have that to remind you what a big head you have. 🙂 See, I can be charming.
LikeLike
Ah…bless you. My Knight-ess in (slightly tarnished) armor .
What would I do without you? 😉
LikeLike
Well, you know, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.
LikeLike
My husband and I have “above average” intelligences (well, maybe not now since I’ve gotten old; but we won’t go there now). My first child rated at “genius” and the other two were “above average”. The difference? I didn’t spend as much time with the last 2. My 2nd son would not crawl. Crawling is important for vision and abstract reasoning. I would get down and crawl, trying to encourage him. He would start out on all fours, but after only 2-3 crawls he was up and running beside me, giggling his fool head off. My oldest and youngest loved to be read to; the middle son would throw the book across the room.
I think environment and the person’s own desire to learn has more to do with intelligence than anything.
I visited your site because of a link on notestoponder’s site. I’ve read several of your blogs, but still haven’t figured you out. So I guess my “above average” intelligence has slipped more than I thought. Sarcasm runs rampant with wry humor trying hard to keep up! You seem more con than pro to what I believe in, but I still managed to find an article I liked and could safely reply to.
I’ll keep you in my prayers.
LikeLike
Thanks for your comment. I keep meaning to check the correlation between higher IQs and first borns, because it’s so obvious the amount of extra input they usually get would affect this. It does seem to be the case but not quite as much as I imagined:
That’s also interesting about crawling, I haven’t heard about it’s importance for abstract reasoning.
I’ll have to work on my wry humour so that it can keep up with the sarcasm. Thanks for looking till you found a post you like – that’s the second time this week I’ve come across this idea, and I’m hoping to implement it myself. Do you have a blog? That link just takes me to the gravatar with no further info.
LikeLike
That is an interesting idea – I, myself, was a firstborn of 2, whatever difference that makes. My sis was also quite bright, but never set off any alarm bells. There was a five-year gap between us, so I got five years of undivided attention, before I had to share anyone’s attention (which could certainly explain why I’m so full of myself!).
LikeLike