Increasing the Raw Intelligence of a Nation is Constrained by Ignorance, Not its Citizens' Genes
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Douglas Wahlsten, Visiting Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: In The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray claim that a high value for heritability of intelligence limits or constrains the extent to which intelligence can be increased by changing the environment. This article argues that the concept of heritability is based on unsupportable assumptions and that its numerical value places no constraint on the consequences of an improved environment. On the contrary, a very small change in environment, such as a dietary supplement, can lead to a major change in mental development, provided the change is appropriate to the specific kind of deficit that in the past has impaired development. The results of adoption studies and the intergenerational cohort effect also reveal that intelligence can be increased substantially without the need for heroic intervention.
Increasing the Raw Intelligence of a Nation is Constrained by Ignorance, Not its Citizens' Genes
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 1995, 41(3), 257-264.
- Language: English
- Date: 1995
- Keywords
- Critical analysis, The Bell Curve, Heritability, IQ