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Reading 2/2:
Passage 2
INTELLIGENCE: HEREDITY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT
Various attempts have been made to explain where intelligence comes from. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the essential argument of heredity versus environment emerged. These terms are often known as 'nature' and 'nurture' respectively. Essentially the arguments are concerned with the extent to which intelligence is inherited through the genes a person is born with (heredity, or nature), or formed through a person's life and their surroundings (environment, or nurture).
These theories led to the concept of how to measure intelligence. Early attempts at measuring intelligence (e.g. Galton 1869) associated it with social inequalities. According to this point of view, the role of environmental factors had to be recognized alongside the part played by heredity. This work led to the construction of IQ (intelligence quotient) tests to measure intelligence.The measurement of IQ originated in the work of the statistician Spearman (1904), who introduced the concept of 'g' (general intelligence) to describe the general cognitive ability that he thought lay behind specific abilities and forms of intelligence (linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, etc.). The development of these tests seemed to promise the possibility that the
relationship between material inequalities and social inequalities could be studied with mathematical precision.Arguments that link inherited intelligence to social disadvantage rest on several assumptions, including:
General intelligence (g) is a cognitive ability that underlies all other specific forms of intelligence and can be accurately measured by IQ tests.
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• Measures of social advantage and disadvantage correlate highly with measures of general intelligence. Because the distribution of advantages and disadvantages reflects the distribution of intelligence, it can be seen as determined by differences in general intelligence.
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• Intelligence is genetically determined. It is, therefore, fixed from birth: education and other environmental factors have little or no effect on the level of intelligence.Each of these assumptions can be questioned. The concept of general intelligence has been heavily criticized, and there is no agreement that there is any such common factor behind
particular abilities. Mathematical and verbal intelligence, for example, are not perfectly associated with one another. It may be more useful to regard intelligence as a set of intellectual capacities rather than a single one. Even if it is allowed that general intelligence exists, however, there is the problem of how it is to be measured.Many have questioned the value of the IQ score as a measure of intelligence. Tests have been shown to be culturally biased towards Western (American and European) culture and, within "this", towards white, middle-class men. The cultural differences that shape the ability to perform in the tests do not necessarily reflect any differences in intelligence. More fundamentally.
perhaps, there are doubts about whether performance in pencil-and-paper tests can be a proper measure of a person's ability to perform in 'real' situations. Indeed, there are wider doubts
about whether performance in A-level, degree, or other examinations is an adequate measure of a person's understanding of a subject or ability to apply it in real-life situations.
Intelligence is a complex process that brings together numerous aspects of brain function, and doubts have been raised about its genetic basis. It is inherited not as a fixed quantity but as a
capacity to learn the kinds of skills and understandings that make up a particular ability. The realization of this capacity depends on the stimulation that is received in the first few years of life , to a much lesser extent, in later life. It has been found that pre-school, primary socialization is critical in raising or lowering measured intelligence. Formal education can have a
and continuing, if smaller, effect, and educational action programmes can significantly raise the IQ of children who enter them with relatively low IQ. Cross-cultural studies have shown that the
relatively high IQ of East Asians, as compared with North Americans, is due to the length and type of schooling, the extent of parental support, and the cultural support for disciplined work.
1) Read the following excerpt from the passage:
"Many have questioned the value of the IQ score as a measure of intelligence. Tests have been shown to be culturally biased towards Western (American and European) culture and, within
this, towards white, middle-class men."
What does "this" refer to?
A. Western culture
B. The value of the IQ score
C. The cultural bias of IQ test
Measurement of intelligence
