Hello XKCD geniuses, I'm having a problem with this question and would enjoy all feedback to add to my own answers.
There is a high correlation between the IQ scores of parents and children. Is this due to genetics or environment? How could you tell?
Psychology question?
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Psychology question?
by FrancisDrake » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:02 am UTC
"What I thought I'd do was, I thought I'd pretend to be one of those deaf mutes"-J.D. Salinger
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Re: Psychology question?
by gmalivuk » Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:21 am UTC
Tell us what your own answers are, so we can be sure we're not just doing your homework for you.
In the future, there will be a global network of billions of adding machines.... One of the primary uses of this network will be to transport moving pictures of lesbian sex by pretending they are made out of numbers.
Spoiler:
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Re: Psychology question?
by Angua » Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:57 am UTC
Look into any studies that have to separate nature from nurture - this isn't really a psychology question, it's one of a scientific method used for things ranging from mental issues to things like juvenile diabetes.
“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.” - Mark Twain
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Re: Psychology question?
by FrancisDrake » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:44 pm UTC
I think I found the answer. IQ is highly heritable so it's genes, however it is also Environment; children learn and score higher in school, if they are raised in a stable well educated environment. Also, they can test the theory if they study the performance of children who are adopted into a family than compare them to their biological parents. Also, they could study the differences between the biological children and the adoptive children in the same environment. Also, they can study the difference between Twins raised apart in different environments.
"What I thought I'd do was, I thought I'd pretend to be one of those deaf mutes"-J.D. Salinger
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Re: Psychology question?
by Bakemaster » Sat Dec 17, 2011 4:32 am UTC
FrancisDrake wrote:Is this due to genetics or environment?
Yes and yes.
How is this thread School-related?
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Re: Psychology question?
by Yakk » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:10 pm UTC
That confounds the environment of the "womb" with genetics, by the way. 
In addition, twin studies have a problem in that twins are not like other children. Twins tend to have a number of problems more often than non-twins (various cognitive problems are more common).
As an example of how this could easily confound a twin study, suppose everyone has 100 IQ, except for people with a particular condition. 5% of the general population has this condition, as well as 10% of twins. If one twin has it, both twins have it. It is caused by insufficient resources during fetal development. The effect of this condition is that it drops your IQ to 80.
Despite genetics having zero impact on IQ in this model, you'll find a strong correlation between twin IQ raised apart.
In addition, twin studies have a problem in that twins are not like other children. Twins tend to have a number of problems more often than non-twins (various cognitive problems are more common).
As an example of how this could easily confound a twin study, suppose everyone has 100 IQ, except for people with a particular condition. 5% of the general population has this condition, as well as 10% of twins. If one twin has it, both twins have it. It is caused by insufficient resources during fetal development. The effect of this condition is that it drops your IQ to 80.
Despite genetics having zero impact on IQ in this model, you'll find a strong correlation between twin IQ raised apart.
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Re: Psychology question?
by FrancisDrake » Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:34 am UTC
Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.
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