Summarize evidence from twin studies and adoption studies on whether heredity affects intelligence, and discuss the concept of heritability

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Heritability ratios are estimates of the proportion of a trait's variability in a population that is determined by variations in genetic inheritance. A heritability estimate is a group statistic and cannot be meaningfully applied to individuals. Heritability estimates for intelligence range as high as 80% and as low as 40%, but the consensus estimates tend to hover around 50%.

Twin studies provide evidence regarding the role of genetic factors. The basic rationale is that identical and fraternal twins develop under similar environmental conditions, but identical twins share more genes:?if identical twins end up more similar on a given characteristic, it must be genetic. Twin studies show that identical twins are more similar in IQ than fraternal twins, and adoption studies show that there is more than chance similarity between biological parents and their adopted children, suggesting that intelligence is, at least in part, inherited.

Psychology

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Psychology

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Psychology

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Psychology