Deck 31: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence

Question 1

Males' mental ability scores show greater ________ than females' mental ability scores.

A) reliability
B) heritability
C) variability
D) validity

Answer 1

variability

Question 2

Boys are most likely to outperform girls in a

A) computerized video game competition.
B) speed-reading tournament.
C) spelling bee.
D) speech-giving contest.

Answer 2

computerized video game competition.

Question 3

Compared with North American students, Asian students perform

A) better on math aptitude and achievements tests and they spend less time studying.
B) no better on math aptitude and achievements tests and they spend less time studying.
C) better on math aptitude and achievements tests and they spend more time studying.
D) no better on math aptitude and achievements tests and they spend more time studying.

Answer 3

better on math aptitude and achievements tests and they spend more time studying.

Question 4

J. McVicker Hunt found that institutionalized children given "tutored human enrichment"

A) showed no change in intelligence test performance compared with institutionalized children who did not receive such enrichment.
B) responded so negatively as a result of their impoverished early experiences that he felt it necessary to disband the program.
C) thrived intellectually and socially on the benefits of positive caregiving.
D) actually developed greater intelligence than control subjects who had lived in foster homes since birth.

Question 5

Most psychologists believe that racial gaps in test scores

A) have been exaggerated when they are, in fact, insignificant.
B) indicate that intelligence is in large measure inherited.
C) are in large measure caused by environmental factors.
D) are increasing.

Question 6

The extent to which differences in intelligence among a group of people are attributable to genetic factors is known as the ______ of intelligence.

A) normal curve
B) factor analysis
C) predictive validity
D) heritability

Question 7

The intelligence scores of adopted children are LEAST likely to be positively correlated with the scores of their adoptive siblings during

A) childhood.
B) early adolescence.
C) late adolescence.
D) adulthood.

Question 8

Reported racial gaps in average intelligence scores are most likely attributable to

A) the use of biased tests of intelligence.
B) the use of unreliable tests of intelligence.
C) genetic factors.
D) environmental factors.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT true?

A) In math grades, the average girl typically equals or surpasses the average boy.
B) The gender gap in math and science scores is increasing.
C) Women are better than men at detecting emotions.
D) Males score higher than females on tests of spatial abilities.

Question 10

Which of the following provides the strongest evidence of the role of heredity in determining intelligence?

A) The IQ scores of identical twins raised separately are more similar than those of fraternal twins raised together.
B) The intelligence scores of fraternal twins are more similar than those of ordinary siblings.
C) The intelligence scores of identical twins raised together are more similar than those of identical twins raised apart.
D) The intelligence scores of adopted children show relatively weak correlations with scores of adoptive as well as biological parents.

Question 11

Prenatal hormones have an influence on

A) verbal reasoning.
B) spatial abilities.
C) overall intelligence.
D) all of these aspects of intelligence.

Question 12

First-time parents Geena and Brad want to give their baby's intellectual abilities a jump-start by providing a super enriched learning environment. Experts would suggest that the new parents should

A) pipe stimulating classical music into the baby's room.
B) hang colorful mobiles and artwork over the baby's crib.
C) take the child to one of the new "superbaby" preschools that specialize in infant enrichment.
D) relax, since there is no surefire environmental recipe for giving a child a superior intellect.

Question 13

Which of the following provides the strongest evidence of environment's role in intelligence?

A) Adopted children's intelligence scores are more like their adoptive parents' scores than their biological parents'.
B) Children's intelligence scores are more strongly related to their mothers' scores than to their fathers'.
C) Children moved from a deprived environment into an intellectually enriched one show gains in intellectual development.
D) The intelligence scores of identical twins raised separately are no more alike than those of siblings.

Question 14

Girls are likely to outperform boys in a

A) spelling bee.
B) math problem-solving test.
C) computer-programming contest.
D) chess tournament.

Question 15

To say that the heritability of a trait is approximately 50 percent means

A) that genes are responsible for 50 percent of the trait in an individual, and the environment is responsible for the rest.
B) that the trait's appearance in a person will reflect approximately equal genetic contributions from both parents.
C) that of the variation in the trait within a group of people, 50 percent can be attributed to heredity.
D) all of these things.

Question 16

Studies of adopted children and their biological and adoptive families demonstrate that with age, genetic influences on intelligence

A) become more apparent.
B) become less apparent.
C) become more difficult to disentangle from environmental influences.
D) become easier to disentangle from environmental influences.

Question 17

When promised money for doing well on an intelligence test, adolescents in four dozen studies scored higher. This best illustrates that intelligence test performance is influenced by

A) motivation.
B) stereotype threat.
C) factor analysis.
D) convergent thinking.

Question 18

Stereotype threat is most likely to depress female students' performance on a difficult ________ test and to depress male students' performance on a difficult ________ test.

A) math problem-solving; verbal fluency
B) verbal fluency; math problem-solving
C) spatial abilities; athletic abilities
D) athletic abilities; spatial abilities

Question 19

Women have been found to score lower on math tests when they are tested alongside men. This best illustrates the impact of

A) the Flynn effect.
B) intrinsic motivation.
C) analytical thinking.
D) stereotype threat.

Question 20

Intelligence test scores are LEAST similar for

A) nontwin siblings reared together.
B) fraternal twins reared together.
C) identical twins reared together.
D) identical twins reared apart.

Question 21

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the text's position regarding the relative contribution of genes and environment in determining intelligence?

A) Except in cases of a neglectful early environment, each individual's basic intelligence is largely the product of heredity.
B) Except in those with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, intelligence results primarily from environmental experiences.
C) Both genes and life experiences significantly influence performance on intelligence tests.
D) Because intelligence tests have such low predictive validity, the question cannot be addressed until psychologists agree on a more valid test of intelligence.

Question 22

Babies in an Iranian orphanage suffered delayed intellectual development due to

A) a lack of hybrid vigor.
B) stereotype threat.
C) a deprived environment.
D) heritability.

Question 23

Disproportionately more Whites than Blacks would be admitted into American colleges if performance scores on ________ were the only basis for college admissions.

A) the Stanford-Binet
B) the WAIS
C) the SAT
D) all of these tests

Question 24

The similarity between the intelligence test scores of identical twins raised apart is

A) less than that between children and their biological parents.
B) equal to that between identical twins reared together.
C) equal to that between fraternal twins reared together.
D) greater than that between ordinary siblings reared together.

Question 25

The heritability of intelligence refers to

A) the extent to which an individual's intelligence is attributable to genetic factors.
B) the proportion of variation in intelligence among individuals that is attributable to genetic variation.
C) the extent to which the distribution of intelligence scores of a group approximates a normal curve.
D) a general underlying intelligence factor that is measured by every task on an intelligence test.

Question 26

Schooling ________ children's intelligence test performance. Children's intelligence ________ their later adult income.

A) enhances; enhances
B) has no effect on; enhances
C) enhances; has no effect on
D) has no effect on; has no effect on

Question 27

The intelligence test scores of today's better-fed population ________ the scores of the 1930s population.

A) are higher than
B) are lower than
C) are equal to
D) can't be compared with

Question 28

Research suggests that women are more skilled than men at

A) avoiding emotional uncertainty.
B) preventing emotions from distorting reasoning.
C) detecting other people's emotions.
D) delaying emotional gratification in pursuit of long-term goals.

Question 29

Interventions that promote intelligence teach early teens that the brain is like a muscle that strengthens with use. This idea is designed to encourage the teens to view intelligence as

A) a reflection of the g factor.
B) a biologically determined capacity.
C) changeable over time.
D) distributed in a bell-shaped pattern.

Question 30

With increasing age, adopted children's verbal ability scores become ________ positively correlated with their adoptive parents' scores and ________ positively correlated with their biological parent's scores.

A) more; more
B) less; less
C) more; less
D) less; more

Question 31

Research on racial and ethnic differences in intelligence indicates that

A) school desegregation has actually decreased the academic achievement of Black American children.
B) the average mathematics achievement test scores of Asian students are higher than those of North American students.
C) among American Blacks, those with the most African ancestry receive the highest intelligence test scores.
D) the Black-White difference in intelligence test scores has increased in recent years.

Question 32

Brain scans reveal that identical twins' brains have ________ gray matter volume and ________ white matter volume.

A) similar; dissimilar
B) dissimilar; similar
C) similar; similar
D) dissimilar; dissimilar

Question 33

Sweden and Iceland exhibit little of the gender gap in mathematical abilities found in Turkey and Korea. This best illustrates that mental abilities are

A) polygenetic.
B) extrinsic motivators.
C) socially influenced.
D) distributed in a bell-shaped pattern.

Question 34

Girls are most likely to outperform boys in a

A) grammar test.
B) mathematical reasoning test.
C) computer programming contest.
D) chess tournament.

Question 35

Today's researchers have identified many different chromosomal regions important to intelligence. This indicates that intelligence is

A) triarchic.
B) intrinsic motivation.
C) polygenetic.
D) divergent thinking.

Question 36

Boys outnumber girls at extremely ________ levels of verbal fluency and at extremely ________ levels of mathematical problem-solving ability.

A) high; low
B) low; low
C) high; high
D) low; high

Question 37

Which of the following observations provides the best evidence that intelligence test scores are influenced by heredity?

A) Japanese children have higher average intelligence scores than do American children.
B) Identical twins reared together are more similar in their intelligence scores than identical twins reared separately.
C) The intelligence scores of children are positively correlated with the intelligence scores of their parents.
D) Identical twins reared separately are more similar in their intelligence scores than fraternal twins reared together.

Question 38

On average, the intelligence test scores of the Dingbats are much higher than those of the Dodos. The difference in the average test scores of the two groups might be a product of

A) genetic differences between two groups with similar environments.
B) environmental differences between two groups with similar genetics.
C) genetic and environmental differences between the two groups.
D) any of these things.

Question 39

In one massive study of 11,000 twin pairs in four countries, the heritability of general intelligence was found to be greatest during

A) early childhood.
B) middle childhood.
C) adolescence.
D) young adulthood.

Question 40

The importance of environmental influences on intelligence is provided by evidence that

A) general intelligence scores predict performance on a variety of complex tasks.
B) the cognitive development of neglected children is often delayed.
C) identical twins reared together have more similar intelligence scores than fraternal twins reared together.
D) mental similarities between adopted children and their adoptive families increase with age.

Question 41

Juan is the oldest son of Mexican parents who immigrated to the United States less than five years ago. Juan's high school teachers perceive him to be fairly intelligent, but his SAT scores are low, and he is having trouble getting into college. Juan's mother angrily claims that "intelligence tests are biased against Hispanics." Juan's father sadly counters, "It's not the tests that are biased; it's American education that is biased." Carefully explain why you would agree or disagree with the comments made by each parent.

Question 42

Jim, age 55, plays basketball with much younger adults and is concerned that his teammates might consider his age to be a detriment to their game outcome. His concern actually undermines his athletic performance. This best illustrates the impact of

A) the Flynn effect.
B) divergent thinking.
C) extrinsic motivation.
D) stereotype threat.

Question 43

Experts who defend intelligence tests against the charge of being culturally biased and discriminatory would be most likely to highlight the ________ of intelligence tests.

A) standardization
B) content validity
C) predictive validity
D) reliability

Question 44

Women have scored ________ on math tests when no male test-takers were in the tested group, and Blacks have scored ________ when tested by Blacks than when tested by Whites.

A) lower; lower
B) higher; higher
C) lower; higher
D) higher; lower

Question 45

When completing a verbal aptitude test, members of an ethnic minority group are particularly likely to perform below their true ability levels if they believe that the test

A) is a measure of emotional intelligence as well as academic intelligence.
B) assesses their interests as well as their abilities.
C) is biased against members of their own ethnic group.
D) results in a distribution of scores that forms a bell-shaped curve.

Question 46

A classmate makes the following claim: "Despite numerous federally funded Head Start programs and nationwide efforts to desegregate public schools, Blacks continue to lag behind their White counterparts in intelligence and academic achievement. Clearly, Black Americans must be genetically inferior to White Americans." Use research evidence and logical arguments to intelligently refute your classmate's statement.

Question 47

The average difference in intellectual aptitude scores of White and Black college graduates has been observed to be greatest when these individuals were

A) eighth graders.
B) high school juniors.
C) college sophomores.
D) college seniors.

Question 48

Intelligence tests have effectively reduced discrimination in the sense that they have

A) avoided questions that require familiarity with any specific culture.
B) helped limit reliance on educators' subjectively biased judgments of students' academic potential.
C) provided an objective measure of teaching effectiveness in different public school systems.
D) demonstrated that the g factor underlies a variety of intellectual skills.

Question 49

Intelligence tests are "biased" in the sense that

A) test performance is influenced by cultural experiences.
B) the reliability of intelligence tests is close to zero.
C) the heritability of intelligence is very high.
D) numerical scores of intelligence serve to dehumanize individuals.