Scenario II For Centuries, People Have Made the Observation That Intelligence Seems

Multiple Choice

Scenario II
For centuries, people have made the observation that intelligence seems to run in families. In modern times, psychologists have confirmed that, indeed, there is a strong genetic component to intelligence. The degree of the association between genes and intelligence can be quantified using the heritability coefficient (h²) . In a population of diverse individuals differing in age, gender, race, and socioeconomic factors, the heritability of intelligence is approximately .5. This means that about 50 percent of the variability in intelligence scores is associated with genetic factors. Interestingly, the heritability coefficient changes depending on the group under investigation. For example, among wealthy children the heritability coefficient exceeds .7, because the environments of these children are highly homogeneous. Among poor children, it drops to about .1. The heritability coefficient also tends to increase with the age of the population under investigation. For example, the heritability coefficient is approximately .3 in three-year-olds and approximately .9 in 65-year-olds.
-(Scenario II) The heritability coefficient of intelligence in the at-large population is .5. A consequence of this fact is that:

A) genes determine only half of a person's intelligence.
B) if a person was picked at random, one would be more accurate at estimating the contributions of genes to their intelligence at a senior-citizen center versus a World Cup soccer match.
C) environmental differences are responsible for about half of the observed variability in intelligence.
D) about 50 percent of the population was raised in a highly homogeneous environment.