Intelligence as an Amalgamation of Genetics - Research Paper Example

? "Intelligence" Introduction According to Sternberg, "human intelligence is the mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts and use knowledge to manipulate one's environment.." (Human Intelligence). No two individuals on the planet are exactly the same, even the identical twins differ in their abilities to perceive things, understand the situation and adapt efficiently. Depending upon the individual psychology, intellectual performance vary on various situations. Environment, upbringing, socialization, interaction, communication, access to the resources aids in the developmental and the social psychology. It is imperative to study intelligence to understand the psychological predisposition of the individual, which is attributed to the understanding that an individual possesses and his/ her reaction towards the situation and also the process that he/ she adopts to deal with a given situation. This is crucial for psychological counselling when the individual suffers through either behavioral issues, physical or mental issues or to deal with the situation of trauma, distress or mental shock that may hamper the normal life. Every individual is born with a certain level of intelligence. Although one cannot deny that parental intelligence is transmitted to the child but environment does influence to a greater extent in nurturing the abilities of the individual. These abilities are further enhanced by the opportunities provided to the individual to enhance their skills in an appropriate direction. Over the centuries various psychoanalysis have been performed, theories have been formulated; encompassing cognitive, evolutionary and behavioral theories to understand the psychology of the human brain. The biological, chemical and the genetic factors responsible for influencing psychological traits have been studied to highlight the significance of biology and family atmosphere in building the behavioral and psychological traits. Traits such as determinism, positivism, materialism, reductionism, empiricism aids in the developing psychology and enhances the intellectual abilities of the individual. Thus, every individual is born with certain level of intelligence while the environment sharpens the skills and abilities of the individual with which he/ she is born (The History and Bases of Psychology). We can measure the intelligence by means of various psychometric approaches encompassing intelligence test, where IQ or the intelligent quotient of the individual is calculated. The value ranges between 70 and 130. It divides the mental age by a chronological age (Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns ). To understand the multiple forms of intelligence, theories have been proposed encompassing Gardner's Theory and Stenberg's theory. School performance is normally considered as an important parameter to mark the level of intelligence where the learning ability of the individual is considered and its wise application to gain social status and income is counted as the significance or a symbol of intelligence (Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns). Intelligence is a mind power that enables one to think in the logical manner to develop an understanding towards surroundings and provides a perception about the situation and things at the same time intelligence provides the wisdom to interact and react with the given situation, a process to think in a logical and analytical manner to procure knowledge. If genes contribute to the intelligence, the environment also shape the memory and retention abilities thereby highlighting the fact that intelligence is not only heredity but also influenced equally by the environment. Considering the role of environment in sharpening and enhancing skills, response to the situation, mind and enhancing intelligence of the individual, Sir Francis Galton and Charles Spearman provided the concept of "general mental ability" or the "g factor" (Spearman, 1904) which portrays the intelligence being displayed by the individual in a given situation and also enables one to assess the situation in the most analytical and logical manner. Genetics of intelligence General mental ability of the individual is affected by the genes. Genes are responsible for the genotypic as well as phenotypic expression hence genetic factors together with the environment form a complex characteristic feature. Galton worked on the passage of genetic characteristics to the progeny and conceptualize that there are certain features that run in the families. The analysis was performed by means of statistical tools (Galton). Genes encompass DNA, alteration in the DNA sequence also alters the behavior of the individual but the reverse process could not happen i.e. altered behaviour cannot alter the genotype of the individual. Cognitive impairment comprising learning disability or poor mental growth are influenced by many genes and also by the environment indicating that genes responsible for the expression of characters are located on the qualitative trait loci (QTLs). The degree and extent of the genes in this multi gene complex is the determinant of the characteristic features including the intelligence of the individual (Cardon et al, 1994). However, individuals adapt themselves in a given situation in order to meet the Darwin's theory of Survival of the fittest. This is carried out by means of assimilation process that enables the individual to interpret experiences and relate the situation accordingly, application of cognitive structure is carried out in this process. On the other hand, accommodation process enables the individual to modify the schemes in order to fit the novel experiences in order to accomplish the task(s). This is accomplished by means of relativistic thinking that involves an understanding that knowledge depends on its context and the subject perspective of the knower. While, dialectical thinking involves the detection of paradoxes among thoughts and an approach to reconcile them. Age of the individual is responsible for the development of understanding and also the intelligence. The chronological age is the actual biological age of an individual while the mental age is the ability of an individual to think beyond/ less than the chronological age. The mental age of the individual is responsible for the intelligence of the individual as the ration of mental age to chronological age determines the intelligence of the individual. Thus, intelligent quotient or the 'IQ' of the individual could be assessed by- IQ= mental age/ chronological age 100 However, genetics play an imperative role in determining the intelligence and IQ of the individual but genetic processes such as non disjunction of chromosomes leading to the Down Syndrome or similar chromosomal anomalies contribute to the diminished intelligence. Besides, prenatal exposure to rubella and syphilis or any kind of drug abuse or alcohol abuse done by mother during fetal development process could hamper the normal developmental processes and lead to poor mental and physical development. Such agents which are responsible for affecting the normal development of the fetus are called teratogens. Exposure to teratogens affects the intelligence of the person. On the other hand there are some individuals who are called gifted as they fit in the theories of intelligence which analyze- psychometrics, crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence and enables them to analyze the situation, be innovative and deal with the situation in a practical manner. Conclusion Intelligence is an amalgamation of genetics as well as environmental factors which influence the predisposition of the individual in the society and therefore it is imperative to understand the intelligence on the person in order to understand the psychology and take necessary actions to improve the behavioral and metal process in a sound socially acceptable manner. References Cardon, L.R., Smith, S.D., Fulker, D.W., Kimberling, W.J., Pennington, B.F, DeFries, J.C. "Quantitative trait locus for reading disability on chromosome 6". Science, 266, 276-279. 1994. Galton F. "Hereditary genius: An inquiry into its laws and consequences". London, McMillan/Fontana. 1869/1962. "Human Intelligence". (Web.) 10 April 2012. . "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns". (Web.) 10 April 2012. . Spearman, C. "General intelligence objectively determined and measured". American Journal of psychology, 15, 201-292. 1904. "The History and Bases of Psychology". (Web.) 10 April 2012. . Read More