Intelligence and the IQ level are the phenomena that determine the educational abilities of a person and provide him or her with either a wider or narrower range of future employment opportunities. However, it has been long disputed by scholars whether intelligence is a phenomenon determined by heredity or it is formed separately in each individual and modified by environmental interventions. The focus of this paper is the heritability and modifiability of human intelligence, and the factors influencing these two phenomena.
To start with, it is necessary to state that according to Anastasi and Urbina (2007), intelligence is the matter of constant attention of scholars. There has been a lot of formulas invented to measure intelligence and trace its possible modifications under the influence of the environment (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 297). The outcomes of the former research in this area can be generalized to the point that intelligence heritability 70 shows that only 30% of the intelligence of a certain group of people was modified by environment, while 70% developed in them heritably. Other major conclusions state that the measurement of intelligence heritability is possible only at a certain moment of time (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 298).
Moreover, the applicability of intelligence heredity to measurement only for groups of individuals is another important conclusion of the previous research works. This is explained by the fact that using a single person for this kind of measurement is senseless as there will be no chance to trace the heredity of his or her. Further on, the index of heritability equaling 100% does not reject the possibility of the environmental modifications of intelligence. Vice versa, the heritability index points out the uniform character of the group studied, while environmental factors might change that index or even distract certain individuals from that group changing considerably, either positively or negatively, their IQ levels and index of intelligence heritability (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 298).
Drawing from the above-presented considerations, the major question of this paper can be answered negatively. IQ index of a person is not fixed. It is variable and subject to considerable, sometimes drastic, changes caused by environmental interventions. The major types of the latter are connected with the close environment of a person and can have either positive or negative impacts. These interventions include serious family restructuring, like divorce, death of a relative, etc., misunderstandings inside the community where a person is socialized, and some others (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 299).
Accordingly, the most substantial modifications of the IQ index are observed in pre-school children, as “the older the person, the larger the knowledge gap to be filled” (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 300). In other words, intelligence of a pre-school child perceives changes and interventions more effectively, while adult intelligence demands considerably longer time and greater effort to be modified. However, adult minds are more capable of memorizing more advanced information in larger amounts (Anastasi and Urbina, p. 300). In any case, it is obvious that the intelligence index is variable but not fixed.
To conclude, it is necessary to state that the IQ index of a human being can be altered and modified by environmental interventions. The major factors influencing the rate of such modifications are the exact environmental conditions, heritability indices of intelligence observed in certain people, and their age.
Works Cited
Anastasi, Anne and Susana Urbina. Psychological Testing. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997.