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P/F Writing Assignment for Day 18
Genetics of
intelligence I: Heritability
Our readings for today come from the field of behavioral genetics, which is the study of the (partly) genetic basis of many differences among us in personality, ability, and the like. They are designed to introduce you to the concept of heritability, the range of traits that are heritable to some degree, and the ways in which scientists go about estimating heritability. Not surprisingly, the research relies heavily on "experiments of nature"--identical twins and adopted children.
1. What is the logic behind looking at the similarities among different sorts of family members (especially twins and adoptees) in order to estimate the heritability (and environmentality) of IQ? It might help to refer to Plomin's Figure 2 (p. 57).
2. Turning to Deary's Dataset 9, what was the:
3. What in the set of readings puzzled, confused, or simply surprised you? Please explain. (List at least two or three things.)