tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post4632650313852273566..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Brain plasticity -- why should intelligence be an exception? Anne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-39080716399792490732014-11-01T11:25:49.021-04:002014-11-01T11:25:49.021-04:00And heritability is an immensely misunderstood mea...And heritability is an immensely misunderstood measure. This is not the place to go over that once again, except to say that it is not a measure of an individual's inherent pliability or inherited 'destination', etc., and at most is a (frequently problematic) measure of the trait one decides to study in a particular population's current context.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-61052060005205281782014-11-01T10:20:12.147-04:002014-11-01T10:20:12.147-04:00Thanks. Intelligence is one of those subjects that...Thanks. Intelligence is one of those subjects that reveals how much belief is involved in science. We don't recognize when we're wearing blinders. Intelligence is a hard subject to look at dispassionately, as we would try to understand the effect of genes vs environment on fungal coloration, say. The last thing science should be is dogmatic, but too often, culture and politics make it so.Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-73297897398096743752014-11-01T08:54:16.542-04:002014-11-01T08:54:16.542-04:00Strange though, from some of the authors this guy ...Strange though, from some of the authors this guy is talking about... heritability.<br /><br />http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u81/Turkheimer_et_al___2003_.pdf<br /><br />http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22312423<br /><br />Why do you allow comments from people blatantly lying?<br /><br />Also environment is heritable as shown by epigenetics... and the most crucial environment is in the mothers belly(which is not accounted for). Thats 80% or so of the brains growth environment not accounted for. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-12997871039627898322014-10-30T21:18:47.237-04:002014-10-30T21:18:47.237-04:00Anonymous,
I am guessing that you aren't an e...Anonymous,<br /><br />I am guessing that you aren't an evolutionary biologist, or even a scientist because what you're expressing is belief in dogma rather than a measured evaluation of the evidence about IQ and intelligence and how it fits in evolutionary context. Scientists shouldn't be in love with their hypotheses, they should doubt them and shake them up and rattle them around. <br /><br />Given what is known about plasticity of the brain, as it responds and adapts to experience, and given that one of the most fundamental characteristics shared by the simplest and most complex organisms is adaptability, so it seems unlikely to me that intelligence will turn out to be a static, genetically determined thing that a lot of people are hoping to find. And of course there are many kinds of intelligence, too. <br /><br />We know that there are large genetic influences on cognitive ability, but as with most complex traits, these tend to be at the extremes of the distribution. Of course there are genetic influences on the middle of the distribution, on how we solve problems or whatever it is we're calling intelligence, but I think it will turn out as with many other complex traits that there are many genes involved, and that what they produce is a cognitive environment that responds to experience. <br /><br />Search on "intelligence", "complexity", "complex traits", "plasticity", "genetic determinism" and so on on this blog for more on these issues. <br /><br />And, don't believe everything you read. Including here. Question. Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-82401224477337521782014-10-30T01:41:47.100-04:002014-10-30T01:41:47.100-04:00It's not I that who has proven anything, it...It's not I that who has proven anything, it's the literature. I don't understand why you object to that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-45715620225447252742014-10-29T16:55:34.812-04:002014-10-29T16:55:34.812-04:00g-whiz! As Anne says, now that you've enlight...g-whiz! As Anne says, now that you've enlightened us with definitive proof that everything is pre-determined at conception, you can go back to the blogs that express your point of view. Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-37787088384810603872014-10-29T16:36:34.189-04:002014-10-29T16:36:34.189-04:00Anonymous,
Clearly you haven't spent much time...Anonymous,<br />Clearly you haven't spent much time at our blog.Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-27859966762602407962014-10-29T15:50:11.050-04:002014-10-29T15:50:11.050-04:00Interesting that you object to the fact that IQ is...Interesting that you object to the fact that IQ is a thing, despite the fact that most scholars have agreed that the g factor and IQ are not only real but that they measure something important. I will refer to a paper by Plomin in which he demonstrated that heritability of the IQ of lower SES individuals does not change at all. adoption studies also prove that with the finding that lower SES individuals into higherSES environment does not improve IQ or heritability. I will further refer to the books The Blank Slate, by Steven Pinker, The Nurture Assumption, by Judith Rich Harris, and G is for Genes, by Kathryn Asbury & Robert Plomin. All these books prove, citing the mainstream literature, that environment and upbringing or plasticity have very little effect on the personality and behavior traits and outcomes of any individual. As Turkheimer wrote, everything is heritable. "Genetic determinism" is the null premise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-79270888688215619452014-10-29T04:37:15.619-04:002014-10-29T04:37:15.619-04:00Hey Ken Weiss.
Do you know of what Evan Charney i...Hey Ken Weiss.<br /><br />Do you know of what Evan Charney is up to lately? <br /><br />Last I got was the Chasing ghosts article on GCTA.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-14417192762987503992014-10-28T19:22:31.785-04:002014-10-28T19:22:31.785-04:00Even if we assume that IQ is real, and that IQ tes...Even if we assume that IQ is real, and that IQ tests measure what the strongest proponents claim, the IQ of a fetus can't be measured, nor that of a young infant. Therefore, it's impossible to know that IQ is the same from the time whatever it is first develops to the time of the first IQ test. Given what we know about how the brain grows, that neurons and synapses respond to environmental stimuli in utero and in early infancy, I would suggest that early experience is integral to the molding of whatever it is IQ tests are measuring. That is, it's not immutable.Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-40229058962297653892014-10-28T18:00:13.655-04:002014-10-28T18:00:13.655-04:00Ah, thanks. So that nails it! Early experience, ...Ah, thanks. So that nails it! Early experience, environment, resources, and all that other fluffy stuff that has distracted science is put to rest. And study, practice, calisthenics, and so on are a total waste of time since, obviously, you've either got it or you don't. I think even Plomin would add at least a few caveats to the iconic worship of 'intelligence'.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-69468363913557226672014-10-28T12:16:34.695-04:002014-10-28T12:16:34.695-04:00IQ, and the g factor, is largely immutable. The ma...IQ, and the g factor, is largely immutable. The mainstream scientific literature has proven this many times over. For example, Plomin's publications on the subject.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com