• Environmental Malleability of Cognitive Abilities: It's like the Play-Doh of the brain. It can change based on the environment.

• Nature-Nurture Problem: How much is IQ about our genes, and how much is it about where and how we grow up?

• Additive Influence: Both genes and environment add up to determine our IQ.

• Adoption Studies Angle: Look at the correlation between adopted child's cognitive abilities and:

  • Adoptive parents 🤱
  • Biological parents 👩‍🦱👨‍🦱

• Adoption Studies Angle: Compare cognitive abilities of:

  • Adopted children 👶
  • Siblings raised by biological parents 👧👦

• Surprising Findings:

  • Moving to wealthier families can boost IQ! 💼💰📈
  • Even so, the IQ of adopted kids often matches more closely with their bio parents than adoptive ones, suggesting strong genetic links. 🧬

Imagine you're a plant 🌱. Your genetics might determine your potential height. But if you're planted in fertile soil with lots of sunshine and water, you'll grow taller than if you're in poor soil in the shade. Just like this, children with "good" genetics in "good" environments get the best of both worlds!

• Location: Sweden 🇸🇪
• Design: Compare IQ scores between home-reared siblings and adopted ones.
• Findings: IQ can change based on environment (higher education of adoptive parents = higher IQ), but there's a genetic component too.