One of the things that stuck out to me the most during psych 1001 one was when we talked about where the consciousness resides "what makes you, you" self-awareness has always been an interest of mind. The idea of consciousness amazes me, how does it happen? Why is it unique to everyone? In 1001 we watched a short film "The Secret You" from BBC with Marcus de Sautoy. The film asks very scientific based questions and showed us the modern approaches we use to solve these big questions. "The Secret You" tries to explain where consciousness resides and explains that the cortex, located on the outer part of the brain, allows us to be self-aware. As far as evidence the show did a great job because they had and actual brain which was really interesting to see, also kind of creepy (which is another reason why the information stuck). But my interest wasn't quite satisfied; I wanted to go more in-depth because there are so many interesting theories and questions and the fact that there isn't a direct approach or solution to this. I've attached a couple videos of people exploring the philosophical side of consciousness what do you think of some of the questions they are asking?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoR0bMohcNo&list=PLE3048008DAA29B0A&feature=plpp_play_all
Zach Zelickson: April 2012 Archives
There are a lot of theories out there explaining the influences of IQ and it all falls back on the big question Nature or Nurture.
Today, nearly all psychologists recognize that both genetics and the environment play a role in determining intelligence. It now becomes matter of determining exactly how much of an influence each factor has.
Here are some arguments for each side.
Evidence of genetic influences:
• Twin studies suggest that identical twins IQ's are more similar than those of fraternal twins
• Siblings raised together in the same home have IQ's that are more similar than those of adopted children raised together in the same
Evidence of environmental influences:
• Identical twins reared apart have IQ's that are less similar than identical twins reared in the same environment
• School attendance has an impact on IQ scores
• Children who are breastfed during the first three to five months of life score higher on IQ tests at age 6 than same-age children who were not breastfed
I found it very interesting that there has been significant data proving Genetic influences on IQ. The article I posted below shows this direct prove of Genetic influence "Large sample size studies in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins raised together show an average correlation of .86 for MZ twins, while the correlation for DZ twins is only .60." Over all if I had to weigh it out I believe that environmental factors influence intelligence significantly more than genetics, What do you guys think?
www.scq.ubc.ca/the-genetic-basis-of-intelligence/
