Question

Define intelligence. Discuss the significance of heredity and environment in our

behavior in about 400words

Answer 1

Both heredity and environment have important roles to play in shaping the personality of an individual. In psychology, this has been called as the nature vs nurture debate. Nature refers to the innate tendencies of the individual caused by the fact that he belongs to a particular family and has inherited the genes and mannerisms of his family and he has also some inborn qualities. Of this, the traits he has inherited are a very influential factor in his development. Our physical structure, color of our eyes, height, even mannerisms are inherited.
It has been found that a child receives 23 pairs of chromosomes from his parents, 23 from mother and 23 from father. Genes present in these chromosomes are transferred from parents to the offspring. It is possible for the species to evolve by mix and match in the genes. Twins are found to have similar IQs and characteristics though they may have been raised separately.
On the other hand, environment has been found to play a major role in development as well. The superior biological factors do not work if a conducive environment has not been provided to the child. A disturbed environment in the house can produce anxieties in the child, which can hamper his healthy growth.
In the formative years, if the child does not get proper nutrition, physical growth will be affected even though he has healthy genes. Researches have shown that proper language development takes place if the child is exposed to the language in childhood and he gets a proper environment to learn it. In adulthood spontaneous and up to the mark language learning does not take place.
Thus, we can conclude this the role of the two factors is not debatable. In fact, both the factors work hand in hand towards ensuring a complete development of the individual.