Invitation to Psychology

254 Chapter 7 Thinking and Intelligence

differences: The Chinese had worse facilities and

larger classes than the Americans, and on average,

the Chinese parents were poorer and less educated

than parents in the U.S. Nor did it have anything

to do with intellectual abilities in general: The

American children were just as knowledgeable and

capable as the Asian children on tests of general

information. But the Asians and Americans were

worlds apart in their attitudes and efforts:

•   Beliefs. American parents, teachers, and chil-

dren were far more likely than Asians to believe

that mathematical ability is innate: If you have

this ability you don’t have to work hard, and

if you don’t have it, there’s no point in trying.

(See Figure 7.9.)

•   Standards. American parents had far lower stan-

dards for their children’s performance; they were

satisfied with scores barely above average on a

100-point test. In contrast, Chinese and Japanese

parents were happy only with very high scores.

•   Values. American students did not value educa-

tion as much as Asian students did, and they

were more complacent about mediocre work.

When asked what they would wish for if a

wizard could give them anything they wanted,

more than 60 percent of the Chinese fifth grad-

ers named something related to their education.

Can you guess what the American children

wanted? A majority said money or possessions.

When it comes to intellect, then, it’s not just

what you’ve got that counts, but what you do with

Percentage who say studying hard is most important for math performance TeachersStudents

100

90

60

30

80

50

20

70

40

10

0

Japanese Americans

FIGuRE 7.9 What’s the Secret of Math Success?

Japanese schoolteachers and students are much more

likely than their American counterparts to believe that the

secret to doing well in math is working hard. Americans

tend to think that you either have mathematical intelli-

gence or you don’t (Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993).

Recite & Review

Recite: Don’t be complacent; take this opportunity to say out loud everything you can recall

about the heritability of IQ, group differences in IQ, environmental influences on IQ and mental abili-

ties, and factors other than IQ that contribute to intellectual achievement.

Review: Next, reread this material.

Now take this Quick Quiz:

1. On average, behavioral-genetic studies estimate the heritability of intelligence to be (a) about
   .90, (b) about .20, (c) low at all ages, (d) higher for adults than for children.


2. True or false: If a trait such as intelligence is highly heritable within a group, then differences
   between groups must also be due mainly to heredity.


3. The available evidence (does/does not) show that ethnic differences in average IQ scores are
   the result of genetic differences.


4. Name five environmental factors associated with reduced mental ability.


5. According to a study of eighth graders, __ is more strongly correlated with school
   performance than __ is.
   Answers:

Study and Review at MyPsychLab

poor prenatal care, malnutrition, exposure to toxins, stressful family circumstances, and living in an 4. does not3. false2. d1.

self-discipline; IQ 5. impoverished and disadvantaged neighborhood

it—and also the value your society places on intel-

lectual accomplishment (Ripley, 2013). A 2012

report from the National Center for Educational

Statistics found that educational reforms in some

U.S. states have boosted children’s performance

significantly in recent years, but in others scores

remain low. Complacency, fatalism, low standards,

inadequate teaching methods, and a cultural

emphasis on immediate gratification can all pre-

vent people from recognizing what they don’t

know and can stifle their ability to learn.

Watch the Video Thinking Like a Psychologist:

Intelligence Tests and Success at MyPsychLab