Lecture 2b - Intelligence Health And Longevity

Question 1

What three things are considered important to define intelligence?

Answer 1

The ability to think abstractly
To think systematically and according to rules
The ability to learn quickly

Question 2

How genetically inheritable is g?

Answer 2

80% , correlation coefficient of 0.8

Question 3

What does your g level look like as you get older?

Answer 3

Increases steadily up to young adult, then plateaus, followed by increasing decline from middle to old age.

Question 4

What age do women reach their g peak level?

Answer 4

Approximately 16

Question 5

What age do boys reach their g peak?

Answer 5

Approximately 18

Question 6

What do we mean when we say g is robust?

Answer 6

Because it is in your genes it is quite robust against other factors like environment, disease and nutrition. So you can’t really get smarter or dumber

Question 7

So if g is so robust why might you get different IQ scores?

Answer 7

IQ is affected by anything that effects testing, so if you have a bad headache when you take the test you do bacdly, but your underlying g is still the same.

Question 8

What can IQ measured in childhood predict in later life?

Answer 8

Adult income
Type of societal class
Success in jobs
Level of education

Question 9

What does high IQ negatively correlate with?

Answer 9

Fertility/ the actual number of children you have

Question 10

Do we see the negative correlation in fertility and intelligence stronger in one gender? If so which? And what is the average number of children?

Answer 10

Yes, the effect is stronger in women

They have an average of 0.5 children in the most intelligent women

Question 11

After looking the correlations to do with intelligence, what is it’s likely evolutionary trajectory?

Answer 11

Intelligence, although considered good in modern society, is not biologically good. Therefore, if intelligent people are having less and less children, it is less and less likely to be selected into the next generation.

Question 12

What can intelligence predict about our health and longevity of life ?

Answer 12

High IQ positively correlates with life span.
There is also a correlation with decreased levels of disease like heart disease and lung cancer. As well as the average amount of cancer overall
But breast cancer and colon cancer might be increased.

Question 13

What aspect of health negatively correlates with high intelligence?

Answer 13

The number of accidents. Therefore , the higher your intelligence the lower the number of accidents you’ll have.

Question 14

Why do those with high IQ likely have less accidents ?

Answer 14

Because they have awareness of risk and longer term horizons

Question 15

Why was intelligence originally selected into the population?

Answer 15

We moved from hunter gatherers to agriculture, requires long term horizons if storing seed and basing things on a yearly basis rather than immediate. So higher intelligence was favoured and those people survived.

Question 16

Give a reason why intelligence is still selected? And 2 for why it’s not

Answer 16

+ Intelligence is related to lower disease and longer life span

• Intelligence requires a larger brain and therefore a larger skull, this can be a problem for giving birth.
• Intelligence requires a longer childhood where their brain has time to develop.

Question 17

What is the theory by Linda gottfredson?

Answer 17

Deadly innovation theory

Question 18

Explain the premise behind the deadly innovation hypothesis

Answer 18

Increasing intelligence leads to increased innovations. Innovations in turn Lead to increased number of accidents which will likely accidentally kill those of lower intelligence. Therefore the intelligent survive and create more innovations.

Self perpetuating loop

Question 19

Give an example of the deadly innovation hypothesis in action?

Answer 19

Kalahani bushmen, used to use regular arrows, then someone added poison. Less intelligent people died by sticking themselves with arrows and therefore only the intelligent ones survived to innovate onwards to long bows etc etc

Question 20

State a reason why only those who are intelligent survive

Give a real life reason

Answer 20

Sometimes situations require a high minimum level of intelligence.
For example, ashkenazi Jews (European Jews) have an IQ that’s 15 points higher than others. This is because Jews used to only allowed to be money lenders, therefore those who were not intelligent enough for this job were not allowed to be Jews or died off. Only the intelligent ones procreated.

Question 21

Although ashkenazi Jews are intelligent, what is the disadvantage of this adaptation that evolved so quickly?

Answer 21

There are some neurological diseases that only effect these Jews. (Harpending and Cochran)

Question 22

How do you measure general factor intelligence (g)?

Answer 22

IQ tests