Historical discussions of the euthanasia or "lethal chamber" option in relation to people with mental retardation are presented. The paper concludes that eugenic beliefs in the primacy of heredity over environment and the positive role of natural selection may have condoned the poor conditions characteristic of large, segregated institutions and…

The futility of the debate between heredity and environment as determinants of intelligence is argued, with convictions inspired by C. Burt's work (apart from the question of fraud in his work). It is contended that the influence of this misconceived ideological disagreement is apparent in today's educational systems. (SLD)

Researchers have concluded that the continued debate over the heredity-environment issue concerning the nature of intelligence is nonproductive. Recent evidence demonstrates that intellectual abilities can be improved with practice. Heredity may determine upper limits of abilities within individuals, but there is considerable room left for…

Wolff has recently reinterpreted the data of Lee to indicate that Black migration from the south to Philadelphia had been selective in an IQ-relevant manner. However, Wolff's deduction from Lee's data is shown to depend entirely upon an assumption about cumulative IQ deficit in southern Black children. (Author/CTM)

Kamin has contended that arguments presented in Wolff are too weak to justify selective migration. Although Kamin's critique points up the need for closer scrutiny of the cumulative-deficit phenomenon, it fails to refute Wolff's conclusion that selective migration is partly responsible for the North-South Black IQ differential. (Author/CTM)

Based on findings from four studies (conducted between 1928 and 1979) of adopted children, discusses the differential effects of heredity and environment on intellectual development. (GC)

Investigates factors, including heredity and culture, contributing to exceptional Asian American academic achievement. Proposes the concept of relative functionalism, under which Asian Americans perceive and have experienced restrictions in upward mobility in occupations unrelated to education. Consequently, educational achievement assumes…

Recent data suggest that genes influence three domains of great importance to family researchers: (1) developmental outcomes; (2) family variables that are thought to influence those outcomes; and (3) covariance between measures of family process and developmental outcomes. Influence of genes on variances and covariances challenges current…

Ten myths and countermyths about intelligence are explored. It is argued that the desire for simplicity and publicity has led psychologists and others writing about intelligence to take positions that cannot be justified by current theory or recent data. However defined, intelligence is but one aspect of being human. (SLD)

This paper examines the question of the hereditary nature of intelligence and the validity of some of the statistical procedures which have been used in measuring the degree of hereditability. The author feels that proof of the question lacks sufficient scientific rigor for the support of any conclusion, particulary for a question of such…

"The Bell Curve" by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray has generated enormous debate as a result of its claim that there is a connection between race and intelligence. The essays of this collection respond to "The Bell Curve" in various ways. Taken together, the following offer an antidote to a work of dubious premises…

The exact nature of the events which may predispose a person to substance abuse is not known. This paper provides a theoretical discussion and review which emphasizes three contexts which have been shown to predispose on individual to drug abuse: (1) prenatal exposure to a given substance; (2) environmental conditions present upon first exposure…

The contribution of heredity to scores on a digit span intelligence test, Jensen's Memory for Numbers, was estimated with a standard heritability formula. The test measures level I mental ability--the capacity to store and recall, but not ability to elaborate or manipulate stimuli. Subjects were 35 monozygotic (MZ) twins and 35 same-sex dizygotic…

This book reports on a study of 850 pairs of twins who were tested to determine the influence of heredity and environment on individual differences in personality, academic ability, and interests. It presents the background, research design, and procedure of the study, tabulations of the test results, and extensive analyses of the findings.…

This paper examines evidence supporting the hypothesis that environment differentially affects intelligence in a sex-specific manner. The current position that environment and heredity contribute interactively to intelligence obscures the greater vulnerability and exposure of males to environmental influences and the reciprocal lack of equivalent…