Psychology Assignment: General Intelligence and Twin Studies Analysis

This report delves into the concepts of general intelligence and twin studies, examining their significance in psychology. The assignment explores the definition and impact of general intelligence, as initially described by Charles Spearman, highlighting its role in influencing cognitive abilities and performance on intelligence tests like the Stanford-Binet. The report also investigates the equal environment assumption (EEA) and its implications for understanding the influence of genetic and environmental factors on traits, particularly through the study of dizygotic and monozygotic twins. The report references key literature, including works by Felson and Goertzel, to support its findings. This assignment provides a comprehensive overview of these important concepts, offering insights into how they shape our understanding of human cognition and behavior.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Investigating psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PSYCHOLOGY
The term general intelligence commonly referred to as g-factor encompasses existence of
a wide mental capacity, which is capable of influencing performances that are based on measures
of cognitive ability. This term was first described by Charles spearman in 1904 and is directly
responsible for the overall performance manifested by individual on mental ability examinations
(Goertzel 2014). General intelligence is significant to modern psychology owing to the fact that
several contemporary intelligence tests such as, the Stanford-Binet measure comprises of an
assessment of several cognitive factors that are controlled by general intelligence such as, visual
spatial processing, working memory, quantitative reasoning, knowledge, and fluid reasoning.
The term equal environment assumption refers to a biometric model, which is capable of
predicting how far dizygotic (DZ) and monozygotic (MZ) twins are associated to each other, in
relation to their exposure to several environmental factors that are of ecological significance to
the traits being studied. The test of EEA was introduced by Scarr in 1968 (Felson 2014).
Importance of the concept in psychology can be associated with the fact that it postulates that
greater similarity between identical twins can be attributed to increase the genetic similarity
between them, rather than any similarity between the environments in which they are residing.

2PSYCHOLOGY
References
Felson, J., 2014. What can we learn from twin studies? A comprehensive evaluation of the equal
environments assumption. Social science research, 43, pp.184-199.
Goertzel, B., 2014. Artificial general intelligence: concept, state of the art, and future
prospects. Journal of Artificial General Intelligence, 5(1), pp.1-48.