For nearly a century most psychologists have embraced one view of intelligence. Individuals are born with more or less intelligence potential (I.Q.); this potential is heavily influenced by heredity and difficult to alter; experts in measurement can determine a person’s intelligence early in life, currently from paper-and-pencil measures, perhaps eventually from examining the brain in action or even scrutinizing his/her genome. Recently, criticism of this conventional wisdom has mounted. Biologists ask if speaking of a single entity called “intelligence” is coherent and question the validity of measures used to estimate herability of a trait in humans, who, unlike plants or animals, are not conceived and bred under controlled conditions.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Correct Answer :
Biologists have questioned the long-standing view that ‘intelligence’ is a single entity and the attempts to estimate its heritability.
Solution :
The passage discusses the traditional psychological view of intelligence as a single, hereditary, easily measured entity, and then introduces the modern biological criticism that questions whether intelligence is indeed a single entity and whether its heritability can be accurately measured in uncontrolled human populations. Option 1 precisely captures both key criticisms raised by biologists.
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