According to Nature vs. Nurture studies, arrange the I.Q. of twins and siblings in order of high to low correlation:
(A) Identical twins reared in different environments
(B) Fraternal twins reared together
(C) Identical twins reared together
(D) Siblings reared apart
(E) Siblings reared together
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
(C), (A), (B), (E), (D)
(A), (B), (C), (E), (D)
(B), (C), (D), (E), (A)
(C), (E), (D), (B), (A)
(C), (A), (B), (E), (D)
The correct answer is (C), (A), (B), (E), (D).
To understand why this is the correct sequence, we look at the research findings from Nature vs. Nurture studies on intelligence (I.Q.). These studies measure the correlation coefficient of I.Q. scores between pairs of individuals with varying degrees of genetic similarity (Nature) reared in either the same or different environments (Nurture).
Here is the breakdown of the correlation values based on standard psychological research:
1. (C) Identical twins reared together: Since they share 100% of their genetic material and grow up in the same environment, they show the highest correlation in I.Q. scores, typically around 0.85.
2. (A) Identical twins reared in different environments: Even though they are raised apart, because they share 100% of their genetic makeup, their I.Q. correlation remains extremely high, typically around 0.72 to 0.75. This demonstrates a strong genetic influence.
3. (B) Fraternal twins reared together: Fraternal twins share 50% of their genes on average. Being raised together in the same environment, their I.Q. correlation is typically around 0.60.
4. (E) Siblings reared together: Regular siblings also share 50% of their genes on average. Raised together, their correlation is slightly lower than fraternal twins (who share the exact same age/temporal environment), typically around 0.45 to 0.50.
5. (D) Siblings reared apart: Siblings sharing 50% of their genes but raised in different homes show the lowest correlation among these groups, typically around 0.20 to 0.25.
Arranging these from the highest to the lowest correlation gives:
(C) [~0.85] ⇒ (A) [~0.75] ⇒ (B) [~0.60] ⇒ (E) [~0.47] ⇒ (D) [~0.24].
Therefore, the correct sequence from high to low correlation is indeed (C), (A), (B), (E), (D).