DP Exam 3 (pt.2)

IQ differences for (is due to what..)

1) Children from LOW-INCOME Families

2) Children from MIDDLE/HIGH INCOME Families

1) Low-income

• Due to ENVIRONMENTAL factors

2) Middle/High income:

• Due to GENETIC factors

What do the twin studies + SES tell us about intelligence?

Twins from LOW-INCOME = similar IQ to Fraternal twins

In low-income families, identical twins are only slightly more similar in IQ than fraternal twins, despite sharing 100% versus ~50% of their genes. What does this finding reveal about the role of environment at low income levels?

A. Low-income children have less genetic variation than high-income children, making twins more equal.

B. The shared, limiting environment suppresses the expression of genetic differences — all children are pulled toward a similar IQ regardless of their genetic makeup.

C. Fraternal twins in low-income families share more than 50% of their genes due to inbreeding.

D. IQ tests are biased against low-income children, making the results unreliable in this group.

B

In middle- and high-income families, IQ differences are strongly explained by genetic factors. What condition of the environment makes this possible, according to the material?

A. High-income environments actively suppress environmental differences so only genes can vary.

B. High-income parents select for genetic superiority, increasing the heritability of IQ.

C. The environment is sufficiently good for all children in this group that it no longer acts as a limiting constraint — genetic differences are therefore free to express themselves as IQ differences.

D. Middle- and high-income children receive more genetic testing, making genetic influences more detectable.

C

A researcher reports that heritability of IQ is approximately 0.30 in a low-income sample and 0.70 in a high-income sample. Which interpretation is most consistent with the material?

A. High-income children are genetically superior to low-income children.

B. Environmental factors are irrelevant for high-income children because they have no meaningful environmental variation.

C. The measurement tools used for IQ are more accurate in high-income samples, producing higher heritability estimates.

D. Genes matter more for intelligence at high income levels because better environments allow genetic potential to be expressed, while constrained environments suppress genetic variation in outcomes.

D

The hippocampus SES study enrolled over 700 children and adolescents across 10 sites. What specific hypothesis was this study designed to test?

A. Whether genetic variation in the hippocampus predicts IQ differences across income levels.

B. Whether SES correlates more strongly with hippocampal volume at lower income levels — providing neural evidence that environment has a stronger impact on brain development when resources are scarce.

C. Whether children from low-income families have structurally different brains than high-income children at all SES levels equally.

D. Whether daycare attendance improves hippocampal volume in children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

B

Why is hippocampal volume a theoretically appropriate outcome to use when testing whether environmental deprivation affects brain development?

A. The hippocampus is involved in memory and learning — cognitive functions directly relevant to IQ and academic achievement — making it a biologically plausible target for environmental effects on cognition.

B. The hippocampus controls emotional regulation, which is the primary pathway through which poverty affects children.

C. Hippocampal volume is the only brain measure that can be reliably collected across 10 research sites.

D. Prior research shows the hippocampus is unaffected by genetics, making it a pure environmental measure.

A

What affect (relationship) does poverty have on intellectual development?

INCREASES number of RISK

• DECREASES intellectual development

How does not attending school impact intelligence?

LOW vs HIGH SES?

High SES:

• maintain/gain skills 

Low SES:

• Lose 2-3 months in reading skills

The grade-cutoff study compared the youngest children in Grade 5 to the oldest children in Grade 4 — children of nearly the same age but in different grades. Why is this comparison more informative than simply comparing all Grade 4 children to all Grade 5 children?

A. Comparing cutoff children removes the effect of teacher quality, which varies by grade.

B. By holding age roughly constant and varying grade, the design isolates the effect of an additional year of schooling from the effect of simply being older — ruling out maturation as the explanation for performance differences.

C. Children at the grade cutoff are more academically motivated, making comparisons more valid.

D. The cutoff design eliminates socioeconomic differences between grades that would otherwise confound results.

B

Students lose 1–2 months of academic skills over the summer, and lower-income students lose 2–3 months in reading while higher-income students often maintain or gain skills. What does this asymmetry most directly imply about the source of the SES achievement gap?

A. Lower-income children have lower genetic potential for reading, which becomes apparent without school structure.

B. The school year equalizes all children regardless of SES; gap widens during summer — implicating out-of-school environments, not schools, as a primary driver of the gap.

C. Higher-income schools are better at preventing summer loss because teachers assign more homework.

D. The SES achievement gap is produced exclusively by differences in teacher quality during the school year.

B

The cognitive dip after vacation is observed in children but not in young adults. What does this age-specificity suggest?

A. Young adults are more intelligent than children and therefore more resistant to cognitive loss.

B. The effect is likely tied to the school calendar specifically — young adults are not on the same vacation schedule, so the dip is absent by design.

C. The finding is specific to children because their cognitive systems are still developing and more sensitive to environmental scaffolding; mature adult cognition is less dependent on continued school-like structure to maintain its level.

D. Young adults experience a reverse dip — their cognition improves during summer — which cancels out any apparent effect.

C

Carol Dweck’s Theory

Individuals hold beliefs about their intelligence (fixed vs Growth mindset) & it influences their overall effort 

Categorize Fixed & Growth Mindset factors:

1) Motivation

2) Failures → How do they perceive them?

3) Self-worth

Fixed:

1. Motivation → Performance & Approval 

2. Failures → Personal Flaw 

3. Self-worth → Based on OTHER’S approval 

Growth: 

4. Motivation → Learning Goals & Mastery 

5. Failures → Challenges (persist & learn) 

Self-worth → Based on ONE’S OWN effort

what kind of mindset do these reinforce?

Effort-based Praise

vs

Trait-based Praise

Effort-based Praise

• Growth Mindset

Trait-based Praise

• Fixed mindset

When does FEAR & ANGER emerge in child development?

(Different times)

Fear:

• 6 months

Anger:

• 4 months

What are some self-conscious Emotions?

• When do they emerge?

Develop once a child has…

• Shame, Embarrassment, Guilt

2 years old

1) Developed a sense of self

2) Appreciate what others expect of them

Guilt vs Shame

Guilt

• Regret about one’s behavior

• WANT TO FIX IT

Shame:

• Personal failure

Explain:

Broken Doll Experiment (Guilt vs Shame)  

Guilt:

• Try to FIX the doll & TELL adult 

Shame:

DON’T try to fix the doll & DELAY telling adult

1. Guilt if parent emphasizes the ‘badness’ of the ____

2. Shame if parent emphasizes badness of the ___

1: ACTION

2: CHILD

Social Referencing