Which of the two plays a greater role in the development of our personality and cognitive abilities: our genes or our upbringing? The debate concerning the impact of the environment versus our genetic makeup on the development of our individual traits and characteristics is still raging on.
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Have RerearchersFinally Settled The Nature vs Nurture Debate?
In the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific, Professor Robert Plomin talks to Jim Al-Khalili about what makes people smarter than others. Having conducted several adopted twin studies, he has shown that genetic influences on intelligence are highly significant. In fact, he argues that most of the differences in children's performance can be attributed to DNA differences between them. If parents feel that their children are just a blob of clay which they can mould any way they like, they are sadly mistaken. Prof. Plomin claims that the quality of education accounts for only 20% of the differences between children and school achievement, whereas genectics accounts for well over half of the differences.