Educational Achievement and Intelligence Robert Plomin

[stevemorse]

I got 4.0 GPA at three universities at MA level; Philosophy, Law and International Relations but have not been successful interns of a professional trajectory due to psychological vulnerabilities....its all fine and well to say that one student finds it easier to learn but beware of lack of resilience faced with stress.

[stockstradr]

Most people don’t realize how courageous it is for a scientist speak these truths in public. This video is a heroic act because what he’s explaining goes directly against politically correct (and scientifically unfounded) opinion. People get fired all the time for explaining scientific evidence on the topics he’s covering. What about other nations approach? Look at China, where I have a second home. China takes what he’s explaining as common sense and well established by science and China runs its entire education system based on teaching to the brightest by using academic achievement as a proxy for IQ and then skimming the top smartest kids into elite schools with hyperspeed curriculum. American public schools reach dumbed down curriculum that teaches to the least achieving, so drags the
One with greatest potential down to the lowest level. My kids go to USA public school and come home each day dragging an anchor which is the curriculum and homework that’s TWO TO THREE YEARS behind the content we tutor them on day.

[infinitewisdom]

This is the most natural thing to expect... Thanks professor!

[MauroRincon]

There is some fair criticism to prof. Plomin's views on education that have been voiced by others in the field and are certainly valid: prof. Plomin has focused on middle class families with "normal" family dynamics. Thus, the effect of trauma is not included in his assessments. Thus, trauma arising from family violence or drug abuse, gang violence in a kid's suburb or exposure to bad food and unhygienic conditions make a bit dent on the results of standarized tests that is far less explained by genetic factors.

[Agorante]

Plomin is six foot five. Thus is relevant because he argues that his height was largely determined the night when his parents created him. There are a couple hundred (or a couple thousand) SNPs that influence human height, We can now scan a genome for those elements and develop a count of how many of them code for greater height and how many for lesser height.

Because there are many SNPs and each only has a tiny influence they follow a normal distribution. Dr, Plomin has mostly the tall variants. This technique is called a "polygenic score". It is established at the moment of conception and never changes throughout life.

The same technique works with intelligence. I just finished his book last week. Fascinating stuff.

[goldiefatale]

Why does it make people so angry to realize that some people are smarter than others. How is this a revelation?

[zephyrzee]

A fascination with numbers at an early age is a sure sign of intelligence. The kid is fascinated with abstraction. The ability to express difficult issues in a simple way is another. Also, the ability to know what the speaker is trying to get at even before he completes the sentence. None of the these can be taught.

[Toonew]

I don't know how I managed to watch the video, loved it.

[nurlanmustafayev]

He provides a good framework for thinking about the relationship between genetics and public policy. But handling 'polygenic score' is a big question; people can be stigmatized for having lower score in cognitive intelligence. May be the first step for this process should be 'polygenic assessment' for illnesses only rather than intelligence.

[warrbarrt]

Cant wait to dive into this book!! Damn!!

[Trendlespin]

I am trying to keep an open mind but I do think if I had been told that I would have a more difficult time in school and might not be college material I might not have even tried. I think it could be a certificate for depression and a motivator to not even reach towards more, but perhaps someone who knows they would be at the top of the scale has no sympathy for someone who might be on the lower end.

[Sarah-pqdm]

I'm curious as to how they quantify the amount of intelligence some inherits. How do they determine objectively the intelligence of a parent? and wouldn't the age of the parent also affect their results?

[vaishalichakravarty]

Dr. Plomin is absolutely right. Thank you for this video.

[nurbsenvi]

This is so true, my son struggles to write certain alphabet and he often write them back to front where some of his peers are writing simple daily journals.

The difference at that age is huge and it's such a painful process for the teacher to conform every kid to same level.

[NikkiTrudelle]

What if you were really intelligent by inheritance, but grew up in a home with one or more of your immediate family members who happened to choose drugs or alcohol, over reality? So much so they were sometimes out of their rational minds, and operating on anger, or hallucinations so as to be unpredictable.

It’s hard to do well on a test if your meth addicted sister is bursting into your shared bedroom at 3am to pick at the imaginary things she believes live in her face, because that’s the trip she’s on, being methed out .

Much of my mental ability that could have been used at school was used up trying to navigate crazy addicts.

I still went to college and graduated, but I bet I could have done a lot better in high school if I had a different environment.

I can’t help but wonder how a different environment might have helped me to make it even high than I did in hire education.

[mikiallen]

lastly do you think special intervention programs say for health and educationally ill-prepared would make up for the this part of intelligence which as you indicated is highly heritable ?

[subhuman]

Better swallow the bitter truth than sweet lies.

[aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

If you're intelligent then the school system obviously wasn't designed for you. When I heard the teacher say everybody's special I just gave up.

[FranklinHicks-qsgs]

How long before youtube burns this book??

[MrSupertwo]

I think that in the realm of understanding intelligence, it is difficult for psychologists to understand mechanical aptitude. And, I don't mean in a learned fashion, but simply that some people have a mechanical aptitude that does not translate into academics.