A new report said we may get most of our smarts from our mothers.
The report, documented by Jennifer Delgado, of the blog Psychology Spot, said that recent studies have pointed to intelligence in children coming from the mother rather than the father. According to Delgado, the basis of the thesis comes from "conditioned genes," or ones that "behave differently depending on their origin," which work "only if they come from the mother."
Delgado said that about half of one's intelligence is hereditary and that the best predictor of intelligence was the IQ of the child's mother. She cited studies she said were conducted by the University of Ulm, Germany, and the University of Cambridge, and identified a study that found that "the ratio of young people's intelligence varied only an average of 15 points from that of their mothers."
The report also cites a study conducted by the University of Minnesota that found that "children who have developed a strong attachment with their mothers develop a capacity of playing complex symbolic games at the age of two, are most persevering, and show less frustration during the troubleshooting."
Delgado's report is unconfirmed.
Read more at Psychology Spot.
About the Author
