Adoption May Affect IQ Scores for the Better
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iStock/Thinkstock(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) — Children who are adopted may have an advantage over other kids that scientists have never previously considered.
Based on findings of a new study, youngsters who were adopted fared better in IQ tests than their brothers or sisters who stayed with their biological parents.
Study co-author Eric Turkheimer, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, says the difference was about four points higher based on an analysis of 400 sets of full male brothers from Sweden who were given IQ tests that are part of mandatory military service.
Turkheimer acknowledges that the research can’t say definitively whether adoption is responsible for a higher IQ of four points, the equivalent to moving up ten percent in cognitive ability, compared to the general population.
However, the findings do seem to suggest that even when genetic factors are considered, “the more educated the adoptive parents are, the bigger the advantage for the child.”
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