Heredity can best be viewed as something that sets a _________ within an individual's development supported by opportunities in one's environment.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Range
Intelligence is a product of the complex interaction of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture). Heredity can best be viewed as something that sets a range within which an individual’s development is actually shaped by the support and opportunities of the environment. Heredity fixes the upper and lower limits; the environment decides where within them the person ends up.
Option (1) Scale — Incorrect. A scale is a measuring instrument or a graded series; heredity does not measure development, it limits it.
Option (2) Fraction — Incorrect. A fraction is a part of a whole. Heredity is not a share of development to which the environment adds the rest; the two interact.
Option (3) Approach — Incorrect. An approach is a way of studying or dealing with something; it says nothing about the limits within which development can vary.
NCERT (2025-26): “…There is evidence that environmental deprivation lowers intelligence while rich nutrition, good family background, and quality schooling increases intelligence. There is a general consensus among psychologists that intelligence is a product of complex interaction of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture). Heredity can best be viewed as something that sets a range within which an individual’s development is actually shaped by the support and opportunities of the environment.…” |