Topic > The importance of breastfeeding and its relation to intelligence

IndexObjective of the research methodResults and conclusionsFuture researchBreastfeeding in relation to intelligence has long been a study of scientists in psychological professions in the years following a 1929 study on the subject. Arguments have gone back and forth, with some arguing that breastfeeding affects children's general intelligence, intelligence measured by a series of intelligence tests. Others, however, contradict this position by noting that if one controls for parental IQ, that supposed causal relationship dissipates. Several studies appear to have laid previous foundations that this researcher wanted to expand and use for further research and analysis. In this study the relationship between breastfeeding and intelligence is tested and analysed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Research Objective In response to the contradictory opinions on the connection between breastfeeding and infant intelligence, the author of this study states that he is attempting to study the effect of breastfeeding on infant intelligence by establishing a control on the IQ of mothers. In his introduction to the study, he makes it clear that he sees several studies that could pose a challenge to his ideas, but he believes it may have a new approach to an old question. In the past, little statistical significance has been found after controlling for parental IQ, but the author of this study hopes that a longitudinal study and multiple IQ tests (previous studies used only one test) could lead to more reliable results and valid. Satoshi Kanazawa's hypothesis It seems that, in general, when women breastfeed their babies, they are more likely to grow into babies with higher IQs. By isolating mothers' IQ and other external factors, Kanazawa believes this will still be true. Method In studying the first generation of participants, respondents operated within the confines of a dependent variable of general intelligence and an independent variable of breastfeeding. The children interviewed took several tests throughout their childhood, at the ages of 7, 11 and 16. These tests tested their general intelligence through a series of intelligence tests and their names were listed as "Drawing Copy Test, Man's Drawing Test". , Southgate Group Reading Test, and Problem Arithmetic Test." Using these scores, the psychologist calculated the children's IQ scores at those three ages and used those scores as primary numbers for the dependent variables. He then asked the participants' mothers whether had breastfed their children while they were newborns and asked them to rank how much their children breastfed. These scores were graded from 0 to 2, indicating whether the child was not fed at all, for less than a month or for more than a month. These factors were all controlled for by the intelligence of the parental figures. These factors were controlled by the parents' total year of education (rated on a scale of 1 to 10) and employment style. of fathers in families, which ranged from no father to clerical and professional positions In addition to these main factors, Kanazawa also controlled for the father's and mother's age at birth, as well as birth weight in ounces. After controlling these factors, Kanazawa proceeded with his studies. Results and Conclusions After collecting her data, Kanazawa performed a regression analysis and found that breastfeeding was strongly associatedto intelligence in every set of age data he analyzed. After analyzing that raw data, he found that the results, while less obvious, were still statistically significant when the data was controlled for parents' education, as well as the families' social class. Furthermore, Kanazawa still saw statistical significance even after calculating birth weight! He found interesting evidence that individual intelligence tests could not be used to develop a correlation between IQ and breastfeeding, but when the tests were combined and analyzed together, the result was clearly significant. Using this evidence, Kanazawa argues that previous studies may have found a lack of evidence because they only used one intelligence test. He claims that, through the use of multiple tests, he was able to uncover a correlation that was previously less obvious. With Kanazawa's recent findings in this area of ​​the connection between breastfeeding and intelligence, much research potential comes to light. As for theoretical application, this research is based on a dominant assumption in the relationship between nature and nurture that psychologists have long known to be true: that parental education affects children's intelligence. With this specific breastfeeding issue, this hypothesis can be further consolidated in the minds of psychologists. It continues to prove that parents are critically important to their children's intelligence. On a more practical level, Kanazawa's research reignites the idea that breastfeeding your children can make them smarter. On the surface, his evidence seems to suggest so. Future ResearchStimulated by the underlying questions about nature and nurture mentioned earlier, it seems to me that this study could be expanded in several ways. First, more studies could be conducted on the effects of breastfeeding. I would be curious to know if the study would produce the same results in other countries or taking into account another generation or using different IQ tests. In a broader sense, the study may lead us to ask more questions about the influence of breastfeeding on babies. How does breastfeeding affect children's ability to develop stable relationships with their parents? How about their relationships with their peers? Does it have any effect? On another level, how does breastfeeding affect a baby's future health? Is there a correlation between breastfeeding and infant BMI? Is there a correlation between breastfeeding and the child's desire for good health? These would all be questions that could be explored with further research. In my case, I would be particularly interested in exploring whether the relationship between maternal breastfeeding and children's general intelligence is truly causal or whether it is simply a vague correlation. I understand that the study controlled for social status and general intelligence of the parents, but I don't think those controls are sufficient to adequately isolate the effect of breastfeeding. Such controls may remove parental privilege from the picture, but they do not control for parental motivation. If parents breastfed their children, it seems to me that they would also be more likely to stay closely involved in their children's education, resulting in smarter children. by correlation, rather than breastfeeding actually causes a higher IQ. Personally, I know that my father's education level is not great even when controlled for, which might lead researchers to assume that my intelligence may be associated with other factors, but.