Larry and Ira are brothers who are two years apart in age. Larry went to one public school for his grade school years, but before Ira could go to that school the district underwent a rezoning. Ira, therefore, ended up going to a different school with less-qualified teachers and fewer resources. As a result, Larry tended to perform much better in school than Ira did. This example demonstrates the influence of
A) active gene-environment relationships
B) niche-picking
C) nonshared environmental influences
D) asynchronous environmental genotypes

Question

Larry and Ira are brothers who are two years apart in age. Larry went to one public school for his grade school years, but before Ira could go to that school the district underwent a rezoning. Ira, therefore, ended up going to a different school with less-qualified teachers and fewer resources. As a result, Larry tended to perform much better in school than Ira did. This example demonstrates the influence of
A) ​active gene-environment relationships
B) ​niche-picking
C) ​nonshared environmental influences
D) ​asynchronous environmental genotypes

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The example given in the question is an illustration of nonshared environmental influences. Larry and Ira had different educational experiences due to the change in school zoning, which affected their academic performance differently. This indicates that environmental factors (in this case, school quality) had a bigger impact on their development than genetic factors. The other options, active gene-environment relationships, niche-picking, and asynchronous environmental genotypes, do not fit the example as well as nonshared environmental influences.

Larry and Ira Are Brothers Who Are Two Years Apart