Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T06:32:01.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Special Mental Abilities in a Sample of Twins Reared Apart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

T.J. Bouchard Jr. ,
N.L. Segal  and
D.T. Lykken
T.J. Bouchard Jr.*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
N.L. Segal
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
D.T. Lykken
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
*
Department of Psychology, Elliott Hall, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis MN 55455, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart has conducted comprehensive medical and psychological assessments of monozygotic (N = 49) and dizygotic (N = 25) twin pairs, separated early in life (average age of separation = 0.3 and 1.1 years, respectively) and reared apart during the formative years (average age of reunion = 30.3 and 37.2 years, respectively). The twins are administered two special mental ability batteries. The Hawaii Battery (H-B), supplemented by several Educational Testing Service tests, is administered toward the beginning of the assessment week. The Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB) is administered toward the end of the assessment week. All data are age- and sex-corrected. The average MZA and DZA intraclass correlations for the 15 H-B subtests were 0.45 and 0.34, respectively, and the average MZA and DZA intraclass correlations for the 13 subtests of the CAB were 0.48 and 0.35, respectively. Biometric model-fitting of these data indicate an average heritability of about 0.50. Data for groups of subtests in the Verbal, Spatial, Perceptual Speed and Accuracy and Memory domains were compared to a meta-analysis of the special mental ability findings in the ordinary twin literature. The Spatial domain appears to yield the highest and the Memory domain the lowest heritabilities.

Keywords

Twins reared apartSpecial mental abilities
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 193 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1990

References

REFERENCES

1.Bouchard, TJ Jr (1984): Twins reared apart and together: What they tell us about human diversity. In Fox, SW (ed): Individuality and Determinism. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
2.Bouchard, TJ Jr (1987): Diversity, development and determinism: A report on identical twins reared apart. In Amalang, M (ed): Proceedings of the 1986 meetings of the German Psychological Society. Heidelberg. Germany.Google Scholar
3.DeFries, J, Vandenberg, SG, McClearn, GE (1976): Genetics of specific cognitive abilities. Ann Rev of Genet 10:179–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.DeFries, JC, Johnson, RC, Kuse, AR, McClearn, GE, Polovina, J, Vanderberg, SG, Wilson, JR (1979): Familial resemblance for specific cognitive abilities. Behav Genet 9:23–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Ekstrom, RB, French, JW, Harman, HH (1976): Manual for Kit of Factor-Refernced Cognitive Tests. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.Google Scholar
6.Falconer, DS (1960): Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.Google Scholar
7.Hakstian, AR, Cattell, RB (1978): Higher-stratum ability structures on a basis of twenty primary mental abilities. J Ed Psychol 70:657–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Hanson, B, Tuna, N, Bouchard, TJ Jr, Heston, L, Eckert, E, Lykken, DT, Segal, NL, Rich, S (1989): Genetic factors in the electrocardiogram and heart rate: A study of twins reared apart and together. J Cardiology 63:606–609.Google Scholar
9.Juel-Nielsen, N (1965): Individual and environment: A psychiatric-psychological investigation of monozygous twins reared apart. Psychiatrica et Neurologica Scandinavia, Monograph Supplement, 183. (reprinted by Basic Books, 1980.)Google Scholar
10.Li, CC (1987): A genetic model for emergenesis: In memory of Lawrence H. Snyder, 1901-86. Am J Hum Genet 41:517–523.Google Scholar
11.Lykken, DT (1978): The diagnosis of zygosity in twins. Behav Genet 8:437–473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Lykken, DT (1982): Research with twins: The concept of emergenesis. Psychophysiology 19:361–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Martin, NG, Jardine, R, Eaves, LJ (1984): Is there only one set of genes for different abilities? A reanalysis of the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) Data. Behav Genet 14:355–370.Google Scholar
14.Matarazzo, JD (1972): Wechsler's Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence, 5th ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
15.McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ Jr (1984): Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behav Genet 14:325–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ Jr (1989): Genetic and environmental determinants of information processing and special mental abilities: A twin analysis. In Sternberg, RJ (ed): Advances in the Psychology of Human Intelligence, Vol 5. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
17.Newman, HH, Freeman, FN, Holzinger, KJ (1937): Twins: A Study of Heredity and Environment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
18.Nichols, RC (1978): Twin studies of ability, personality, and interests. Homo 29:158–173.Google Scholar
19.Plomin, R, DeFries, JC, Loehlin, JC (1977): Genotype-environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior. Psychol Bull 84:309–322.Google Scholar
20.Plomin, R, Loehlin, JC, DeFries, JC (1985): Genetic and environmental components of “environmental” influences. Dev Psychol 21:391–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Shields, J (1962): Monozygotic Twins. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
22.Tellegen, A, Lykken, DT, Bouchard, T Jr, Wilcox, KJ, Segal, NL, Rich, S (1988): Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together. J Pers Soc Psychol 54:1031–1039.Google Scholar