Cognition: ‘Caching’ in to find the genetic basis of spatial cognitive ability

2022 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. R37-R39
Author(s):  
Elsie H. Shogren
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Genetic Basis

scholarly journals Cognitive ability and education: how behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita Malanchini ◽  
Kaili Rimfeld ◽  
Andrea Allegrini ◽  
Stuart James Ritchie ◽  
Robert Plomin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Strong Stability ◽  
Educational Success ◽  
Noncognitive Skills ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Evidence Based Model

Cognitive ability and educational success predict positive outcomes across the lifespan, from higher earnings to better health and longevity. The shared positive outcomes associated with cognitive ability and education are emblematic of the strong interconnections between them. Part of the observed associations between cognitive ability and education, as well as their links with wealth, morbidity and mortality, are rooted in genetic variation. The current review evaluates the contribution of decades of behavioural genetic research to our knowledge and understanding of the biological and environmental basis of the association between cognitive ability and education. The evidence reviewed points to a strong genetic basis in their association, observed from middle childhood to old age, which is amplified by environmental experiences. In addition, the strong stability and heritability of educational success are not driven entirely by cognitive ability. This highlights the contribution of other educationally relevant noncognitive characteristics. Considering both cognitive and noncognitive skills as well as their biological and environmental underpinnings will be fundamental in moving towards a comprehensive, evidence-based model of education.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3471-3481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

Abstract Individual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic, and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal–numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses relate the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements to bilateral primary motor cortex as well as predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings extend our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E. Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J. Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

AbstractIndividual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal-numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses reveal the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements in bilateral primary motor cortex and predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

A Latent State-Trait Analysis of Current Achievement Motivation Across Different Tasks of Cognitive Ability

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 318-327
Author(s):  
Philipp Alexander Freund ◽  
Vanessa Katharina Jaensch ◽  
Franzis Preckel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Achievement Motivation ◽  
Fear Of Failure ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Probability Of Success ◽  
Ability Tests ◽  
Perceived Challenge

Abstract. The current study investigates the behavior of task-specific, current achievement motivation (CAM: interest in the task, probability of success, perceived challenge, and fear of failure) across a variety of reasoning tasks featuring verbal, numerical, and figural content. CAM is conceptualized as a state-like variable, and in order to assess the relative stability of the four CAM variables across different tasks, latent state trait analyses are conducted. The major findings indicate that the degree of challenge a test taker experiences and the fear of failing a given task appear to be relatively stable regardless of the specific task utilized, whereas interest and probability of success are more directly influenced by task-specific characteristics and demands. Furthermore, task performance is related to task-specific interest and probability of success. We discuss the implications and benefits of these results with regard to the use of cognitive ability tests in general. Importantly, taking motivational differences between test takers into account appears to offer valuable information which helps to explain differences in task performance.

Sex Differences in Childhood Associations between DNA Markers and General Cognitive Ability

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Arden ◽  
Nicole Harlaar ◽  
Robert Plomin
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Dna Markers ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
The Difference

Abstract. An association between intelligence at age 7 and a set of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been identified and replicated. We used this composite SNP set to investigate whether the associations differ between boys and girls for general cognitive ability at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 years. In a longitudinal community sample of British twins aged 2-10 (n > 4,000 individuals), we found that the SNP set is more strongly associated with intelligence in males than in females at ages 7, 9, and 10 and the difference is significant at 10. If this finding replicates in other studies, these results will constitute the first evidence of the same autosomal genes acting differently on intelligence in the two sexes.

A Meta-Analysis of Interviews and Cognitive Ability

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 157-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip L. Roth ◽  
Allen I. Huffcutt
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Incremental Validity ◽  
Employment Interviews ◽  
Moderator Analysis ◽  
The Future ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Relationship

The topic of what interviews measure has received a great deal of attention over the years. One line of research has investigated the relationship between interviews and the construct of cognitive ability. A previous meta-analysis reported an overall corrected correlation of .40 ( Huffcutt, Roth, & McDaniel, 1996 ). A more recent meta-analysis reported a noticeably lower corrected correlation of .27 ( Berry, Sackett, & Landers, 2007 ). After reviewing both meta-analyses, it appears that the two studies posed different research questions. Further, there were a number of coding judgments in Berry et al. that merit review, and there was no moderator analysis for educational versus employment interviews. As a result, we reanalyzed the work by Berry et al. and found a corrected correlation of .42 for employment interviews (.15 higher than Berry et al., a 56% increase). Further, educational interviews were associated with a corrected correlation of .21, supporting their influence as a moderator. We suggest a better estimate of the correlation between employment interviews and cognitive ability is .42, and this takes us “back to the future” in that the better overall estimate of the employment interviews – cognitive ability relationship is roughly .40. This difference has implications for what is being measured by interviews and their incremental validity.

A Multimedia Situational Test With a Constructed-Response Format

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janneke K. Oostrom ◽  
Marise Ph. Born ◽  
Alec W. Serlie ◽  
Henk T. van der Molen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Ability Test ◽  
Constructed Response ◽  
Job Experience ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Situational Test

Advances in computer technology have created opportunities for the development of a multimedia situational test in which responses are filmed with a webcam. This paper examined the relationship of a so-called webcam test with personality, cognitive ability, job experience, and academic performance. Data were collected among 153 psychology students. In line with our expectations, scores on the webcam test, intended to measure interpersonally oriented leadership, were related to extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and job experience. Furthermore, the webcam tests significantly predicted students’ learning activities during group meetings over and above a cognitive ability test and a personality questionnaire. Overall, this study demonstrates that webcam tests can be a valid complement to traditional predictors in selection contexts.

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