The prediction of school achievement from a behavior genetic perspective: Results from the German twin study on Cognitive Ability, Self-Reported Motivation, and School Achievement (CoSMoS)

AbstractAmultidisciplinary collaborative study examining cognition in a large sample of twins is outlined. A common experimental protocol and design is used in The Netherlands, Australia and Japan to measure cognitive ability using traditional IQ measures (i.e., psychometric IQ), processing speed (e.g., reaction time [RT] and inspection time [IT]), and working memory (e.g., spatial span, delayed response [DR] performance). The main aim is to investigate the genetic covariation among these cognitive phenotypes in order to use the correlated biological markers in future linkage and association analyses to detect quantitativetrait loci (QTLs). We outline the study and methodology, and report results from our preliminary analyses that examines the heritability of processing speed and working memory indices, and their phenotypic correlation with IQ. Heritability of Full Scale IQ was 87% in the Netherlands, 83% in Australia, and 71% in Japan. Heritability estimates for processing speed and working memory indices ranged from 33–64%. Associations of IQ with RT and IT (−0.28 to −0.36) replicated previous findings with those of higher cognitive ability showing faster speed of processing. Similarly, significant correlations were indicated between IQ and the spatial span working memory task (storage [0.31], executive processing [0.37]) and the DR working memory task (0.25), with those of higher cognitive ability showing better memory performance. These analyses establish the heritability of the processing speed and working memory measures to be used in our collaborative twin study of cognition, and support the findings that individual differences in processing speed and working memory may underlie individual differences in psychometric IQ.

Download Full-text

Current Twin Studies in Germany: Report on CoSMoS, SOEP, and ChronoS

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1017/thg.2012.106 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 173-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Elisabeth Hahn ◽

Juliana Gottschling ◽

Frank M. Spinath

Keyword(s):

Twin Study ◽

Additional Data ◽

School Achievement ◽

Twin Studies ◽

Living Situation ◽

Sibling Pairs ◽

Dizygotic Twins ◽

The Status ◽

Second Wave ◽

Combined Data

This article summarizes the status of three recent German twin studies: CoSMoS, SOEP, and ChronoS. The German twin study on Cognitive Ability, Self-Reported Motivation, and School Achievement (CoSMoS) is a three-wave longitudinal study of monozygotic and dizygotic twins reared together, and aims to investigate predictors of and influences on school performance. In the first wave of the data collection in 2005, 408 pairs of twins aged between 7 and 11 as well as their parents participated in CoSMoS. The SOEP twin study is an extended twin study, which has combined data from monozygotic and dizygotic twins reared together with additional data from full sibling pairs, mother–child, and grandparent–child dyads who participated in the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) study. The SOEP twin project comprises about 350 twin and 950 non-twin pairs aged between 17 and 70. Data were collected between 2009 and 2010, with a focus on personality traits, wellbeing, education, employment, income, living situation, life-satisfaction, and several attitudes. The aim of the Chronotype twin study (ChronoS) was to examine genetic and environmental influences on chronotype (morningness and eveningness), coping strategies, and several aspects of the previous SOEP twin project in a sample of 301 twin pairs aged between 19 and 76 years, recruited in 2010 and 2011. Part of the ChronoS twin sample also participated in the earlier SOEP twin study, representing a second wave of assessments. We briefly describe the design and contents of these three studies as well as selected recent findings.

Download Full-text

Socioeconomic status impacts genetic influences on the longitudinal dynamic relationship between temperament and general cognitive ability in childhood: The Louisville Twin Study

Child Development ◽

10.1111/cdev.13704 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Deborah Finkel ◽

Deborah W. Davis ◽

Evan J. Giandgrande ◽

Sean Womack ◽

Eric Turkheimer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Cognitive Ability ◽

Twin Study ◽

Genetic Influences ◽

General Cognitive Ability ◽

Dynamic Relationship ◽

Longitudinal Dynamic ◽

Louisville Twin Study

Download Full-text

Nearwork, school achievement and Myopia

Journal of Biosocial Science ◽

10.1017/s0021932000015686 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 223-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Geoffrey C. Ashton

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

School Achievement ◽

Intellectual Ability ◽

Regression Coefficients ◽

School Grades ◽

Standardized Regression Coefficients ◽

Achievement Measures ◽

Ocular Refraction

SummaryData from 723 families tested for ocular refraction, measures of cognitive ability and school achievement, and measures of school-related nearwork activity were analysed, to examine the association of nearwork and intellectual ability with the development of myopia. The basis of the tests was detection of heterogeneity of standardized regression coefficients, derived from the regression of spherical refraction on age, between scaled nearwork or achievement measures. The results did not provide any evidence in support of the hypothesis that nearwork influences myopia but did confirm a relationship between school grades and myopia.

Download Full-text