Differential Susceptibility in Early Literacy Instruction Through Computer Games: The Role of the Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene (DRD4)

Abstract

Not every child seems equally susceptible to the same parental, educational, or environmental influences even if cognitive level is similar. This study is the first randomized controlled trial to apply the differential susceptibility paradigm to education in relation to children's genotype and early literacy skills. A randomized pretest–posttest control group design was used to examine the effects of the Intelligent Tutoring System Living Letters. Two intervention groups were created, 1 receiving feedback and 1 completing the program without feedback, and 1 control group. Carriers of the long variant of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4 7‐repeat) profited most from the computer program with positive feedback, whereas they performed at the lowest level of early literacy skills in the absence of such feedback. Our findings suggest that behind modest overall educational intervention effects a strong effect on a subgroup of susceptible children may be hidden.

Gene-by-environment experiments: a new approach to finding the missing heritability

“…In one randomized experiment, toddlers who carried this allele showed a greater reduction in disruptive behaviour after parenting skill intervention than children who did not carry this allele 7 . In another experiment, preschoolers with the same genotype were more positively affected by being randomly assigned to exposure to computer games that targeted their emerging phoneme awareness skills than those children not carrying this allele were 8 . In a third trial, this one focused on African-American adolescents and their families, teenagers carrying the 7-repeat version of DRD4 were more positively affected than others by an intervention targeting substance use 9 .…”

Digital Guidance for Susceptible Readers: Effects on Fifth Graders’ Reading Motivation and Incidental Vocabulary Learning

“…The reading motivation of the fifth graders in this study did not change due to reading in digital format, nor did they learn more new vocabulary than their peers reading hardcopy print books. However, we did find support for the notion that susceptible students benefit from the presence of a pedagogical agent (e.g., Kegel et al, 2011;Plak et al, 2015). Susceptible students who read digital books with guidance from a PA Figure 3.…”

“…Furthermore, accumulating evidence (Kegel et al, 2011;Plak et al, 2015) including the results presented in this article suggest that for a minority of children (carriers of the DRD4 seven-repeat allele) learning outcomes are strongly dependent on the presence or absence of guidance. In the present study, it was shown that guidance provided by a PA helps susceptible students to learn more from reading.…”

“…A disadvantage of this extensive guidance is that it remains unclear whether a combination of these elements or a single element (e.g., praise) helps susceptible children to learn more from reading. Because it is unclear which elements of the PA (or the design of the PA itself; Baylor, 2011) cause the effects on reading comprehension, it is difficult to deduce the type of support susceptible students miss when reading without a PA. Based on previous research, it is however, plausible that the susceptible students are easily distracted and become more stressed when a task is difficult (Kegel et al, 2011). Future studies comparing different types of feedback to assess what kind of support is most beneficial for susceptible students to focus on reading and minimize feelings of stress would be very interesting.…”

“…In particular, genetic markers appear to be strong indicators for children's susceptibility to educational input (for an overview, see Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2011;. Carriers of the long variant of dopamine-related genes, the DRD4 seven-repeat allele targeted in this study as well, are particularly responsive not just to qualities of the social-emotional environment but also to the way their learning is guided (see Kegel, Bus, & van IJzendoorn, 2011;Plak, Kegel, & Bus, 2015 for evidence in younger children). Genetic susceptibility means that carriers of a particular gene, the DRD4 seven-repeat allele, are more susceptible to environmental influences, whether positive or negative (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2011).…”