Literacy and Numeracy Are More Heritable Than Intelligence in Primary           School

Kovas, Yulia; Voronin, Iván; Kaydalov, Andrey; Malykh, Sergey; Dale, Philip S.; Plomin, Robert

doi:10.1177/0956797613486982

Cited by 89 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…However, genetic research has shown that individual differences in educational achievement are substantially heritable (9)(10)(11). Indeed, we have shown that educational achievement is significantly more heritable than intelligence in the early school years (12). We have recently found high heritability (58%) for the results of a nationwide examination, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is administered in the United Kingdom at the end of compulsory education at age 16 (13).…”

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confidence: 99%

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence

Krapohl

Rimfeld

Shakeshaft

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Because educational achievement at the end of compulsory schooling represents a major tipping point in life, understanding its causes and correlates is important for individual children, their families, and society. Here we identify the general ingredients of educational achievement using a multivariate design that goes beyond intelligence to consider a wide range of predictors, such as self-efficacy, personality, and behavior problems, to assess their independent and joint contributions to educational achievement. We use a genetically sensitive design to address the question of why educational achievement is so highly heritable. We focus on the results of a United Kingdom-wide examination, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is administered at the end of compulsory education at age 16. GCSE scores were obtained for 13,306 twins at age 16, whom we also assessed contemporaneously on 83 scales that were condensed to nine broad psychological domains, including intelligence, self-efficacy, personality, well-being, and behavior problems. The mean of GCSE core subjects (English, mathematics, science) is more heritable (62%) than the nine predictor domains (35-58%). Each of the domains correlates significantly with GCSE results, and these correlations are largely mediated genetically. The main finding is that, although intelligence accounts for more of the heritability of GCSE than any other single domain, the other domains collectively account for about as much GCSE heritability as intelligence. Together with intelligence, these domains account for 75% of the heritability of GCSE. We conclude that the high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence.academic achievement | twin studies | behavioral genetics | general cognitive ability | personalized learning

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confidence: 99%

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence

Krapohl

Rimfeld

Shakeshaft

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

292

242

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“…Quantitative genetic studies, using twin, adoption and other family designs, have found all complex human traits to be heritable to some degree. For example, school achievement is substantially heritable, with genetic differences accounting for approximately 60% of the variation among primary school students (e.g., Kovas et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genetic literacy also includes understanding that for all complex traits, genetic variability within a population is so vast that two randomly selected individuals within a population can be more genetically different from each other than two randomly selected individuals from two diverse populations (Jorde & Wooding, 2004;Witherspoon et al, 2007). Moreover, any differences within and between populations can be due to environmental and/or genetic differences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Literacy And Attitudes Survey (Iglas): International Population-Wide Assessment Instrument

Chapman¹,

Likhanov²,

Selita³

et al. 2017

The European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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Genetics represents the fastest developing discipline in the history of scientific enquiry. Genetic advances have implications for individuals and society, including matters related to law, ethics, education, medicine and philosophy. As such, it will be important for all people to be able to engage with genetic research, not just at the point that it becomes personally applicable, such as in medical treatment, but also more generally across many social domains. Given the ever-increasing impact of genetics on daily life, it is important to have a tool to evaluate what people know, think and feel about genetics and for this tool to be applicable across society. Previous studies have mainly focused on genetic literacy in medical domains with less attention paid to other applications. They have also largely focused on well-defined populations, such as undergraduate students and young adults. To overcome these limitations of previous research in this area, a consortium of psychologists, geneticists, lawyers, educationalists and ethicists have developed the International Genetic Literacy and Attitudes Survey (iGLAS). This paper presents the development, piloting and validation of this instrument. The resulting iGLAS provides a flexible, informative and quick tool for evaluating public knowledge and perceptions of genetics. In particular, it provides a tool that can be used across all demographics, allowing for tailored research with specific groups of interest.

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“…Kovas et al, 2005) than substantial heritability of literacy found throughout formal school education (e.g. Harlaar et al, 2005;Byrne et al, 2006;Kovas et al, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Haworth et al, 2010;Polderman et al, 2015;Tucker-Drob & Bates, 2016) also supports the Gene-Gini interplay. Unlike numeracy and literacy, for which heritability remains stably high throughout the school system, heritability of IQ is moderate in primary school and continues to increase throughout education (Kovas et al, 2013). This may be because there is no formal instruction for intelligence, with more variance explained by environmental disparity.…”

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confidence: 99%

Genes and Gini: What Inequality Means for Heritability

Selita

Kovas

2018

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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Summary. Research has established that genetic differences among people explain a greater or smaller proportion of the variation in life outcomes in different environmental conditions. This review evaluates the results of recent educationally relevant behavioural genetic studies and meta-analyses in the context of recent trends in income and wealth distribution. The pattern of results suggests that inequality and social policies can have profound effects on the heritability of educational attainment and achievement in a population (Gene-Gini interplay). For example, heritability is generally higher at greater equality levels, suggesting that inequality stifles the expression of educationally relevant genetic propensities. The review concludes with a discussion of the mechanisms of Gene-Gini interplay and what the findings mean for efforts to optimize education for all people.

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Literacy and Numeracy Are More Heritable Than Intelligence in Primary School

Cited by 89 publications

References 33 publications

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence

The high heritability of educational achievement reflects many genetically influenced traits, not just intelligence

Genetic Literacy And Attitudes Survey (Iglas): International Population-Wide Assessment Instrument

Genes and Gini: What Inequality Means for Heritability

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