Heritability of Word Recognition in Middle-Aged Men Varies as a Function of Parental Education.
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| Title: | Heritability of Word Recognition in Middle-Aged Men Varies as a Function of Parental Education. |
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| Authors: | Kremen, William S., Jacobson, Kristen C., Xian, Hong, Eisen, Seth A., Waterman, Brian, Toomey, Rosemary, Neale, Michael C., Tsuang, Ming T., Lyons, Michael J. |
| Source: | Behavior Genetics. Jul2005, Vol. 35 Issue 4, p417-433. 17p. |
| Subjects: | Word recognition, Older men, Cognition, Older people, Influence of age on ability, Education |
| Abstract: | Although it is of lifelong importance, reading ability is studied primarily in children and adolescents. We examined variation in word recognition in 347 middle-aged male twin pairs. Overall heritability ( a2) was 0.45, and shared environmental influences ( c2) were 0.28. However, parental education moderated heritability such that a2 was 0.21 at the lowest parental education level and 0.69 at the highest level; c2 was 0.52 and 0.00, respectively. This constitutes a parental education × environment interaction. The higher heritability was due to a decrease in the magnitude of shared environmental factors, rather than an increase in the magnitude of genetic factors. Other cognitive studies have reported gene × environment interactions, but patterns may differ as a function of age or specific cognitive abilities. Our results suggest that shared environmental factors in families with low parental education have long-lasting effects on word recognition ability, well beyond any critical period for developing reading proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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