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Arithmetic, reading and writing performance has a strong
genetic component: A study in primary school children
Learning and Individual DifferencesVolume 47, April 2016,
Pages 156166
Arithmetic, reading and writing performance has a strong
genetic component: A study in primary school children
Eveline L. de Zeeuwa, b, , , Catharina E.M. van
Beijsterveldta, b, Tina J. Glasnera, Eco J.C. de Geusa, b, Dorret I. Boomsmaa,
b Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands b EMGO + Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Centre,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Individual differences in objectively measured educational
achievement in primary school are to a large extent due to genes
Heritability is consistently high across educational
domains and grades
No gender differences in the underlying etiology of
educational achievement
Heritability in the Netherlands in comparable to other
countries
Abstract
Even children attending the same primary school and taught
by the same teacher differ greatly in their performance. In the Netherlands,
performance at the end of primary school determines the enrollment in a
particular level of secondary education. Identifying the impact of genes and
the environment on individual differences in educational achievement between
children is important.
The Netherlands Twin Register has collected data on scores
of tests used in primary school (ages 6 to 12) to monitor a child's educational
progress in four domains, i.e. arithmetic, word reading, reading comprehension
and spelling (1058 MZ and 1734 DZ twin pairs), and of a final test (2451 MZ and
4569 DZ twin pairs) in a large Dutch cohort. In general, individual differences
in educational achievement were to a large extent due to genes and the
influence of the family environment was negligible. Moreover, there is no
evidence for gender differences in the underlying etiology.
Corresponding author at: Department of Biological
Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
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