I. Introduction

Kovas, Yulia; Haworth, Claire M. A.; Dale, Philip S.; Plomin, Robert

doi:10.1111/j.1540-5834.2007.00439.x

Cited by 71 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, genetic correlations are also substantial between general cognitive ability and learning abilities. A recent review of a dozen such studies suggests a genetic correlation of about 0.60 between general cognitive ability and learning abilities (Plomin & Kovas, 2005), which is similar to the results of several subsequent studies (Davis et al, 2008; Davis, Haworth & Plomin, in press; Harlaar, Hayiou-Thomas, & Plomin, 2005; Haworth, Kovas, Dale, & Plomin, 2008; Kovas, Haworth, Dale, & Plomin, 2007a). …”

supporting

confidence: 71%

“…The TEDS sample has been shown to be reasonably representative of the general population in terms of parental education, ethnicity and employment status (Kovas et al, 2007a). Zygosity was assessed through a parent questionnaire of physical similarity, which has been shown to be over 95% accurate when compared to DNA testing (Price et al, 2000).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The items were drawn from the following three categories: Understanding Number, Non-Numerical Processes and Computation and Knowledge. The mathematics battery is described in more detail elsewhere (Kovas, Haworth, Petrill, & Plomin, 2007). All of the math tests showed good internal consistency reliability with Cronbach’s alphas of .90, .87 and .93 for the three math subtests.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although our focus is on testing the Generalist Genes hypothesis for high cognitive abilities, multivariate genetic analyses also yield correlations for shared environmental influences which tend to be substantial for cognitive abilities and for non-shared environmental correlations which are low (Kovas et al, 2007a). In other words, for the normal range of variation, the same set of generalist genes and the same set of shared environmental factors largely affect different cognitive abilities, mathematical and reading disabilities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generalist Genes and High Cognitive Abilities

Haworth

Dale²,

Plomin

2009

Behav Genet

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The concept of generalist genes operating across diverse domains of cognitive abilities is now widely accepted. Much less is known about the etiology of the high extreme of performance. Is there more specialization at the high extreme? Using a representative sample of 4000 12-year-old twin pairs from the UK Twins Early Development Study, we investigated the genetic and environmental overlap between web-based tests of general cognitive ability, reading, mathematics and language performance for the top 15% of the distribution using DF extremes analysis. Generalist genes are just as evident at the high extremes of performance as they are for the entire distribution of abilities and for cognitive disabilities. However, a smaller proportion of the phenotypic intercorrelations appears to be explained by genetic influences for high abilities.

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supporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generalist Genes and High Cognitive Abilities

Haworth

Dale²,

Plomin

2009

Behav Genet

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“…Rich data has been collected over many years on cognitive and learning abilities, personality, and behavior. Importantly in relation to the highly selected nature of samples used in previous research, the present sample is representative of the UK population (Haworth, Davis, & Plomin, 2013; Kovas, Haworth, Dale, & Plomin, 2007). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

True grit and genetics: Predicting academic achievement from personality.

Rimfeld¹,

Kovas²,

Dale³

et al. 2016

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

328

243

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Grit -- perseverance and passion for long-term goals -- has been shown to be a significant predictor of academic success, even after controlling for other personality factors. Here, for the first time, we use a UK-representative sample and a genetically sensitive design to unpack the etiology of grit and its prediction of academic achievement in comparison to well-established personality traits. For 4,642 16-year-olds (2,321 twin pairs), we used the Grit-S scale (Perseverance of Effort and Consistency of Interest), along with the Big-5 personality traits, to predict scores on the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams, which are administered UK-wide at the end of compulsory education. Twin analyses of Grit Perseverance yielded a heritability estimate of 37% (20% for Consistency of Interest) and no evidence for shared environmental influence. Personality, primarily Conscientiousness, predicts about 6% of the variance in GCSE scores, but Grit adds little to this prediction. Moreover, multivariate twin analyses showed that roughly two-thirds of the GCSE prediction is mediated genetically. Grit Perseverance of Effort and Big-5 Conscientiousness are to a large extent the same trait both phenotypically (r=0.53) and genetically (genetic correlation = 0. 86). We conclude that the etiology of Grit is highly similar to other personality traits, not only in showing substantial genetic influence but also in showing no influence of shared environmental factors. Personality significantly predicts academic achievement, but Grit adds little phenotypically or genetically to the prediction of academic achievement beyond traditional personality factors, especially Conscientiousness.

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