Sex differences in correlations between children's IQs and measures of parental ability, and enviromental ratings.

Twins: Mental development in the preschool years.

“…The correlations are somewhat smaller than anticipated, but they fall in line with the results summarized by Jencks (1972, p. 116) on the relation of fathers' occupation/education and children's IQ or achievement test scores. They are also very close to the correlations reported by Werner (1969) between parents' education and socioeconomic status, and children's IQ score at 10 years. McCall et al (1972, Table 3) reported somewhat higher correlations for females (r = .40 and .50 with Binet IQ scores at ages 3'/2 and 6 years), and Bayley (1954) reported correlations in the range of .50 to .60 between midparent education and children's IQ at ages 5 and older.…”

“…Aside from these demographic variables, there are other differences between families related to the degree of educational stimulation and emotional support provided for the children (Bayley & Schaefer, 1964;Werner, 1969). The results reported from these studies make it evident that a stimulating and supportive atmosphere enhances mental development, whereas a dull or punitive atmosphere may have a suppressive effect.…”

Twins: Patterns of cognitive development as measured on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence.

“…It is undoubtedly true that the characteristics of the home-particularly the emphasis (or lack of emphasis) on language proficiency, concept formation, and generalized intellectual stimulation-will have a significant influence on cognitive development. The prediction of childhood IQ is somewhat improved when ratings of the home environment are added to the measures of socioeconomic status (Bayley & Schaefer, 1964;Werner, 1969). And among the twin families, it is possible to find many examples of encouraging, stimulating mothers whose twins are eager to try new tasks, or by contrast, rather passive and indifferent mothers whose twins are unresponsive to intellectual challenge.…”

Attitudinal orientations and cognitive functioning among adolescents.

“…While Coleman et al (1966) based this conclusion on attitudes expressed by the students themselves, other investigators arrived at similar conclusions based on measures of parents' achievement-related attitudes and of their stimulation of the child. Such measures, obtained through extensive home interviews, contributed more to variance in cognitive performance of the child than did various indices of the socioeconomic status of the family (Marjoribanks, 1972a(Marjoribanks, , 1972bPlowden, 1967;Werner, 1969;Wolf, 1966). The growing interest in various expressions of attitudinal orientations seems to reflect a recent trend in studies of the determinants of cognitive development.…”