The ABCs of math: A genetic analysis of mathematics and its links with reading ability and general cognitive ability.

Abstract

The goal of this first major report from the Western Reserve Reading Project Math component is to explore the etiology of the relationship among tester-administered measures of mathematics ability, reading ability, and general cognitive ability. Data are available on 314 pairs of monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins analyzed across 5 waves of assessment. Univariate analyses provide a range of estimates of genetic (h 2 = .00 -.63) and shared (c 2 = .15-.52) environmental influences across math calculation, fluency, and problem solving measures. Multivariate analyses indicate genetic overlap between math problem solving with general cognitive ability and reading decoding, whereas math fluency shares significant genetic overlap with reading fluency and general cognitive ability. Further, math fluency has unique genetic influences. In general, math ability has shared environmental overlap with general cognitive ability and decoding. These results indicate that aspects of math that include problem solving have different genetic and environmental influences than math calculation. Moreover, math fluency, a timed measure of calculation, is the only measured math ability with unique genetic influences. Keywords mathematics; reading; twins; genetics; environmentThe National Assessment of Educational Progress (2005) survey of The Nation's Report Card reported that 64% of fourth-grade students failed to demonstrate a "proficient" level of required math skills. Moreover, the National Research Council (1999) of the National Academy of Sciences reported that very few interventions have been successful in increasing mathematics scores in low-performing children. It was further suggested in this report that the reason behind these failures is a relative lack of scientific research in mathematics ability, as well as the relationship between it and other domains such as reading and general cognitive ability.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sara A. Hart Emerging research by Geary (2004), Jordan and colleagues (e.g., Jordan, Hanich &Kaplan, 2003), and Fuchs and colleagues (e.g., Fuchs, 2005) has begun to identify a theoretical base for understanding and measuring mathematical ability. Fuchs et al. (2005) found that nonverbal problem solving, working memory, and phonological processing differentially affected math performance depending on how it was measured (i.e., computation, concepts-applications, and fact fluency). Moreover, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, working memory, and arithmetic number combination skill predicted computational estimation skill in third graders . In another related study of third graders, arithmetic ability was predicted by phonological decoding and processing speed, and arithmetic word problems were uniquely predicted by nonverbal problem solving, concept formation, sight word efficiency, and language . Despite this growing literature, still relatively little is known about the etiology of the relationship between mathematics, reading, and general cognitive...

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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Literacy and Numeracy Performance in Australian School Children in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9

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