The effects of genetic and environmental factors on writing development

Abstract

Researchers have identified sources of individual differences in writing across beginning and developing writers. The aim of the present study was to further clarify the sources of this variability by investigating the extent to which there are differences in genetic and environmental factors underlying the associations between lexical diversity, syntactic knowledge, and semantic cohesion knowledge in relation to writing. Differences were examined across two developmental phases of writing: beginning (i.e., elementary school) and developing (i.e., middle school). Participants included 262 twin pairs (Mage = 10.88 years) in elementary school and 247 twin pairs (Mage = 13.21 years) in middle school. Twins were drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior, and Environment. Biometric models were conducted separately for subgroups defined by phase of writing development. Results indicated significant etiological differences in writing components across the two phases, such that effects associated with genes and non-shared environment were greater while effects associated with shared environment were lower in developing writers as compared to beginning writers. Furthermore, results showed that child-specific environment was the largest contributor to individual differences in writing components and their covariation for both beginning and developing writers. These results imply that even direct instruction about writing in schools may be having different effects on children based on their unique experiences.

Relationship Between Children’s Lexical Diversity in Written Narratives and Performance on a Standardized Reading Vocabulary Measure

“…Caregivers mailed the writing sample and reading vocabulary test back to the research team along with the signed consent and other questionnaire materials. Despite potential limitations of parent-obtained written samples, protocols obtained by mail from parents have been used in other studies where the measures do not require formal training to administer (Buss & Plomin, 2014; Erbeli, Hart, Kim, & Taylor, 2017). All the data were entered into FileMaker using a double-entry procedure at the item level, with programmed calculations used to create total scores.…”

Environmental and Motivational Factors Affecting Quality Research Writing of Postgraduate Education Students in Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

“…Isani and Virk (2005) posited that the quality of research is directly and indirectly related to the quality of the facilities available in the universities, lecturers, supervision of research and research courses. The study of Erbeli, Hart, Kim, and Taylor (2017) indicates that environmental factors contribute to individuals' differences in writing.…”

Developmental trajectories for literacy and math skills from primary to secondary school

“…We have hypothesised that the opportunity for reading exposure and practice is influenced by socio‐demographic factors, and this might, in turn, influence the cognitive capabilities and resources students apply to writing goals. In fact, previous research has shown that individual differences that owe to students' unique experiences are particularly prominent in developing writers in the middle school grades as opposed to beginning writers in elementary school (Erbeli et al, 2017).…”