Estimates of Heritability in Different Populations (A a Preliminary Report)
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6000MENT RtSONE ED 182 033 PS 011 186 ,AUTHOR ,Hodges, Patricia M..:And Others TITLE Estimates of Heritability in Different Populations (A A Preliminary Report). SPONS AGENCY Spencer,Foundation, Chicago, Ill. PUB DATE [76] NOTE 1001).k EDRS PRICE MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS, 'Aca4emic Achievement: *Elementary School.Students: *Etghic Groups: *Heredity: *Intelligence: Intelligence Differences: Nature Nurture Controversy; *Socioeconomic Status: *Twins IDENTIFIER S *Zygosity ABSTRACT ThiS paper pre§ents the results ofa Studi which Tamited heritability ratios for the iajor ethnic and socioeconomic groups in the. Apiples Unified School District. Scores on three measures (the C..Her?tive Primary Reading Test, the Comprehensiye Test of Beksic Skills, and a composite Set of intelligen,ce tests)were compared for twins froe-different populations (upp'er-middle andlower socioeconomic status blacR, white, and Spanish-surname).On all Df the measures thk4te were significant differences for ethnicityand,. r socioeconomic status. Heritability,.ratios varied fdt each populatfion and measUire.'It wAs-concluded tha..±. extrapolating from data,on white middle class° twins is unwarrneted and that for other populations heritability ratios are'much,lower. (Author/RH) k r **********************************4************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can, be ade from the original document. DEPARTMENT OF NE41.111. EDUCATION WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION I. to,OOl. tIAM NIItA)III IN RI PRO- outt 0 ( tcAçIt 'VAI, S (IV! ROM Ill. Pt. R;ON OR OSCAN1Z ION A .Nt. I1 POIN I01 V It W OPINiONN, "bIAII DO NO 1N ItI s',A It it V S I PHI . N I Of I At NA I IOWA It OM A I ON 1.0`01 JON ON tOt ( ESTLMATES OF HERITABILITY. IN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS (A PRELIMINARY RIF:PORT) Patricia M. Hodges Profess-or, Department,of Psychology Califkirnia Sta-te University, Los Angeles A Marge Gardner California State Udiversity, Los Angeles Adele Juarez California State University, Los An'yetes A re,14 r "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE:THIS 411 rwl MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTE15BY TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORAZATIONCENTER (ERIC)." r 0 ,ee ABSTRACT Scores on three Measures'(the C,00perativePrimary Read Test, the Comprehensive Test ofBasic ,Ski116, anda cillposit.:0 set of intelligence tests)were compared for-twins frn differnt populations (upper-middle andlower socioeconomicstatu, black, white, and Spanish-snrname). On all.of themeasures tilere 1 significant difference forethnicity and socioeco. nomicsltatus. Heritability ratios Variedfor each population and.measule. 0 It was'concluded thatextrapo.lating from.dataon White middle ! Oass twins (h2 .80) -isunwarranted and that fOr .otherpopulations heritability ratiosare much lower. p \ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author gratefully aCknop4edgesthe financial support of the Spencer Foundation and.isindebted to )Dr: James and Mrs. Faldett for their patience andgoodwill. Additionally, the authors are indebted to Dr. R.Sallander and Mr. Frank Jost of the Los Angeles UnifiedSchool District ReAarch and Evaluation Staff. Theircooperation(made a difficult task , . flow more comforably. Ms: Peggy Seaver and Dr. Dale BefOr of Claremont Graduate Schoolwere of.great aid in the analysis of data, and Ibur thanks alsogo to J'Ir. William Carey1 Super- / intendant of Schools in Stockton 4ildto Ms. Joanne Miller who'collected.our Stocktoil data. fr. a/ 0 ( TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE CIDOM -) tntroduction 1 f(NlinStudies 3 4 .Racial Differences 8 Cross Racial Adoption 1. 0 - .Study,df Other Non-White Gro6ps 11 Summary 13 .CHAPTER II Methodology 14 Methods for the Los Angeles Sample 14 Stockton Sample 20 Los Angeles'Twin ,20 Tests Used inTAis Study 24 ) CHAPTER III Results 26' Analysis of Tests, by Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status . 6 26 Cooperative Primary Reading Test 26 Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills 28 Abiliey Tesfrs 31 4, 4 Analysis of Test Scores 'by Socioeconomic -/ Stdtbs,and Zygosity 34e' PAGE Cooperative'Primary Reading Test 34 Comprehensive. Test of Basic Skills 34 Abilfty Tests -39 Analysis by Sex and gotic Croilps 39. Cooperative Primary Reading Test Compreliensive Test of Basic Skills 39 Ability Test 44 Analysis%by Ethnicity an.d Zygosity 44 401 Cooperative Primary Reading TesT 44 aimprehensive Test of Basit: Skills 44 Ability Test , 49 Heritability Aatios 49 CHAPTER IV Disicussion 59 Analysis by Ethnicity and SodioecononicStatus 59 Socioeconomic Status and Zygosity 62 Sex and Zygosity 63 ' Heritability .64 Conclusions 65 Ci:iticisms of the .Study 68 CHAPTER I Introduction impact of most psychological studiesupon the general public has been minimal witha few'notable exceptions. One ofthe exceptidns has been the controversy/that has occurred after the publication of articies examining hpreditaty fa(!tors in determining intelligence, and, particularlyhereditary factors affecting di(ferences in intelligence between ra-cial andsocial , class groups (Jensen, 1968, 1969, 197W The popular notiod of ag a fixed fabtOrseems to be made legitiMate by studies which have pointed out .high heritability ratios thus givingan j. -apphrent justification to the existing'group differences. in , opportunity and affluedce. New trends in government policy seem to indicate a'more fiscally conservative attitude for gove'rnment spending as well, as in the general public view. It takes littlimagination to envision studies favoring hered tary' explanations for differences in performances being usedto justify y' ,economic cuticks in programs aimed at helping the didv.antaged. (If compensatory-education failed because 80% of the variance in inteltigence is due to genetic factors, why.try again and , again?) Social scientists have a responsibility to dempnstrate any possible errors in such -views.. One way to do this is to point out that heritability estimates are'a population statistic . and-always refer to a -specific Opulation, and thus willvary fromgrouptogroup.The8infactor which has often been cited V irr the'literature reflectsthe sample selection (usually white and middle-Aass)rather than a broad based A7andom . _ sample ot all ethnic andsocio-economic groups. The impetus for thepresent stud)t. ciime from two-sources varying greatly in theirview. The first was Dr. Arthur Tonsen's 1968 Harvard EdtitationalReview article, and the secAdDr. Sandra Scarr-Salapatek's 1971Science article Aescribing an empirical study-ofheritability factors in a black and white population. While the reports differ.in their philosop4cal orientation, methodology,and conclusion, both emphasized the need for additiotaldata from non-white famil- ies. The Los Angeles area,.withits diverselethnic Opulation and socioeconomic clas8 distributionsseemed to be an ideal area in which to collect ..smch data. Furthermore, school dis- trict personnel had indicatedthat school records for the dis- trict contakiled both achievement'andability test scores for individual pupils (priorto 197,1, at which timeonlygroup data waS available) anda record of zygosity (determination ofidentica)or fraternal twinning). This.paper presents the of a study which examinedheritability ratios for the majot ethnic and socioeconomicgroups in the Los Angeles Unified School.District.1 All data collectionwas carried out under the supervision of the District Research and Evaluation Staff.2 . After review- / ing the theoretical background,methodology, and the procedur-es used to guarantee pupil anonymity,the Los Arigeles Board of .EduCation approvedthe study wita the stipulation thatat least. oneother.district agree to par icipate3and the. SLockton School Districti4 was agreeable to this. Twin Studies To familiarize the nontechntcal readet wiEh the methodology Col- twin studcr and the crieticisms made of such.studies, the' remaindeiT of this section.briefly reviewssome of the Current ) work on twin studies. For a more elaborate discussion of the 4 ob rationale behind twin studies, the reader recommended to $ .Vandenberg (1966, Contributions of twin research to psychology,. Psychologidal Bulletin, '1966, Vol. 66,pp. 327-352, and for a comprehensive discussion of differences In abilityscores, the reader is referred to Loehlinindzey,. and.Gardner's (1975), 4 Heredity0 and Intelligence:' This review will not deal with the assumptions implicit ift twin studies'nor the criticilms that Fiave been made of. these assumptions except forone criticism- that seems of wajor importance" to the curfent auth'of the assumption that environmental conditions are the same for iden- tical and fraternal twins. ThiS does no% mean environments are assumed to be the same for all twins, I;ut rather that some twins of each tyi),e have the same general nvironment. ( Recent evidence (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1975) in the areaof sex difference n achievement seores related to the efect of differential environmental inputs for male. and female children would lead us to believe that the Niro mental differences 'for opposite sex fraternal tWin gets wou d be greater than 6nvironmenta1 differences for same sex fraternal Odin sets et (and for all monozygotic ewinset.s who are, by definition; of the same sex). Recently Schwartz & Schwartz (1975) apd Gotbun^ 64 Shield (1972) substantiated thatthe increased variation 'between opposlyt. sex twins in the grouP of twins labeleddizy-_, gotic causesa distortion in the data and theytherefore present separately,the data forsame sex and Opposite sex dizygotic twins. Tkdata in this study 'werealso analyzed separately 4 for same sex and oppositesex dizygotic twins. lfttelligence The term intelligence