Resolving the Genetic and Environmental Sources of the Correlation Between Height and Intelligence: a Study of Nearly 2600 Norwegian Male Twin Pairs

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Resolving the Genetic and Environmental Sources of the Correlation Between Height and Intelligence: a Study of Nearly 2600 Norwegian Male Twin Pairs Resolving the Genetic and Environmental Sources of the Correlation Between Height and Intelligence: A Study of Nearly 2600 Norwegian Male Twin Pairs Jon Martin Sundet,1 Kristian Tambs,2 Jennifer R. Harris,2 Per Magnus,2 and Tore M. Torjussen3 1 Institute of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway 2 The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway 3 Psychological Services, Norwegian Armed Forces, Oslo, Norway he main aim of this paper was to resolve the cor- Several authors have discussed the relative impor- Trelation between intelligence test scores and tance of genetic and environmental factors involved in standing height into genetic and environmental com- the height–intelligence correlation. Johnson (1991) ponents. Data on 1181 identical and 1412 fraternal reasoned that environmental conditions aggregate in twin pairs (all males) were retrieved by matching social classes, implying that the height–intelligence files from the Norwegian Army with twin registries. correlation should decrease if social class is partialled The data were analyzed by means of a structural out. He found that the correlation between height and equation model comprising latent genetic, shared intelligence was only slightly reduced when control- environmental and nonshared environmental factors ling for social class, and concluded that genetic and correlations between them. A major part of the factors may play a major part. In a large twin study, height–intelligence correlation was due to correlated shared environments (59% of the phenotypic Husén (1959) found that the cross-trait cross-twin height–intelligence correlation), but statistically sig- correlation between height and intelligence was not nificant effects of correlated genes and nonshared much higher in monozygotic (MZ) than in dizygotic environments were also found (respectively 35% (DZ) twin pairs (.33 and .25, respectively), and con- and 6% of the phenotypic correlation). cluded that environmental factors seem to be of primary importance in explaining the relationship between height and intelligence. Several studies have found moderate but consistently A major step toward elucidating the nature of the positive correlations between height and intelligence relationship between height and intelligence would be test scores (Husén, 1959; Johnson, 1991; Tanner, to resolve the phenotypic association into component 1966; Teasdale et al., 1989; Tuvemo et al., 1999; genetic and environmental pathways. This type of Udjus, 1964). The height–intelligence correlation is analysis requires data from genetically informative apparent early in life (Humphreys et al., 1985), but it designs (e.g., twin studies), which can be analyzed by may be at least as large in adults as in children. structural equation modeling. Johnson (1991) pooled the correlations from several The purpose of the present study is to analyze studies and concluded that the average height–intelli- genetic and environmental sources of covariation gence correlation was slightly (and significantly) underlying the relationship between height and larger among adults than among children (.22 and intelligence using data from a large sample of .18, respectively). Norwegian twins. The height–intelligence correlation may be decreasing, at least in the Scandinavian countries. Methods and Materials Among Norwegian conscripts born between 1950 In Norway, military service is compulsory for every and 1985, it decreased quite steadily from .17 to .14 able young man. Females may enter the service on a (Sundet et al., 2004). Data on Danish conscripts voluntary basis. Before they actually enter the service showed that the correlation between height and intel- the conscripts are required to meet before a draft ligence was steadily declining from the birth cohorts in the early 1940s to the cohorts in the mid 1960s (Teasdale et al., 1989). Husén (1959; cf. Tanner, 1966) Received 8 March, 2005; accepted 24 May, 2005. reported a correlation of .22 among Swedish con- Address for correspondence: Jon Martin Sundet, Institute of scripts. Tuvemo et al. (1999) studying a more recent Psychology, University of Oslo, PO Box 1094, N-0317 Blindern, Oslo, conscript cohort (1994), found a correlation of .14. Norway. E-mail: [email protected] Twin Research and Human Genetics Volume 8 Number 4 pp. 307–311 307 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.14, on 30 Sep 2021 at 03:03:00, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1375/twin.8.4.307 Jon Martin Sundet, Kristian Tambs, Jennifer R. Harris, Per Magnus, and Tore M. Torjussen board where their medical and psychological suitabil- Test Materials ity, including standing height and intellectual ability, Intelligence test data comprised general ability scores for military service are assessed. A great majority of in stanine units according to norms from 1963. the men meeting before the draft board (about 95%) General ability is a composite score of three speeded are examined between their 18th and 20th birthdays. subtests, Arithmetic, Word Similarities and Figures. Physically or psychologically disabled are exempted The Arithmetic test, presented in prose, purports to from these investigations. Also, seamen and others measure arithmetic and elementary algebraic ability who are abroad at the normal conscript age are nor- but also logical reasoning ability, and is quite similar mally exempted. to the Arithmetic test in Wechsler Adult Intelligence Subjects and Data Scale (WAIS; Cronbach, 1964). The Word Twin data on height and intelligence test scores were Similarities test (akin to the Vocabulary test in WAIS) obtained by matching a file from the Norwegian Army, is a synonym test. The Figures test was constructed comprising among other things data on height and to be very similar to Raven Progressive Matrices intelligence test scores, with two Norwegian twin (Cronbach, 1964). The test–retest reliabilities of panels. One of them, the Norwegian Twin Panel, com- Arithmetic, Word Similarities and Figures tests as cal- ≈ prises like-sex twins born from 1915 to 1960 (Magnus culated from a sample (N 800) in the mid-1950s et al., 1983). A continuation of the Norwegian Twin were .84, .90 and .72, respectively. Internal consis- α Panel (the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin tency coefficients (Cronbach ) were respectively, Panel) was constructed by using data from the .87, .93 and .84 (Notes from the Norwegian Army Norwegian Medical Birth Registry, which contains Psychological Services, 1956). In a smallish sample information on all the newborn children in Norway (N = 48), the correlation between general ability and from 1967 and up to the present (Harris et al., 2002). the WAIS IQ has been found to be .73, with time In this panel, zygosity information was available for the spans between the two tests varying from 2 to 25 birth cohorts 1967–1979, inclusive. Data on height and years (Sundet et al., 1988). intelligence were retrieved for 1181 male MZ pairs and In accordance with earlier results, the mean 1412 male DZ pairs, comprising about 50% of the MZ general ability scores and height changed over male twins and 59% of the DZ male twins born in the cohorts (Flynn, 1987; Sundet et al., 2004). Before relevant period. Zygosity was ascertained using ques- computing covariances and correlations, the mean tionnaire methodology that has been shown to assign scores of height and general ability were standard- correct zygosity in more than 97% of the cases ized to be equal in all the cohorts. (Magnus et al., 1983). Statistical Models and Estimation Procedures In order to resolve the correlation between general ability and height into latent genetic and environmental ah correlations, a comprehensive bivariate path model for Ah eh h t1 Eh MZ and DZ twin data was constructed (e.g., Neale & Cardon, 1992). The full model for identical twins is r Ch ch aw shown in Figure 1. rcw rew The model specifies that each phenotype is rab Cga cga ega ga t1 Ega explained by a combination of latent genetic, shared environmental and nonshared environmental factors. rcb Aga aga 1 1 1 1 The genetic contribution was specified in paths from rcb the genetic factors for height and general ability (A and aga ega h Aga ga t2 E ga Aga, respectively), with path coefficients ah and aga to the cga height and general ability phenotypes of the twins (h t1, rab Cga rew h t2, ga t1 and ga t2 in Figure 1). The paths from C rcw ga raw ch eh and Ch with the path coefficients cga and ch to the corre- Ch h t2 Eh sponding phenotypes denote the contribution of ah environments shared by both twins in a pair. Effects of Ah nonshared environments (Ega, Eh) were denoted ega and e . The path coefficients from a given latent factor to Figure 1 h one of the phenotypes were constrained to be equal for The full bivariate model of general ability and height for the MZ twin both twins in a pair. The cross-twin within-trait correla- group. Ah, Ch, Eh, Aga, Cga and Ega denote the latent genetic, shared envi- ronments, and nonshared environments for height and general ability, tions between latent shared environments are unity respectively. h t1 and h t2 are the height of the two twins; ga t1 and ga both for MZ and DZ twins. The cross-twin within-trait t2 the general ability scores. The correlations between the A ’s and h correlations between the latent genetic factors were Aga’s are 1 for MZ twins, and .5 for DZ twins. The cross-twin cross-trait correlations between A and A is r for MZ and .5*r for DZ twins. r , modeled based on biometric expectations (1 for MZ, .5 h ga ab ab aw for DZ twins) that reflect the extent to which members rcw and rew are the within-twin cross-trait latent correlations. For further explanation, see text.
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