The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Genetics and general cognitive ability (g)
Abstract
Two recent articles in this journal made the case for the existence and importance of g and reviewed research on cognitive and psychophysical correlates of psychometric g. This review considers g from a genetic perspective. Multivariate genetic research indicates that g accounts for nearly all of the genetic variance of diverse psychometric cognitive tests (genetic g). Recent research suggests not only that elementary cognitive tasks are genetically linked to psychometric g but also that genetic g pervades these tasks. Contrary to the assumption of modularity that dominates cognitive science, genetic g exists in the mind as well as in psychometric tests.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Twin research on cognitive ability has also estimated that a substantial portion of the individual differences in performance of tests measuring cognitive ability is heritable (around 50%; Plomin and Spinath, 2002).”
From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as Plomin and Spinath, 2002
Citations
Cites
Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
Carroll, J. B. (1993) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511571312 · Cited by 4,121
Reaction times and intelligence differences: a population-based cohort study.
Deary, I. (2001) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/s0160-2896(01)00062-9 · Cited by 361
Research works printed but not linked: 32
- Deary, 2001, Human intelligence differences: a recent history, Trends Cogn. Sci., 5, 127, 10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01621-1 · DOI
- Deary, 2001, Human intelligence differences: towards a combined experimental–differential approach, Trends Cogn. Sci., 5, 164, 10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01623-5 · DOI
- McClearn, 1997, Substantial genetic influence on cognitive abilities in twins 80+ years old, Science, 276, 1560, 10.1126/science.276.5318.1560 · DOI
- Pedersen, 1994, Is there G beyond g? (Is there genetic influence on specific cognitive abilities independent of genetic influence on general cognitive ability?), Intelligence, 18, 133, 10.1016/0160-2896(94)90024-8 · DOI
- Petrill, 1997, Molarity versus modularity of cognitive functioning? A behavioral genetic perspective, Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci., 6, 96, 10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512833 · DOI
- Detterman, 1987, Theoretical notions of intelligence and mental retardation, Am. J. Ment. Defic., 92, 2
- Detterman, 2000, General intelligence and the definition of phenotypes, 136, 10.1002/0470870850.ch9 · DOI
- Neubauer, 2000, Genetic (and environmental) influence on two measures of speed of information processing and their relation to psychometric intelligence: evidence from the German Observational Study of Adult Twins, Intelligence, 28, 267, 10.1016/S0160-2896(00)00036-2 · DOI
- Vernon, 1989, The heritability of measures of speed of information–processing, Pers. Individ. Diff., 10, 575, 10.1016/0191-8869(89)90040-8 · DOI
- Spinath, 2000, Genetic and environmental influences on reaction times: evidence from behavioral-genetic research, Psychologische Beitrage, 42, 201
- Rijsdijk, 1998, The genetic basis of the relation between speed-of-information processing and IQ, Behav. Brain Res., 95, 77, 10.1016/S0166-4328(97)00212-X · DOI
- Luciano, M. et al. Genetic influence on the relationship between choice reaction time and IQ: a twin study. Moscow J. Foreign Psychol. (in press).
- Petrill, 1995, The genetic and environmental variance underlying elementary cognitive tasks, Behav. Genet., 25, 199, 10.1007/BF02197178 · DOI
- Petrill, 1996, The independent prediction of general intelligence by elementary cognitive tasks: genetic and environmental influences, Behav. Genet., 26, 135, 10.1007/BF02359891 · DOI
- Baker, 1991, The genetic correlation between intelligence and speed of information processing, Behav. Genet., 21, 351, 10.1007/BF01065972 · DOI
- Grudnik, J.L. et al. Meta-analysis of the relationship between intelligence and inspection time. Intelligence (in press) · DOI
- Luciano, 2001, On the heritability of inspection time and its covariance with IQ: a twin study, Intelligence, 29, 443, 10.1016/S0160-2896(01)00071-X · DOI
- Posthuma, 2001, Perceptual speed and IQ are associated through common genetic factors, Behav. Genet., 31, 593, 10.1023/A:1013349512683 · DOI
- Luciano, M. et al. Genetic covariance between processing speed and IQ. In Behavioral Genetics in a Postgenomic Era (Plomin, R. et al., eds), The American Psychological Association (in press). · DOI
- Deary, 1997, Neuroscience and human intelligence differences, Trends Neurosci., 20, 365, 10.1016/S0166-2236(97)01070-9 · DOI
- Rijsdijk, 1995, Genetic analysis of peripheral nerve conduction velocity in twins, Behav. Genet., 25, 348, 10.1007/BF02197283 · DOI
- Rijsdijk, 1997, Genetic mediation of the correlation between peripheral nerve conduction velocity and IQ, Behav. Genet., 27, 87, 10.1023/A:1025600423013 · DOI
- Posthuma, 2001, Are smarter brains running faster? Heritability of alpha peak frequency and IQ and their interrelation, Behav. Genet., 31, 567, 10.1023/A:1013345411774 · DOI
- van Baal, 1998, Genetic influences on EEG coherence in 5-year-old twins, Behav. Genet., 28, 9, 10.1023/A:1021400613723 · DOI
- van Baal, G.C.M. et al. Genetics of EEG coherence and IQ in young twins. Behav. Genet. (in press)
- Van Beijsterveldt, 1998, Genetic and environmental influences on EEG coherence, Behav. Genet., 28, 443, 10.1023/A:1021637328512 · DOI
- Engle, 1999, Working memory, short-term memory, and general fluid intelligence: a latent–variable approach, J. Exp. Psychol. Gen., 128, 309, 10.1037/0096-3445.128.3.309 · DOI · Paper page
- Kyllonen, 1990, Reasoning ability is (little more than) working memory capacity, Intelligence, 14, 389, 10.1016/S0160-2896(05)80012-1 · DOI · Paper page
- Stauffer, J.M. et al. (1996) Cognitive-components tests are not much more than g: an extension of Kyllonen's analyses. J. Gen. Psychol. 193–205. · DOI
- Finkel, 2000, Genetic mediation of the associations among motor and perceptual speed and adult cognitive abilities, Aging Neuropsychol. Cogn., 7, 141, 10.1076/1382-5585(200009)7:3;1-Q;FT141 · DOI
- Thompson, 2001, Genetic influences on brain structure, Nat. Neurosci., 4, 1253, 10.1038/nn758 · DOI
- Hunt, 1980, Intelligence as an information processing concept, Br. J. Psychol., 71, 449, 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1980.tb01760.x · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., Tuholski, S. W., Wilhelm, O., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.133.2.189 · Cited by 1,679
Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence
Conway, A. R. A., Kane, M. J., & Engle, R. W. (2003) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.005 · Cited by 1,223
From single to multiple deficit models of developmental disorders
PENNINGTON, B. (2006) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2006.04.008 · Cited by 1,167
Li, S., Lindenberger, U., Hommel, B., Aschersleben, G., Prinz, W., & Baltes, P. B. (2004) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.01503003.x · Cited by 721
“In light of recent evidence showing differences in functional cortical organization during childhood development (see Johnson, 2001, for review) and aging (see Cabeza, 2002, and Reuter-Lorenz, 2002, for reviews), as well as differences in genetic contributions to intelligence across the life span (see Plomin & Spinath…”
BackgroundThe heritability of general cognitive ability increases linearly from childhood to young adulthood
Haworth, C. M. A., Wright, M. J., Luciano, M., Martin, N. G., de Geus, E. J. C., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., Bartels, M., Posthuma, D., Boomsma, D. I., Davis, O. S. P., et al. (2009) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2009.55 · Cited by 618
Self-citationThe origin of mind: Evolution of brain, cognition, and general intelligence.
Geary, D. C. (2005) · doi:10.1037/10871-000 · Cited by 551
Blair, C. (2006) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x06009034 · Cited by 434
“Specifically , heritability estimates of g in young children are small, at about 20%, but increase to about 60% in adult samples (Plomin & Spinath 2002).”
BackgroundTrouton, A., Spinath, F. M., & Plomin, R. (2002) · Twin Research · doi:10.1375/136905202320906255 · Cited by 410
“Children were selected on the basis of a robust general factor that accounts for about 50% of the variance at 2, 3 and 4 years and is remarkably stable but only modestly heritable (about 30%; Spinath et al., 2002).”
BackgroundSelf-citationGeneralist Genes and Learning Disabilities.
Plomin, R., & Kovas, Y. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.4.592 · Cited by 534
“A bivariate genetic analysis of the two tasks yielded a genetic correlation of .84 (Plomin & Spinath, 2002), indicating substantial genetic overlap between these tasks.”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationEpisodic memory in normal aging and Alzheimer disease: Insights from imaging and behavioral studies
Tromp, D., Dufour, A., Lithfous, S., Pebayle, T., & Després, O. (2015) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2015.08.006 · Cited by 390
Ericsson, K. A., & Harwell, K. W. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02396 · Cited by 370
“Twin research on cognitive ability has also estimated that a substantial portion of the individual differences in performance of tests measuring cognitive ability is heritable (around 50%; Plomin and Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundIntelligence: Genetics, Genes, and Genomics.
Plomin, R. J., & Spinath, F. M. (2004) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.1.112 · Cited by 428
“Research in this same vein on high intelligence suggests that group heritability is similar to the heritability of individual differences in intelligence (Plomin & Price, 2003; Ronald, Spinath, & Plomin, 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationThe primacy of cognition in schizophrenia
Heinrichs, R. W. (2005) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.60.3.229 · Cited by 338
Item-level analyses reveal genetic heterogeneity in neuroticism
Nagel, M., Watanabe, K., Stringer, S., Posthuma, D., & van der Sluis, S. (2018) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03242-8 · Cited by 275
SEXUAL SELECTION FOR MORAL VIRTUES
Miller, G. F. (2007) · The Quarterly Review of Biology · doi:10.1086/517857 · Cited by 338
Generalist genes: implications for the cognitive sciences
Kovas, Y. V., & Plomin, R. J. (2006) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2006.03.001 · Cited by 222
“Multivariate genetic research also shows that there is substantial genetic overlap among different psychometric tests of cognitive abilities such as spatial and memory ability [2, 3 ], as well as among more basic information-processing measures such as reaction time and psychophysical measures of basic cognitive proce…”
BackgroundSelf-citationSchabus, M., Hödlmoser, K., Gruber, G., Sauter, C., Anderer, P., Klösch, G., Parapatics, S., Saletu, B., Klimesch, W., & Zeitlhofer, J. (2006) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04694.x · Cited by 261
“…see Gray & Thompson, 2004), and it is well established that the high interindividual variability seen in various EEG parameters (related to ‘intelligence’ test scores; see Vogel, 2000) as well as ‘general cognitive ability’ (see Plomin & Spinath, 2002) are to a great extent genetically determined.”
BackgroundCarroll, J. (2003) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-008043793-4/50036-2 · Cited by 257
The Intergenerational Reproduction of Cultural Capital: A Threefold Perspective
Kraaykamp, G., & van Eijck, K. (2010) · Social Forces · doi:10.1353/sof.2010.0087 · Cited by 238
“Also, intelligence is likely to be partly genetically determined (Plomin and Spinath 2002), and will therefore contribute to intergenerational educational reproduction (cf., Deary et al. 2007).”
BackgroundIndividual Differences in the Expression of a “General” Learning Ability in Mice
Matzel, L. D., Han, Y. R., Grossman, H. C., Karnik, M. S., Patel, D., Scott, N., Specht, S. M., & Gandhi, C. C. (2003) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.23-16-06423.2003 · Cited by 226
“A “general” influence on humans’ performance across diverse tests of cognitive abilities has been described as the most dominant and one of the most heritable cognitive traits ever identified (Plomin, 1999; Plomin and Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundProblem-solving performance is correlated with reproductive success in a wild bird population
Cauchard, L., Boogert, N., Lefebvre, L., Dubois, F., & Doligez, B. (2013) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.005 · Cited by 191
“Heritability of many cognitive traits has been shown in nonhuman species, but evidence comes mainly from domesticated animals, mostly rodents, tested in captivity (Plomin & Spinath 2002), as well as from selection experiments in insects (Mery & Kawecki 2004).”
BackgroundKarama, S., Ad-Dab’bagh, Y., Haier, R. J., Deary, I. J., Lyttelton, O., Lepage, C., & Evans, A. (2009) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(09)70678-0 · Cited by 18
“While IQ provides perhaps a fair estimate of ‘average’ cognitive ability, a derived general factor is a more optimal measure of general intelligence (Carroll, 1993; Colom et al., 2006; Johnson et al., 2004; Johnson et al., 2008; Neisser et al., 1996; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
Butcher, L. M., Davis, O. S. P., Craig, I., & Plomin, R. J. (2007) · Genes Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1111/j.1601-183x.2007.00368.x · Cited by 155
“…specific cognitive abilities independent of g are less likely to succeed, not because they do not exist (the genetic correlations are less than 1.0) but because what is in common among cognitive abilities is largely genetic and what is independent is largely environmental (Plomin & Spinath 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationChildren's working-memory processes: A response-timing analysis.
Cowan, N., Towse, J. N., Hamilton, Z., Saults, J. S., Elliott, E. M., Lacey, J. F., Moreno, M. V., & Hitch, G. J. (2003) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.132.1.113 · Cited by 151
“sometimes been taken simply as a reflection of one processing factor, which has often been equated with a general processing ability (g), Plomin and Spinath (2002, p. 173) criticized this view as follows:”
BackgroundSelective Migration and Health
Longhi, S., Nijkamp, P., & Poot, J. (2006) · doi:10.1111/j.0042-7092.2007.00700.x · Cited by 161
Shaw, R. C., Boogert, N. J., Clayton, N. S., & Burns, K. C. (2015) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.08.001 · Cited by 166
“All rights reserved. typically accounting for at least 40% of the total variance (Deary, Penke, & Johnson, 2010; Deary, Spinath, & Bates, 2006; Plomin, 2001; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
MethodGenetic specificity of face recognition
Shakeshaft, N. G., & Plomin, R. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · doi:10.1073/pnas.1421881112 · Cited by 141
“Since g usually accounts for a large proportion of the genetic variance within any specific cognitive domain (7, 10), this finding offers support for the special nature of faces.”
BackgroundSelf-citationvan der Sluis, S., Verhage, M., Posthuma, D., & Dolan, C. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013929 · Cited by 142
Isden, J., Panayi, C., Dingle, C., & Madden, J. R. (2013) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.07.024 · Cited by 155
“…within-species individual variation (Thornton & Lukas 2012), but in those species that have, this positive covariation has been summarized by a single factor and has been described as analogous to human g (Chandra et al. 2000; Plomin & Spinath 2002; Matzel et al. 2003; Banerjee et al. 2009).”
Children’s cognitive development and learning
Goswami, U., & Bryant, P. (2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203121672-15 · Cited by 94
Shaw, R. C., & Schmelz, M. (2017) · Animal Cognition · doi:10.1007/s10071-017-1135-1 · Cited by 150
“Although the biological significance of the human g factor still remains the focus of much debate (Plomin and Spinath 2002; Gray and Thompson 2004; Deary et al.”
BackgroundHeritability and the evolution of cognitive traits: Table 1
Croston, R., Branch, C. L., Kozlovsky, D. Y., Dukas, R., & Витальевич, П. В. (2015) · Behavioral Ecology · doi:10.1093/beheco/arv088 · Cited by 148
Genetics of human prefrontal function
Winterer, G., & Goldman, D. A. (2003) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/s0165-0173(03)00205-4 · Cited by 119
Enge, S., Behnke, A., Fleischhauer, M., Küttler, L., Kliegel, M., & Strobel, A. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/a0036165 · Cited by 102
Brunnekreef, J. A., de Sonneville, L. M. J., Althaus, M., Minderaa, R. B., Oldehinkel, A. J., Verhulst, F. C., & Ormel, J. (2007) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01695.x · Cited by 97
Molenaar, D., Dolan, C., Wicherts, J., & van der Maas, H. V. D. (2010) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2010.09.002 · Cited by 100
“Deary, & Lawn, 2009; Borsboom & Dolan, 2006; Jensen, 1998, chapter 4; Horn&Noll, 1994; van derMaas et al., 2006; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundGenetic and environmental influences on general cognitive ability: Is g a valid latent construct?
Panizzon, M. S., Vuoksimaa, E., Spoon, K. M., Jacobson, K. C., Lyons, M. J., Franz, C. E., Xian, H., Vasilopoulos, T., & Kremen, W. S. (2014) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2014.01.008 · Cited by 100
“These results are consistent with the view that g is largely a genetic phenomenon (Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
ResultMatzel, L. D., TOWNSEND, D., Grossman, H. C., HAN, Y., Hale, G., ZAPPULLA, M., LIGHT, K., & Kolata, S. (2006) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2006.03.004 · Cited by 89
“A “general” inXuence on humans’ performance across diverse tests of cognitive abilities has been described as the most dominant cognitive trait ever identiWed (Plomin, 1999; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundDiPrete, T. A., Burik, C. A. P., & Koellinger, P. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1707388115 · Cited by 100
Haworth, C. M. A., Kovas, Y. V., Harlaar, N., Hayiou‐Thomas, M. E., Petrill, S. A., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. J. (2009) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02114.x · Cited by 91
“…greater than .50 and often near 1.0 between learning abilities (Plomin & Kovas, 2005), between cognitive abilities (Deary, Spinath, & Bates, 2006; Plomin & Spinath, 2002), and between learning and cognitive abilities (Davis et al., 2008; Haworth, Kovas, Dale, & Plomin, 2008; Kovas, Haworth,…”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationSearching for genetic influences on normal cognitive ageing
Deary, I. J., Wright, A. F., Harris, S. E., Whalley, L. J., & Starr, J. M. (2004) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.02.008 · Cited by 83
“This hierarchical structure of human cognitive differences is relevant to differences in cognitive ageing (Box 1). Genetic influences account for over 50% of the variance in adult cognitive abilities, much of it influencing differences in the general cognitive factor [5, 6 ].”
BackgroundLefebvre, L. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00245 · Cited by 105
“…add to this evidence from brain imaging (Colom et al., 2006; Barbey et al., 2012), genetics and intelligence test research in contemporary humans (Plomin and Spinath, 2002) and non-humans (Galsworthy et al., 2002), it is plausible that changes in g might lie behind many cognitive innovations…”
BackgroundArshavsky, Y. I. (2003) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/s0165-0173(02)00249-7 · Cited by 84
Neurobiology of cognitive aging: Insights from imaging genetics
Mattay, V. S., Goldberg, T. E., Sambataro, F., & Weinberger, D. R. (2008) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.03.015 · Cited by 74
Social and cognitive functioning, urbanicity and risk for schizophrenia
Weiser, M., van Os, J., Reichenberg, A., Rabinowitz, J., Nahon, D., Kravitz, E., Lubin, G., Shmushkevitz, M., Knobler, H., Noy, S., et al. (2007) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.106.031328 · Cited by 73
“As social and cognitive abilities are at least partially affected by genetic factors (Kendler et al, 1991; Plomin, 1999), these results might be interpreted to represent a gene–environment interaction affecting risk of schizophrenia, and might provide an insight into the mechanism of the…”
Nature and Nurture: Genetic and Environmental Influences on Behavior
Plomin, R., & Asbury, K. (2005) · The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716205277184 · Cited by 100
“Finding such substantial genetic at Aston University - FAST on August 25, 2014ann.sagepub.comDownloaded from overlap among cognitive abilities and disabilities has far-reaching implications for understanding the brain mechanisms that mediate these genetic effects (Plomin and Spinath 2002).”
BackgroundSelf-citationStructure and correlates of cognitive aging in a narrow age cohort.
Tucker–Drob, E. M., Briley, D. A., Starr, J. M., & Deary, I. J. (2014) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0036187 · Cited by 69
“Plomin and Spinath (2002) provide a similar discussion with respect to the interpretation of the g factor of individual differences in levels of cognitive abilities.”
BackgroundSaenz, J. L., Adar, S. D., Zhang, Y. S., Wilkens, J., Chattopadhyay, A., Lee, J., & Wong, R. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106722 · Cited by 71
“Latent variable approaches to measuring cognitive function are frequently used and valid (Carroll, 2003; Plomin and Spinath, 2002).”
MethodThe evolution of cognitive mechanisms in response to cultural innovations
Lotem, A., Halpern, J. Y., Edelman, S., & Kolodny, O. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1620742114 · Cited by 84
Why children with ADHD do not have low IQs
Schuck, S. E. B., & Crinella, F. M. (2005) · Journal of Learning Disabilities · doi:10.1177/00222194050380030701 · Cited by 64
Plomin, R. J., Turic, D., Hill, L., Turic, D., Stephens, M., Williams, J. H., Owen, M. J., & O’Donovan, M. C. (2004) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001441 · Cited by 57
Self-citationTuomi, I. (2022) · European Journal of Education · doi:10.1111/ejed.12531 · Cited by 66
The quest for quantitative trait loci associated with intelligence
Plomin, R. J., Kennedy, J. K. J., & Craig, I. (2006) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.01.001 · Cited by 59
Self-citationKolata, S., Light, K., Townsend, D. A., Hale, G., Grossman, H. C., & Matzel, L. D. (2005) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2005.07.006 · Cited by 71
“…commonly referred to as “general intelligence,” has been estimated to account for 30–50% of the performance variance across the seemingly disparate subtests that comprise common intelligence batteries (Jensen, 1998; Mackintosh, 1998; Plomin, 1999; Plomin & Spinath, 2002; Sternberg & Kaufman, 1998).”
BackgroundCanivez, G. L., & Watkins, M. W. (2010) · School Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.1037/a0022046 · Cited by 63
IQ, Socioeconomic Status, and Early Death: The US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Jokela, M. M., Elovainio, M. J., Singh‐Manoux, A., & Mika Kivimaki, B. (2009) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e31819b69f6 · Cited by 63
“3 General cognitive ability, assessed by cognitive tests and often referred to as intelligence quotient (IQ), reflects a general capacity of abstract reasoning and learning potential (1-3).”
BackgroundExperience moderates overlap between object and face recognition, suggesting a common ability
Gauthier, L., McGugin, R. W., Richler, J. J., Herzmann, G., Speegle, M., & Gulick, A. E. V. (2014) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/14.8.7 · Cited by 61
The big g‐factor of national cognitive ability
Rindermann, H. (2007) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.658 · Cited by 54
Genetic influence on cognitive development between childhood and adulthood
Mollon, J., Knowles, E. E. M., Mathias, S. R., Gur, R., Peralta, J. M., Weiner, D. J., Robinson, E. B., Gur, R. E., Blangero, J., Almasy, L., et al. (2021) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-018-0277-0 · Cited by 57
Plomin, R. J. (2003) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10480-011 · Cited by 45
Self-citationDemographic Issues in Longevity Risk Analysis
Stallard, E. (2006) · Journal of Risk & Insurance · doi:10.1111/j.1539-6975.2006.00190.x · Cited by 47
Heritabilities and co-variation among cognitive traits in red junglefowl
Sorato, E., Zidar, J., Garnham, L. C., Wilson, A. J., & Løvlie, H. (2018) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0285 · Cited by 57
Matzel, L. D., Grossman, H. C., Light, K., Townsend, D. A., & Kolata, S. (2008) · Learning & Memory · doi:10.1101/lm.954808 · Cited by 52
“Furthermore, the proportion of variance between individuals that is accounted for by general abilities increases across the life span, accounting for as much as 80% of the variance between elderly individuals and only 40% ( 10%) among the rest of the population (Plomin and Spinath 2002).”
BackgroundTucker–Drob, E. M., Reynolds, C. A., Finkel, D., & Pedersen, N. L. (2013) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0032468 · Cited by 61
Scerri, T. S., Darki, F., Newbury, D. F., Whitehouse, A., Peyrard‐Janvid, M., Matsson, H., Ang, Q. W., Pennell, C. E., Ring, S. M., Stein, J. F., et al. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050321 · Cited by 41
“General cognitive ability, assessed with standardised intelligence tests, is a highly heritable trait [12,13], yet very few genes have been identified that impact upon these trait [14].”
BackgroundGenetics, genes, genomics and g
Plomin, R. J. (2003) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001249 · Cited by 45
Self-citationDonohoe, G. J., Walters, J., Morris, D. W., Quinn, E. M., Judge, R., Norton, N., Giegling, I., Hartmann, A. M., Möller, H. J., Muglia, P., et al. (2009) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.139 · Cited by 48
“Alternatively, working memory may simply be another name for g given the overlap between working memory and psychometric tests of g.(68) This is supported by the evidence that various measures of working memory correlate with g at a level corresponding to the reliability of the measure used.”
ResultFunctional Genomics and Schizophrenia: Endophenotypes and Mutant Models
Waddington, J. L., Corvin, A. P., Donohoe, G. J., O’Tuathaigh, C. M. P., Mitchell, K. J., & Gill, M. (2007) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2007.04.011 · Cited by 45
Li, W., Arvey, R. D., Zhang, Z., & Song, Z. (2011) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.08.007 · Cited by 51
Endophenotypes for intelligence in children and adolescents
van Leeuwen, M., van den Berg, S. M., Hoekstra, R. A., & Boomsma, D. I. (2006) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.09.008 · Cited by 37
“These components can be suggested from neuroscience and may get closer to the actual biological systems involved in intelligence (De Geus & Boomsma, 2001; De Geus et al., 2001; Deary, 2001; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundSpinath, F., Angleitner, A., Borkenau, P., Riemann, R., & Wolf, H. (2002) · Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies · doi:10.1375/136905202320906110 · Cited by 46
“Bivariate analyses revealed that most of the phenotypic variance between g and mental speed was due to genetic factors, suggesting not only that elementary cognitive tasks are genetically linked to psychometric (g) but also that genetic g pervades these tasks (Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundSelf-citationMatzel, L. D., Light, K., Wass, C., Colas-Zelin, D. C., Denman-Brice, A., Waddel, A. C., & Kolata, S. (2011) · Learning & Memory · doi:10.1101/lm.2034711 · Cited by 40
“Relatedly, the proportion of variance between individuals that is accounted for by general abilities increases across the life span, accounting for as much as 80% of the variance between elderly individuals as compared to only ≈40% among the rest of the population (Plomin and Spinath 2002).”
BackgroundMeta-Analysis of Genetic Variation in DTNBP1 and General Cognitive Ability
Zhang, J., Burdick, K. E., Lencz, T., & Malhotra, A. K. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.016 · Cited by 50
Knowles, E. E. M., Carless, M. A., Almeida, M., Curran, J. E., McKay, D., Sprooten, E., Dyer, T. D., Göring, H. H. H., Olvera, R. L., Fox, P. T., et al. (2013) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.32211 · Cited by 35
A strong role for nature in face recognition
McKone, E., & Palermo, R. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1000567107 · Cited by 39
“D o the genes that make us intelligent make us intelligent in all respects? Or can one inherit from one’s parents high general intelligence but also a problem in one specific area, such as in reading or mathematics or the ability to recognize other people? Recent major reviews have emphasized the role of general intel…”
BackgroundGenetic Overlap Among Intelligence and Other Candidate Endophenotypes for Schizophrenia
Aukes, M. F., Alizadeh, B. Z., Sitskoorn, M. M., Kemner, C., Ophoff, R. A., & Kahn, R. S. (2008) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.09.020 · Cited by 37
Penke, L., & Deary, I. J. (2010) · Neurobiology of Aging · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.10.019 · Cited by 37
Poirier, M., Kozlovsky, D. Y., Morand‐Ferron, J., & Careau, V. (2020) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1853 · Cited by 36
“Once more powerful statistical approaches became viable, the human literature on g moved towards alternative statistical tools such as structural equation modelling and multivariate genetic analyses [4,5].”
BackgroundMethodHeritability and correlations among learning and inhibitory control traits
Langley, E., Adams, G., Beardsworth, C. E., Dawson, D. A., Laker, P. R., van Horik, J. O., Whiteside, M., Wilson, A. J., & Madden, J. R. (2020) · Behavioral Ecology · doi:10.1093/beheco/araa029 · Cited by 41
Genetics and Developmental Psychology
Plomin, R. J. (2004) · Merrill-palmer Quarterly · doi:10.1353/mpq.2004.0024 · Cited by 39
“Finding such substantial genetic overlap among cognitive abilities and disabilities has far-reaching implications for understanding the brain mechanisms that mediate these genetic effects (Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundSelf-citationIndividual differences: Case studies of rodent and primate intelligence.
Matzel, L. D., & Sauce, B. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Animal Learning and Cognition · doi:10.1037/xan0000152 · Cited by 37
“…breeding (which probably saved millions of lives from starvation during the Green Revolution; for a brief overview, see Moose & Mumm, 2008), to studying the malleability of intelligence (which could potentially change our welfare policies as well as the educational system; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundRizzi, T. S., Arias-Vásquez, A., Rommelse, N., Kuntsi, J., Anney, R., Asherson, P., Buitelaar, J., Banaschewski, T., Ebstein, R., Ruano, D., et al. (2010) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.31149 · Cited by 32
Is g an entity? A Japanese twin study using syllogisms and intelligence tests
Shikishima, C., Hiraishi, K., Yamagata, S., Sugimoto, Y., Takemura, R., Ozaki, K., Okada, M., Toda, T., & Ando, J. (2008) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2008.10.010 · Cited by 27
“The present study and others (e.g., Plomin & Spinath, 2002) revealed that g is genetic and pervasive, and affects a variety of operations ranging from elemental cognitive tasks to intellectually complex psychometric tasks in the brain and in the mind; however, the essential nature of g or the…”
BackgroundResultAnimal expertise: mechanisms, ecology and evolution
Dukas, R. (2018) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.010 · Cited by 34
Explaining Social Disparities in Mathematical Achievement: The Role of Motivation
Kriegbaum, K., & Spinath, B. (2016) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.2042 · Cited by 39
“There is ample evidence that individual differences in intelligence have a strong genetic basis (Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
BackgroundGrossman, H. C., Hale, G., Light, K., Kolata, S., Townsend, D. A., Goldfarb, Y., Kusnecov, A., & Matzel, L. D. (2007) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.121.5.949 · Cited by 30
“Evidence derived from a growing body of research in humans suggests that 25%–50% of the variance between individuals across cognitive tasks can be accounted for by a single factor (Plomin, 1999; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
Backgroundvan Horik, J. O., Langley, E., Whiteside, M., Laker, P. R., & Madden, J. R. (2018) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.171919 · Cited by 32
Problem‐solving skills are linked to parental care and offspring survival in wild house sparrows
Wetzel, D. P. (2017) · doi:10.1111/eth.12618 · Cited by 28
IQ Population Genetics: It's not as Simple as You Think
Meisenberg, G. (2003) · Mankind Quarterly · doi:10.46469/mq.2003.44.2.4 · Cited by 24
Environmental Influences on Spatial Memory and the Hippocampus in Food-Caching Chickadees
Pravosudov, V., Roth, T., LaDage, L., & Freas, C. (2015) · doi:10.3819/ccbr.2014.100002 · Cited by 26
Finke, V., Scheiner, R., Giurfa, M., & Avarguès‐Weber, A. (2023) · Animal Cognition · doi:10.1007/s10071-022-01741-2 · Cited by 30
“…studied in humans and other vertebrates, considers that the performances in multiple cognitive tests are highly correlated given that the g-factor accounts for a large proportion of inter-individual variability in these tests (Jensen 1998; Mackintosh 1998; Plomin and Spinath 2002; Matzel et al.”
BackgroundThe biological basis of intelligence: Benchmark findings
Hilger, K., Spinath, F. M., Troche, S. J., & Schubert, A. (2022) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2022.101665 · Cited by 24
Self-citationThe contribution of executive functions to sex differences in animal cognition
Lucon‐Xiccato, T. (2022) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104705 · Cited by 26
Christopher, M. E., Keenan, J. M., Hulslander, J., DeFries, J. C., Miyake, A., Wadsworth, S. J., Willcutt, E. G., Pennington, B. F., & Olson, R. K. (2016) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0000146 · Cited by 27
“…and naming speed, have consistently found these abilities to be highly heritable, with genetic influences capturing roughly half of the variance when measured with single tasks (Ando, Ono, & Wright, 2001; Haworth et al., 2010; Lukowski et al., 2014; Plomin & Spinath, 2002; Polderman et al., 2006).”
Genetic architecture of context processing in late middle age: More than one underlying mechanism.
Kremen, W. S., Panizzon, M. S., Xian, H., Barch, D. M., Franz, C. E., Grant, M. D., Toomey, R., & Lyons, M. J. (2011) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0025098 · Cited by 22
“There is abundant evidence for substantial genetic influences on general cognitive ability (Bouchard & McGue, 2003; Lyons et al., 2009; Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
Kessler, S. E., Bonnell, T. R., Setchell, J. M., & Chapman, C. A. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31568-2 · Cited by 24
Wass, C., Sauce, B., Pizzo, A., & Matzel, L. D. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22668-0 · Cited by 23
“1C), and passive avoidance, F(1,55) = 12.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Association Between Spousal Education and Cognitive Ability Among Older Mexican Adults
Saenz, J. L., Beam, C. R., & Zelinski, E. M. (2020) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaa002 · Cited by 29
Generalist Genes and High Cognitive Abilities
Haworth, C. M. A., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. J. (2009) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-009-9271-2 · Cited by 19
“0 across different cognitive abilities (Deary et al. 2006; Petrill 2002; Plomin and Spinath 2002).”
InfluentialSelf-citationCheung, A. K., Harden, K. P., & Tucker–Drob, E. M. (2015) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.21309 · Cited by 17
“…gene codes for multiple proteins each of which serves as a physiological basis for a different ability, or when a gene codes for a single protein that is important for multiple physiological functions, each of which supports a different ability (see Kovas & Plomin, 2006 and Plomin & Spinath, 2002).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Plomin, R., & Spinath, F. M.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Plomin, Robert
- Venue
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2002-04
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 169-176
- ISSN
- 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2150925047
- Cited by
- 191
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Keywords
- general intelligence, heritability of intelligence, genetic variance, cognitive modularity, psychometric tests
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
