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Examines how in the last 5 years, the Colorado and Texas adoption projects have replicated and elaborated the findings of the classical adoption studies of this century: IQs of adoptees are more strongly related to the IQs of their biological parents than to measureable characteristics of their adoptive environment. Conflicting studies in France; Methodological arguments; Two-realms hypothesis; Environmental and genetic effects between and within groups; Other details.

Argues that the complexities of genotype-environmental relations have been addressed in psychology. Difficulties arising from psychologists' interests in individual differences in behavior; The difficulties of studying genetic and environmental determination of the development of individual differences; Duckling sensitivity to maternal chicken calls; Intelligence; The causes of canalization in humans; More.

Looks at the cause of the gap between legal standards and actual practices in civil commitment procedures. Civil commitment reforms; Gap in civil commitment hearings; Commitment criteria; Recommitment criteria; Deinstitutionalization; Treatment of the gravely disabled; Performance of hearing participants; Recommendations for legislation and actual practices.

Person-fit assessment is used to identify persons who respond aberrantly to a test or questionnaire. In this study, S. P. Reise's (2000) method for evaluating person fit using 2-level logistic regression was applied to 13 personality scales of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; L. Clark, 1996) that had been administered to military recruits (N = 2,026). Results revealed significant person-fit heterogeneity and indicated that for 5 SNAP scales (Disinhibition, Entitlement, Exhibitionism, Negative Temperament, and Workaholism), the scale was more discriminating for some people than for others. Possible causes of aberrant responding were explored with several covariates. On all 5 scales, severe pathology emerged as a key influence on responses, and there was evidence of differential test functioning with respect to gender, ethnicity, or both. Other potential sources of aberrancy were carelessness, haphazard responding, or uncooperativeness. Social desirability was not as influential as expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports an error in 'Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments' by Richard E. Nisbett, Joshua Aronson, Clancy Blair, William Dickens, James Flynn, Diane F. Halpern and Eric Turkheimer (American Psychologist, Advanced Online Publication, Jan 2, 2012, np). In the article, two correlational values are incorrect in the 10th line on p. 134. The values are corrected in this correction. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-30298-001.) We review new findings and new theoretical developments in the field of intelligence. New findings include the following: (a) Heritability of IQ varies significantly by social class. (b) Almost no genetic polymorphisms have been discovered that are consistently associated with variation in IQ in the normal range. (c) Much has been learned about the biological underpinnings of intelligence. (d) 'Crystallized' and 'fluid' IQ are quite different aspects of intelligence at both the behavioral and biological levels. (e) The importance of the environment for IQ is established by the 12-point to 18-point increase in IQ when children are adopted from working-class to middle-class homes. (f) Even when improvements in IQ produced by the most effective early childhood interventions fail to persist, there can be very marked effects on academic achievement and life outcomes. (g) In most developed countries studied, gains on IQ tests have continued, and they are beginning in the developing world. (h) Sex differences in aspects of intelligence are due partly to identifiable biological factors and partly to socialization factors. (i) The IQ gap between Blacks and Whites has been reduced by 0.33 SD in recent years. We report theorizing concerning (a) the relationship between working memory and intelligence, (b) the apparent contradiction between strong heritability effects on IQ and strong secular effects on IQ, (c) whether a general intelligence factor could arise from initially largely independent cognitive skills, (d) the relation between self-regulation and cognitive skills, and (e) the effects of stress on intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twins regularly score nearly a standard deviation below the population mean on standardized measures of cognitive development in infancy but recover to the population mean by early childhood, making rapid gains through the toddler years. To date, only polynomial growth models have been fit to model cognitive recovery across childhood, limiting the applicability of the growth parameters to later developmental periods. We fit a nonlinear asymptotic Gompertz growth model to prospective cognitive scores from 1,153 individual twins from 578 families (47.9% male, 91.5% White, 61.6% monozygotic) measured at 16 time points between 3 months and 15 years. Twins displayed a lower asymptote of 86.47 (.90 SD below the population mean) and gained on average 17.01 points, achieving an upper asymptote of 103.48. Growth was observed to be most rapid at 3.26 years, highlighting the importance of the toddler years in cognitive development. Biometric analyses revealed that shared environmental factors accounted for the majority of the variance in initial cognitive ability as well as asymptotic growth in cognitive ability. Gestational age and family socioeconomic status (SES) were robust predictors of cognitive growth. Results from the present study provide insight into the growth processes underlying the recovery of cognitive ability to the population mean for children evincing slight delays in their initial cognitive ability. In particular, findings highlight prenatal factors and family economic resources as important aspects of the environment in the recovery of cognitive ability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Married adults have consistently been found to drink less than their single or divorced counterparts. This correlation may not be causal, however, as people nonrandomly "select" into marriage and into alcohol use. The current study uses a sample of 2,425 same-sex twin pairs (1,703 MZ; 722 DZ) to control for genetic and shared environmental selection, thereby eliminating a great many third variable, alternative explanations to the hypothesis that marriage causes less drinking. Married twins were compared with their single, divorced, and cohabiting cotwins on drinking frequency and quantity. Married cotwins consumed fewer alcoholic beverages than their single or divorced cotwins, and drank less frequently than their single cotwins. Alcohol use patterns did not differ among married and cohabiting twins. These findings provide strong evidence that intimate relationships cause a decline in alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) personality disorder trait model, maladaptive behavior is located at one end of continuous scales. Widiger and colleagues, however, have argued that maladaptive behavior exists at both ends of trait continua. We propose that the role of evaluative variance differentiates these two perspectives and that once evaluation is isolated, maladaptive behaviors emerge at both ends of nonevaluative trait dimensions. In Study 1, we argue that evaluative variance is worthwhile to measure separately from descriptive content because it clusters items by valence regardless of content (e.g., lazy and workaholic; apathetic and anxious; gullible and paranoid; timid and hostile, etc.), which is unlikely to describe a consistent behavioral style. We isolate evaluation statistically (Study 2) and at the time of measurement (Study 3) to show that factors unrelated to valence evidence maladaptive behavior at both ends. We argue that nonevaluative factors, which display maladaptive behavior at both ends of continua, may better approximate ways in which individuals actually behave.

Factor analytic investigations into the structure of naturalistically observed self-reported mood suggest that anger loads together with avoidance temperament markers, such as fear and anxiety. However, when anger is examined following experimental manipulation, it appears to relate more to approach temperament markers, such as determined and active. We explored 1 potential reason why there is a discrepancy between naturalistically collected self-reported mood versus experimental manipulation of affect with regard to the location of anger in the mood space. We propose that evaluation--endorsing items of similar valence regardless of their semantic content--confounds the self-reported structure of mood. The evaluative dimension of self-reported mood does not appear to represent actual behavior, because it combines items with contradictory semantic content as long as they have similar valence. For example, someone with a positive self-view may endorse both calm and excited while denying sluggish and manic, and so forth, even though these items describe opposite traits. Isolating evaluation across 4 inventories and samples showed that anger clustered together with approach temperament markers. We conclude that isolating evaluation generates a self-reported structure of mood that aligns more closely with experimental investigations.

Married adults show better psychological adjustment and physical health than their separated/divorced or never-married counterparts. However, this apparent "marriage benefit" may be due to social selection, social causation, or both processes. Genetically informed research designs offer critical advantages for helping to disentangle selection from causation by controlling for measured and unmeasured genetic and shared environmental selection. Using young-adult twin and sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Harris, 2009), we conducted genetically informed analyses of the association between entry into marriage, cohabitation, or singlehood and multiple indices of psychological and physical health. The relation between physical health and marriage was completely explained by nonrandom selection. For internalizing behaviors, selection did not fully explain the benefits of marriage or cohabitation relative to being single, whereas for externalizing symptoms, marriage predicted benefits over cohabitation. The genetically informed approach provides perhaps the strongest nonexperimental evidence that these observed effects are causal., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.)

Responds to the comments by J. P. Rushton (see record 2012-24333-012); M. A. Woodley and G. Meisenberg (see record 2012-24333-013); and J. D. Mayer, D. R. Caruso, A. T. Panter, and P. Salovey (see record 2012-24333-014) on the present authors' original article, "Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments" (see record 2011-30298-001). Here, the authors address the concerns raised by Rushton and by Woodley and Meisenberg, and conclude by agreeing with Mayer et al's claim that many types of abilities can be thought of as intelligence of a kind. They note, however, that it has proved hard to show that measures of emotional intelligence or social intelligence contribute to behavior we would want to call intelligent over and above their correlation with conventional IQ tests., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).)

Research consistently links adolescents' and young adults' drinking with their peers' alcohol intake. In interpreting this correlation, 2 essential questions are often overlooked. First, which peers are more important, best friends or broader social networks? Second, do peers cause increased drinking, or do young people select friends whose drinking habits match their own? The present study combines social network analyses with family (twin and sibling) designs to answer these questions via data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Analysis of peer nomination data from 134 schools (n = 82,629) and 1,846 twin and sibling pairs shows that peer network substance use predicts changes in drinking from adolescence into young adult life even after controlling for genetic and shared environmental selection, as well as best friend substance use. This effect was particularly strong for high-intensity friendships. Although the peer-adolescent drinking correlation is partially explained by selection, the present finding offers powerful evidence that peers also cause increased drinking., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.)

We review new findings and new theoretical developments in the field of intelligence. New findings include the following: (a) Heritability of IQ varies significantly by social class. (b) Almost no genetic polymorphisms have been discovered that are consistently associated with variation in IQ in the normal range. (c) Much has been learned about the biological underpinnings of intelligence. (d) "Crystallized" and "fluid" IQ are quite different aspects of intelligence at both the behavioral and biological levels. (e) The importance of the environment for IQ is established by the 12-point to 18-point increase in IQ when children are adopted from working-class to middle-class homes. (f) Even when improvements in IQ produced by the most effective early childhood interventions fail to persist, there can be very marked effects on academic achievement and life outcomes. (g) In most developed countries studied, gains on IQ tests have continued, and they are beginning in the developing world. (h) Sex differences in aspects of intelligence are due partly to identifiable biological factors and partly to socialization factors. (i) The IQ gap between Blacks and Whites has been reduced by 0.33 SD in recent years. We report theorizing concerning (a) the relationship between working memory and intelligence, (b) the apparent contradiction between strong heritability effects on IQ and strong secular effects on IQ, (c) whether a general intelligence factor could arise from initially largely independent cognitive skills, (d) the relation between self-regulation and cognitive skills, and (e) the effects of stress on intelligence.

Dar-Nimrod and Heine (2011) decried genetic essentialism without denying the importance of genetics in the genesis of human behavior, and although I agree on both counts, a deeper issue remains unaddressed: how should we adjust our cognitions about our own behavior in light of genetic influence, or is it perhaps not necessary to take genetics into account at all? I suggest that the genetics of behavior does have important implications for how we understand ourselves, the differences among us, and the ethical implications of our actions, but that the usual metric for these considerations, the heritability coefficient, is not the correct one. I propose an alternative., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).)

This article uses a genetically informed design to evaluate whether (1) the well-documented association between marital support and depressive symptoms is accounted for by genetic and/or shared environmental selection, (2) gender differences are found after controlling for selection effects, and (3) parenthood moderates any nonshared environmental relation between depressive symptoms and marital support. We used a sample of 1,566 pairs of same-sexed, married twins from the Australian Twin Registry to evaluate our hypotheses that (1) the predicted effect of marital support on depressive symptoms is not fully an artifact of selection, (2) the etiological sources accounting for this effect differ between husbands and wives, and (3) parenthood status moderates the effect of marital support on depressive symptoms adjusting for selection effects. The results support the first hypotheses. However, after controlling for selection, the effect of marital support on depressive symptoms was not significantly different for husbands and wives. Parenthood moderated the effect of marital support, such that after controlling for selection, marital support is more strongly associated with depressive symptoms for full-time parents than nonfull-time parents., (2011 APA, all rights reserved)

Research has documented associations between family functioning and offspring psychosocial adjustment, but questions remain regarding whether these associations are partly due to confounding genetic factors and other environmental factors. The current study used a genetically informed approach, the Children of Twins design, to explore the associations between family functioning (family conflict, marital quality, and agreement about parenting) and offspring psychopathology. Participants were 867 twin pairs (388 monozygotic; 479 dizygotic) from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, their spouses, and children (51.7% female; M = 15.75 years). The results suggested associations between exposure to family conflict (assessed by the mother, father, and child) and child adjustment were independent of genetic factors and other environmental factors. However, when family conflict was assessed using only children's reports, the results indicated that genetic factors also influenced these associations. In addition, the analyses indicated that exposure to low marital quality and agreement about parenting was associated with children's internalizing and externalizing problems and that genetic factors also contributed to the associations of marital quality and agreement about parenting with offspring externalizing problems., ((c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.)

We demonstrate a means of conservatively combining self and peer data regarding personality pathology and interpersonal behavior through structural equation modeling, focusing on avoidant personality disorder traits as well as those of two comparison personality disorders (dependent and narcissistic). Assessment of the relationship between personality disorder traits and interpersonal problems based on either self or peer data alone would result in counterintuitive findings regarding avoidant personality disorder. In contrast, analysis of the variance shared between self and peer leads to results that are more in keeping with hypothetical relationships between avoidant traits and interpersonal problems. Similar results were found for both dependent personality disorder traits and narcissistic personality disorder traits, exceeding our expectations for this method.

The children-of-twins design was used to isolate a potentially causal environmental impact of having an alcoholic parent on offspring alcohol use disorder, by an examination of whether the children of alcoholics were at a higher risk for alcohol use disorders than were the children of nonalcoholic parents, even after correlated familial factors were controlled. Participants were 1,224 male and female twins from 836 twin pairs selected from the Australian Twin Registry, 2,334 of the twins' 18-39-year-old offspring, and 983 spouses of the twins. Lifetime histories of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) alcohol use disorders were obtained by structured, psychiatric, telephone interviews conducted individually with each of the family members. Comparisons of the offspring of twins who were discordant for alcoholism indicated that there was no longer a statistically significant difference between the children of alcoholics and the children of nonalcoholics after genetic and family environmental factors correlated with having an alcoholic parent were controlled. The results of this study suggest that the direct causal effect of being exposed to an alcoholic parent on offspring alcohol use disorder is modest at best., (Copyright (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.)

The present study examines the relations between adolescent motherhood and children's behavior, substance use, and internalizing problems in a sample of 1,368 children of 712 female twins from Australia. Adolescent motherhood remained significantly associated with all mental health problems, even when using a quasiexperimental design capable of controlling for genetic and environmental confounds. However, the relation between adolescent motherhood and offspring behavior problems and substance use was partially confounded by family background variables that influence both generations. The results are consistent with a causal relation between adolescent motherhood and offspring mental health problems, and they highlight the usefulness of behavior genetic designs when examining putative environmental risks for the development of psychopathology. The generalizability of these results to the United States, which has a higher adolescent birth rate, is discussed., ((c) 2007 APA)

The authors examined gender bias in the diagnostic criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) personality disorders. Participants (N=599) were selected from 2 large, nonclinical samples on the basis of information from self-report questionnaires and peer nominations that suggested the presence of personality pathology. All were interviewed with the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality (B. Pfohl, N. Blum, & M. Zimmerman, 1997). Using item response theory methods, the authors compared data from 315 men and 284 women, searching for evidence of differential item functioning in the diagnostic features of 10 personality disorder categories. Results indicated significant but moderate measurement bias pertaining to gender for 6 specific criteria. In other words, men and women with equivalent levels of pathology endorsed the items at different rates. For 1 paranoid personality disorder criterion and 3 antisocial criteria, men were more likely to endorse the biased items. For 2 schizoid personality disorder criteria, women were more likely to endorse the biased items., ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.)

Conclusions about the effects of harsh parenting on children have been limited by research designs that cannot control for genetic or shared environmental confounds. The present study used a sample of children of twins and a hierarchical linear modeling statistical approach to analyze the consequences of varying levels of punishment while controlling for many confounding influences. The sample of 887 twin pairs and 2,554 children came from the Australian Twin Registry. Although corporal punishment per se did not have significant associations with negative childhood outcomes, harsher forms of physical punishment did appear to have specific and significant effects. The observed association between harsh physical punishment and negative outcomes in children survived a relatively rigorous test of its causal status, thereby increasing the authors' conviction that harsh physical punishment is a serious risk factor for children., (((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).)

Parental divorce is associated with problematic offspring adjustment, but the relation may be due to shared genetic or environmental factors. One way to test for these confounds is to study offspring of twins discordant for divorce. The current analyses used this design to separate the mechanisms responsible for the association between parental divorce, experienced either before or after the age of 16, and offspring well-being. The results were consistent with a causal role of divorce in earlier initiation of sexual intercourse and emotional difficulties, in addition to a greater probability of educational problems, depressed mood, and suicidal ideation. In contrast, the increased risk for cohabitation and earlier initiation of drug use was explained by selection factors, including genetic confounds. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Girls who grow up in households with an unrelated adult male reach menarche earlier than peers, a finding hypothesized to be an evolutionary strategy for families under stress. The authors tested the alternative hypothesis that nonrandom selection into stepfathering due to shared environmental and/or genetic predispositions creates a spurious relation between stepfathering and early menarche. Using the unique controls for genetic and shared environmental experiences offered by the children-of-twins design, the authors found that cousins discordant for stepfathering did not differ in age of menarche. Moreover, controlling for mother's age of menarche eliminated differences in menarcheal age associated with stepfathering in unrelated girls. These findings strongly suggest selection, and not causation, accounts for the relationship between stepfathering and early menarche., (((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).)

Parental divorce is associated with a number of emotional and behavioral problems in young-adult offspring, but theoretical and empirical considerations suggest that the relation may be partially or fully accounted for by passive gene-environment correlation or environmental selection characteristics. The current study used the Children of Twins Design to explore whether shared environmental or genetic factors confound the relationship between parental marital instability and measures of psychopathology. Comparisons of the offspring of adult twins in Australia on 3 factors of abnormal behavior, including drug and alcohol, behavioral, and internalizing problems, suggest that environmental influences associated with divorce account for the higher rates of psychopathology. The results are consistent with a causal connection between marital instability and psychopathology in young-adult offspring., (Copyright (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.)

This study compares the relationship between personality disorders and interpersonal problems as obtained by self-report and peer-report measures. Participants (N = 393) were administered self- and peer-report versions of the Peer Inventory for Personality Disorder and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-64. Canonical analyses demonstrated similar relationships between personality disorder features and interpersonal problems as measured by either self or peer. Analyses between self and peer found little shared variance across sources, indicating a large method variance. Results indicate that although similar constructs are identified by self and peers in their understanding of personality pathology and associated interpersonal problems, self-report information overlaps very little with information obtained from peers, underscoring the importance of obtaining multiple sources of information.

This study explored how individuals apply features of personality disorders (PDs) to peers. Members of groups nominated peers who exhibited symptoms for each of the 10 PDs in the DSM-IV. Data were gathered in 2 samples: 1st-year college students (n = 1,440) and Air Force recruits (n = 2,075). The peer method reliably identified group members exhibiting specific PD features. Factor analyses identified a clearly interpretable structure relevant to the pathological personality constructs being assessed. The structure replicated well across samples and showed expected relationships to broader models of normal personality. However, cross-method correlations of factor scores were only moderate, suggesting that peer reports are reliably different from self-reports regarding the presence of pathological personality traits.

When genetic similarity is controlled, siblings often appear no more alike than individuals selected at random from the population. Since R. Plomin and D. Daniels' seminal 1987 review, it has become widely accepted that the source of this dissimilarity is a variance component called nonshared environment. The authors review the conceptual foundations of nonshared environment, with emphasis on distinctions between components of environmental variance and causal properties of environmental events and between the effective and objective aspects of the environment. A statistical model of shared and nonshared environmental variables is developed. A quantitative review shows that measured nonshared environmental variables do not account for a substantial portion of the nonshared variability posited by biometric studies of behavior. Other explanations of the preponderance of nonshared environmental variability are suggested.

Modern neuroscientific and genetic technologies have provoked intense disagreement between scientists who envision a future in which biogenetic theories will enrich or even replace psychological theories, and others who consider biogenetic theories exaggerated, dehumanizing, and dangerous. Both sides of the debate about the role of genes and brains in the genesis of human behavior have missed an important point: All human behavior that varies among individuals is partially heritable and correlated with measurable aspects of brains, but the very ubiquity of these findings makes them a poor basis for reformulating scientists' conceptions of human behavior. Materialism requires psychological processes to be physically instantiated, but more crucial for psychology is the occasional empirical discovery of behavioral phenomena that are specific manifestations of low-level biological variables. Heritability and psychobiological association cannot be the basis for establishing whether behavior is genetic or biological, because to do so leads only to the banal tautology that all behavior is ultimately based in the genotype and brain.