Similarities in Test Scores and Profiles of Kibbutz Twins and Singletons

Abstract

AbstractResemblances on five cognitive tests were compared in fifty quartets of school children. Each quartet consisted of a twin pair (MZ or DZ) and a matched singleton pair from the same kibbutz peer group. Similarities of MZs and DZs on test scores essentially replicate those reported previously in other studies. The median correlation for singleton control pairs is 0.29, as compared with that of 0.26 reported in the Texas Adoption Study for unrelated children raised in the same home. In the two spatial tests, control pairs were as similar as the DZ pairs. This suggests a more powerful influence on shared environment in aspects of perceptual performance. A new structural analysis (POSAC) of individual profiles of test scores is presented. Comparison of space diagrams of MZ, DZ, and singleton pair profiles shows systematic differences in structure among the three groups, in accordance with the predicted levels of genetic influences. Such structural differences transcend mere differences in size of correlation, and may give more stringent evidence for the respective roles of genetics and environment.