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Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs01:23

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When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
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Updated: May 23, 2026

Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills
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Published on: September 17, 2019

Returns to education: what do twin studies control?

Kevin C Stanek1, William G Iacono, Matt McGue

  • 1Department of Psychology/Elliott Hall, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. stane040@umn.edu

Twin Research and Human Genetics : the Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies
|April 18, 2012
PubMed
Summary

The MZ co-twin control method offers improved estimates of education

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Genetics
  • Economics of Education
  • Psychometrics

Background:

  • The MZ co-twin control method is used to estimate education's returns by controlling for genetic and environmental factors.
  • Previous studies have relied on this method to isolate the causal impact of education.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the assumptions of the MZ co-twin control method in estimating the returns to education.
  • To assess whether MZ co-twin studies fully account for pre-existing individual differences.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 1738 MZ and 926 DZ twins from Minnesota.
  • Inclusion of 133 MZ and 101 DZ twin pairs discordant for university attendance.
  • Prospective assessment of personality, intelligence, GPA, and academic motivation, with income reported at age 29.

Main Results:

  • MZ twins with differing university attendance showed significant prospective differences in verbal IQ, personality, and GPA.
  • These pre-existing differences suggest that MZ co-twin control does not entirely eliminate confounding variables.

Conclusions:

  • While MZ co-twin control improves upon single-individual analyses for education returns, it doesn't fully control for all confounding factors.
  • Pre-university differences between students and non-students may influence outcomes, necessitating further control measures.