TY - JOUR
T1 - The heritability of aptitude and exceptional talent across different domains in adolescents and young adults
AU - Vinkhuyzen, Anna A.E.
AU - Van Der Sluis, Sophie
AU - Posthuma, Danielle
AU - Boomsma, Dorret I.
PY - 2009/7/1
Y1 - 2009/7/1
N2 - The origin of individual differences in aptitude, defined as a domain-specific skill within the normal ability range, and talent, defined as a domain specific skill of exceptional quality, is under debate. The nature of the variation in aptitudes and exceptional talents across different domains was investigated in a population based twin sample. Self-report data from 1,685 twin pairs (12-24 years) were analyzed for Music, Arts, Writing, Language, Chess, Mathematics, Sports, Memory, and Knowledge. The influence of shared environment was small for both aptitude and talent. Additive and non-additive genetic effects explained the major part of the substantial familial clustering in the aptitude measures with heritability estimates ranging between .32 and .71. Heritability estimates for talents were higher and ranged between .50 and .92. In general, the genetic architecture for aptitude and talent was similar in men and women. Genetic factors contribute to a large extent to variation in aptitude and talent across different domains of intellectual, creative, and sports abilities.
AB - The origin of individual differences in aptitude, defined as a domain-specific skill within the normal ability range, and talent, defined as a domain specific skill of exceptional quality, is under debate. The nature of the variation in aptitudes and exceptional talents across different domains was investigated in a population based twin sample. Self-report data from 1,685 twin pairs (12-24 years) were analyzed for Music, Arts, Writing, Language, Chess, Mathematics, Sports, Memory, and Knowledge. The influence of shared environment was small for both aptitude and talent. Additive and non-additive genetic effects explained the major part of the substantial familial clustering in the aptitude measures with heritability estimates ranging between .32 and .71. Heritability estimates for talents were higher and ranged between .50 and .92. In general, the genetic architecture for aptitude and talent was similar in men and women. Genetic factors contribute to a large extent to variation in aptitude and talent across different domains of intellectual, creative, and sports abilities.
KW - Aptitude
KW - Heritability
KW - High ability
KW - Talent
KW - Twin study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67349110437&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10519-009-9260-5
DO - 10.1007/s10519-009-9260-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 19288254
AN - SCOPUS:67349110437
VL - 39
SP - 380
EP - 392
JO - Behavior Genetics
JF - Behavior Genetics
SN - 0001-8244
IS - 4
ER -