Cognitive Abilities in Childhood and Adolescence

Abstract

General cognitive ability is associated with important life outcomes such as educational and occupational attainment, social mobility, and even health. The study of the behavioral genetics of cognition has grown dramatically in recent years, including our understanding of the developmental etiologies of cognitive abilities and relations to achievement and later outcomes. The purpose of this first chapter is to provide an overview of the research on the genetics of cognitive abilities in childhood and adolescence. We begin with a brief introduction to the constructs of general and specific cognitive abilities, followed by a discussion of prominent theories of cognitive development, both historical and current. We then discuss state-of-the-art methods in developmental behavioral genetics and their relevance to important issues in child and adolescent cognitive development. Each method is then illustrated by its application to a recent topic in cognitive development. Based on findings from these studies, we conclude that individual differences in cognitive abilities in childhood and adolescence are substantially and increasingly heritable, due primarilly to the combined influence of many genes with relatively small effect. Additional topics include the etiological overlap between cognitive abilities and academic achievement, quantitative and molecular genetic analyses of high and low ability and achievement, and sex differences. Additional research concerning the behavioral genetics of cognition should greatly facilitate future analyses of the interplay between genetic and environmental influences, including genotype-environment correlation and interaction.