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From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn: Substantial and Stable Genetic Influence
Author(s) -
Harlaar Nicole,
Dale Philip S.,
Plomin Robert
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00988.x
Subject(s) - reading (process) , psychology , developmental psychology , longitudinal study , learning to read , twin study , cognitive psychology , heritability , literacy , evolutionary biology , biology , linguistics , pedagogy , statistics , mathematics , philosophy
Little is known about the underlying causes and developmental patterns of stability and change in early reading abilities. In a longitudinal study of twins ( n =4,291 pairs), individual differences in reading achievement assessed by teachers using U.K. National Curriculum (NC) criteria showed substantial heritabilities at ages 7, 9, and 10 years (.57–.67) and modest shared environmental influences (.10–.17). Stability in NC scores was primarily mediated genetically. There was also evidence for age‐specific genetic influences at each age. Genetic influences on reading are substantial and stable during the elementary school years despite the shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”