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Genetic and environmental transmission in the Colorado Adoption Project: Path analysis
Author(s) -
Fulker D. W.,
DeFries J. C.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
british journal of mathematical and statistical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.157
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 2044-8317
pISSN - 0007-1102
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8317.1983.tb01123.x
Subject(s) - assortative mating , statistics , variance (accounting) , path analysis (statistics) , transmission (telecommunications) , correlation , econometrics , path (computing) , computer science , demography , mating , mathematics , biology , ecology , economics , telecommunications , geometry , accounting , sociology , programming language
A path model of genetic and environmental transmission developed for application to data collected in the ongoing Colorado Adoption Project was evaluated. In addition to providing tests of hereditary and environmental influences, the model includes parameters for passive genotype‐environment correlation, parental influences on the child's environment, assortative mating and selective placement. A maximum likelihood method was used to obtain parameter estimates from mental ability data on one‐ and two‐year‐old children, their biological and adoptive parents, and members of control families. There was a satisfactory fit of the model to the data. Highly significant estimates of genetic influence and a significant measure of home environment were obtained. By comparing the fit of the full model to that of a reduced model in which selective placement parameters were dropped, the absence of selective placement was confirmed. Although some evidence for possible genotype‐environment correlation was found, it accounted for a relatively small proportion of the total variance.