This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Alarcón, M. Articles by Pennington, B. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Alarcón, M. Articles by Pennington, B. F. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A Twin Study of Mathematics Disability

Maricela Alarcón, is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology and a predoctoral trainee in the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder. Address: Maricela Alarcon, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Campus Box 447, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309.

John C. DeFries

John C. DeFries, is professor of psychology and director of the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder. He is director of the Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center and serves as a consulting editor for the Journal of Learning Disabilities.

Jacquelyn Gillis Light

Jacquelyn Gillis Light, is assistant professor of psychology at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is an associate member of the Mac Arthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development.

Bruce F. Pennington

Bruce F. Pennington, is professor of psychology at the University of Denver. He holds both a Research Scientist Award and a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health.

Although results obtained from recent twin and adoption studies suggest that individual differences in mathematics performance are due in part to heritable influences, no genetic analysis of mathematics disability (MD) has been previously reported. In this article we present data from the first twin sample ascertained for mathematics deficits (40 identical and 23 same-sex fraternal twin pairs in which at least one member had MD). When mathematics performance data from these twin pairs were subjected to a multiple regression analysis, evidence for a significant genetic etiology was obtained. However, tests for the differential etiology of MD as a function of reading performance level were nonsignificant. Results of this first twin study of MD indicate that the condition is significantly heritable, but data from additional twin pairs will be required to test hypotheses of differential etiology more rigorously.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 30, No. 6, 617-623 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/002221949703000605


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Raghubar, P. Cirino, M. Barnes, L. Ewing-Cobbs, J. Fletcher, and L. Fuchs Errors in Multi-Digit Arithmetic and Behavioral Inattention in Children With Math Difficulties J Learn Disabil, July 1, 2009; 42(4): 356 - 371. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. T. Cirino, M. K. Morris, and R. D. Morris Semantic, Executive, and Visuospatial Abilities in Mathematical Reasoning of Referred College Students Assessment, March 1, 2007; 14(1): 94 - 104. [Abstract] [PDF]