Temperament, emotion, and cognition at fourteen months: the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Temperament, emotion, and cognition at fourteen months

T2 - the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study

AU - Emde, R N

AU - Plomin, R

AU - Robinson, J A

AU - Corley, R

AU - DeFries, J

AU - Fulker, D W

AU - Reznick, J S

AU - Campos, J

AU - Kagan, J

AU - Zahn-Waxler, C

PY - 1992

Y1 - 1992

N2 - 200 pairs of twins were assessed at 14 months of age in the laboratory and home. Measures were obtained of temperament, emotion, and cognition/language. Comparisons between identical and fraternal twin correlations suggest that individual differences are due in part to heritable influences. For temperament, genetic influence was significant for behavioral observations of inhibition to the unfamiliar, tester ratings of activity, and parental ratings of temperament. For emotion, significant genetic influence was found for empathy and parental ratings of negative emotion. The estimate of heritability for parental report of expression of negative emotions was relatively high, whereas that for expression of positive emotions was low, a finding consistent with previous research. For cognition and language, genetic influence was significant for behavioral indices of spatial memory, categorization, and word comprehension. Shared rearing environment appears influential for parental reports of language and for positive emotions, but not for other measures of emotion or for temperament.

AB - 200 pairs of twins were assessed at 14 months of age in the laboratory and home. Measures were obtained of temperament, emotion, and cognition/language. Comparisons between identical and fraternal twin correlations suggest that individual differences are due in part to heritable influences. For temperament, genetic influence was significant for behavioral observations of inhibition to the unfamiliar, tester ratings of activity, and parental ratings of temperament. For emotion, significant genetic influence was found for empathy and parental ratings of negative emotion. The estimate of heritability for parental report of expression of negative emotions was relatively high, whereas that for expression of positive emotions was low, a finding consistent with previous research. For cognition and language, genetic influence was significant for behavioral indices of spatial memory, categorization, and word comprehension. Shared rearing environment appears influential for parental reports of language and for positive emotions, but not for other measures of emotion or for temperament.

U2 - 10.2307/1131567

DO - 10.2307/1131567

M3 - Article

C2 - 1446561

SN - 0009-3920

VL - 63

SP - 1437

EP - 1455

JO - Child Development

JF - Child Development

IS - 6

ER -