Investigating cognitive transfer within the framework of music practice: genetic pleiotropy rather than causality.
Dev Sci
; 19(3): 504-12, 2016 May.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25939545
ABSTRACT
The idea of far transfer effects in the cognitive sciences has received much attention in recent years. One domain where far transfer effects have frequently been reported is music education, with the prevailing idea that music practice entails an increase in cognitive ability (IQ). While cross-sectional studies consistently find significant associations between music practice and IQ, randomized controlled trials, however, report mixed results. An alternative to the hypothesis of cognitive transfer effects is that some underlying factors, such as shared genes, influence practice behaviour and IQ causing associations on the phenotypic level. Here we explored the hypothesis of far transfer within the framework of music practice. A co-twin control design combined with classical twin-modelling based on a sample of more than 10,500 twins was used to explore causal associations between music practice and IQ as well as underlying genetic and environmental influences. As expected, phenotypic associations were moderate (r = 0.11 and r = 0.10 for males and females, respectively). However, the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences using the co-twin control method, indicating that a highly practiced twin did not have higher IQ than the untrained co-twin. In line with that finding, the relationship between practice and IQ was mostly due to shared genetic influences. Findings strongly suggest that associations between music practice and IQ in the general population are non-causal in nature. The implications of the present findings for research on plasticity, modularity, and transfer are discussed.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Cognición
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Pleiotropía Genética
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Inteligencia
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Música
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
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Etiology_studies
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Incidence_studies
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Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Dev Sci
Asunto de la revista:
PSICOLOGIA
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia