Nandagopal Kiruthiga, Roring Roy W, Ericsson Karl Anders, Taylor Jeanette
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Cogn Behav Neurol. 2010 Dec;23(4):224-30. doi: 10.1097/WNN.0b013e3181e07d29.
This study examined use of strategies by twins during cognitive tasks to determine the effects of strategy-use on estimates of heritability.
Performance on many cognitive tasks has been found to be more similar for monozygotic (MZ) than dizygotic (DZ) twins. The cognitive mechanisms mediating these similarities are largely unknown.
Think-aloud protocol analysis was used during 3 cognitive tasks typically considered to have high heritability and susceptibility to strategy-use. In addition, a battery of traditional paper tests was administered to examine potential effects of cognitive abilities.
Performance on 3 cognitive tasks showed effects of strategies, and performance on 2 of the tasks showed a genetic influence. On 1 of these tasks differences in strategies explained a significant portion of the genetic influences. Measures of cognitive ability and metacognitive knowledge could not explain individual differences in strategy use.
This is the first demonstration that the estimated heritability of performance on cognitive tasks is mediated, at least in part, by the use of specific cognitive strategies. Future studies using similar techniques will permit a description of the development of cognitive mechanisms mediating heritable cognitive abilities, and a deeper understanding of the integration of genetic and environmental factors at the level of cognitive strategies and processes.
本研究考察了双胞胎在认知任务中策略的使用情况，以确定策略使用对遗传度估计的影响。
已发现，在许多认知任务中，同卵双胞胎（MZ）的表现比异卵双胞胎（DZ）更为相似。介导这些相似性的认知机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。
在3项通常被认为具有高遗传度且易受策略使用影响的认知任务中，采用出声思维协议分析。此外，还进行了一系列传统的纸笔测试，以检验认知能力的潜在影响。
3项认知任务的表现显示出策略的影响，其中2项任务的表现显示出遗传影响。在其中1项任务中，策略差异解释了很大一部分遗传影响。认知能力和元认知知识的测量无法解释策略使用中的个体差异。
这是首次证明认知任务表现的估计遗传度至少部分是由特定认知策略的使用介导的。未来使用类似技术的研究将有助于描述介导可遗传认知能力的认知机制的发展，并更深入地理解认知策略和过程层面遗传和环境因素的整合。
