A mega meta‑analysis pooling 747,000 twin comparisons across 77 studies finds that multiple specific cognitive abilities (e.g., quantitative knowledge, reading/writing, processing speed) show substantial heritability that is not fully mediated by general intelligence. Several abilities exhibit age‑related increases in heritability, paralleling the pattern seen for g, and the data test whether gene effects sum linearly or interact.
— This shifts intelligence debates from g‑only framings to a more granular genetic architecture that could reshape education policy, assessment design, and genomic research priorities.
Aporia
2026.01.10
75% relevant
Cheesman et al.’s GWAS of educational field choice (17 loci; technical vs social; practical vs abstract axes) supports the broader existing claim that specific, domain‑linked abilities/choices have distinct heritable components beyond general intelligence.
Isegoria
2026.01.09
54% relevant
The Worthy reactivity hypothesis targets a narrowly defined ability—reaction time—that the existing idea treats as a worthwhile, heritable specific ability distinct from broad cognitive g; the article’s claim that eye darkness predicts quick reactions interfaces with debates about genetic architecture of narrow traits.
Scott Alexander
2025.12.03
72% relevant
Wainschtein et al. analysed 34 traits (including cognitive and biomedical measures) and report most pedigree heritability being recoverable by WGS, which strengthens the empirical basis for granularity in genetic architecture that underpins claims about multiple specific abilities having heritable components beyond general intelligence.
Steve Stewart-Williams
2025.10.04
100% relevant
The article cites Procopio et al.’s new meta‑analysis of CHC abilities (77 studies; 747k twin comparisons) and its five core questions, including whether abilities are heritable over and above g.
2021.02.02
90% relevant
Deary et al. explicitly review the hierarchical phenotypic structure of cognitive ability (g and specific abilities) and summarize molecular‑genetic findings that point to multiple loci and partly distinct genetic architectures for specific cognitive domains — directly matching the claim that cognition is genetically multi‑dimensional, not only 'g'. (Article: Molecular Psychiatry review, Deary et al., 2022.)