Abstract
Sampling twins from a truncated distribution and ignoring this truncation in the estimation procedure lowers correlation coefficients and can considerably bias estimates of the proportions of genetic and environmental variance. A greater proportion of DZ than MZ twins will be missed in sampling for any heritable trait. The implications for two published sets of educational achievement data are considered.
References
Bulmer, M. G. (1970).The Biology of Twinning in Man, Oxford University Press, London.
Curnow, R. N., and Dunnet, C. W. (1962). The numerical evaluation of certain multivariate normal integrals.Ann. Math. Stat. 33:571–579.
Eaves, L. J., Last, K. A., Young, P. A., and Martin, N. G. (1978). Model-fitting approaches to the analysis of human behaviour.Heredity 41:249–320.
Jinks, J. L., and Fulker, D. W. (1970). Comparison of the biometrical genetical, MAVA, and classical approaches to the analysis of human behavior.Psychol. Bull.,73:311–349.
Loehlin, J. C., and Nichols, R. C. (1976).Heredity, Environment & Personality, University of Texas Press, Austin and London.
Lykken, D. T., Tellegen, A., and DeRubeis, R. (1978). Volunteer bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds.Soc. Biol. 25:1–9.
Martin, N. G. (1975). The inheritance of scholastic abilities in a sample of twins. II. Genetical analysis of examination results.Ann. Hum. Genet. Lond. 39:219–229.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martin, N.G., Wilson, S.R. Bias in the estimation of heritability from truncated samples of twins. Behav Genet 12, 467–472 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065638
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065638