Abstract
The informativeness of different relationships for resolving the genetic and cultural transmission of a continuous variable is explored by computer simulation. Extended twin, extended nuclear-family, and adoption designs are considered. Combining data on twin and parent-offspring pairs provides a powerful means of detecting genetic and cultural transmission. The addition of uncle-nephew and first-cousin data sometimes leads to an increase in power. Designs involving monozygotic twin pairs and their offspring are weaker. The most powerful adoption designs involve data on both biological parent-adopted-away offspring and adoptive parent-adopted offspring pairs. In the absence of information about biological parents, combining nuclear-family, adoptive parent-adopted offspring, and adoptive/natural sibling relationships still provides a powerful strategy for hypothesis testing. Adoption designs are more robust than extended twin and extended nuclear-family designs for resolving cultural and biological inheritance in the presence of genetic dominance or phenotypic assortative mating.
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Research reported in this paper was supported by Grants GM30250, GM32732, and AG04954 from the National Institutes of Health and by the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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Heath, A.C., Kendler, K.S., Eaves, L.J. et al. The resolution of cultural and biological inheritance: Informativeness of different relationships. Behav Genet 15, 439–465 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066238
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066238