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Primary abilities and field-independence of adopted children

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Abstract

Scores on the verbal, perceptual, quantitative, and spatial subtests of the Primary Mental Abilities Test of 84 adopted children were correlated with social class of the adoptive parents. The relationships were low, suggesting that the social class differences in abilities of “own” children are predominantly due to genetic factors. There was a general increase in scores over the level expected thought to be due to the more stimulating environment provided by adoptive parents. A measure of field-dependence and the spatial subtest were less affected.

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Claeys, W. Primary abilities and field-independence of adopted children. Behav Genet 3, 323–338 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01070216

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01070216

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