Since you have talked a lot about behavioral genetics, twin studies, and the heritability of psychological traits, I would be very interested in your opinion on the "missing heritability problem," which I was introduced to in particular by Alexander Gusev in his highly interesting and complex Substack essays:
I discuss the missing heritability problem in Part 4 of my 4 Laws of Behavior Genetics series. I tend to assume that the standard heritability estimates derived from twin and adoption studies are approximately accurate for the circumstances in which the studies are conducted, and that techniques like GWAS are starting to trace heritability to specific genetic variants. That's not a unique take on my part; I'd say it's currently the mainstream view.
I recognize, though, that's plenty of debate about this. I read the post you sent me about this earlier, and it certainly seems rigorous. So, we'll see how things play out! My guess is that heritability estimates won't be radically lowered - or, for that matter, raised. But time will tell!
Since you have talked a lot about behavioral genetics, twin studies, and the heritability of psychological traits, I would be very interested in your opinion on the "missing heritability problem," which I was introduced to in particular by Alexander Gusev in his highly interesting and complex Substack essays:
- https://theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/twin-heritability-models-can-tell
- https://theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/no-intelligence-is-not-like-height
- https://theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/some-notes-on-assortative-mating
I think he really challenges everything we know from twin studies except that traits are heritable.
Hi ABC,
I discuss the missing heritability problem in Part 4 of my 4 Laws of Behavior Genetics series. I tend to assume that the standard heritability estimates derived from twin and adoption studies are approximately accurate for the circumstances in which the studies are conducted, and that techniques like GWAS are starting to trace heritability to specific genetic variants. That's not a unique take on my part; I'd say it's currently the mainstream view.
I recognize, though, that's plenty of debate about this. I read the post you sent me about this earlier, and it certainly seems rigorous. So, we'll see how things play out! My guess is that heritability estimates won't be radically lowered - or, for that matter, raised. But time will tell!