The general Spatial Ability factor is 84% heritable, with shared genetic variance underlying clustering across all sixteen tests and no meaningful shared environmental contribution¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? A multivariate AE twin model showed the common spatial ability factor was highly heritable (84%), subsuming most genetic variance of each lower-order factor; no standardised effect size was printed, so magnitude is uncoded. → Malanchini 2020 q3 i? Shared environment played no meaningful role in individual differences in spatial skills in the multivariate model. → Malanchini 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Malanchini 2020¶

Malanchini, M., Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N. G., McMillan, A., Schofield, K. L., Rodic, M., Rossi, V., Kovas, Y., Dale, P. S., Tucker-Drob, E. M. & Plomin, R. (2020). Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0067-8

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Multivariate twin (AE) model of the hierarchical spatial structure in TEDS. "The common spatial ability factor was in fact highly heritable (84%)", subsuming 67% of object manipulation genetic variance, 93% of navigation's and the entirety of visualization's; nonshared environment accounted for 16% of the common factor.

"The common spatial ability factor was in fact highly heritable (84%) and subsumed 67% of the genetic variance in object manipula- tion."

Malanchini 2020 (2)¶

Malanchini, M., Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N. G., McMillan, A., Schofield, K. L., Rodic, M., Rossi, V., Kovas, Y., Dale, P. S., Tucker-Drob, E. M. & Plomin, R. (2020). Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0067-8

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Model-fitting comparison in the multivariate twin analysis: an AE decomposition "provided a good fit for the data", with no evidence of meaningful shared environmental influence on spatial skills.

"That is, there was no evidence that shared environmental variance, which encompasses those experiences that make children growing up in the same family more similar to one another beyond their genetic similarity, played a meaningful role in accounting for individual differences in spatial skills."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• General cognitive ability (g) accounts for 55% of the genetic variance in spatial ability, leaving 45% independent of g — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Across sixteen spatial tests, a three-factor hierarchical model (Navigation, Object Manipulation, Visualization) fit best, with factors correlated r = 0.73–0.95 loading on a general Spatial Ability factor — related
• The six spatial orientation tests cluster into a single Navigation factor that is 64% heritable and captures 66–100% of each test's heritability — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• GPAΔ is strikingly highly heritable (85%), exceeding the heritability of achievement itself (67%) — related
• Adjusting published twin-study ACE estimates for assortative mating raises mean heritability by about 17 points and lowers shared environmental estimates by about 16 points — related