Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T21:15:04.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Negative results are needed to show the specific value of a cultural explanation for g

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2017

Ruben C. Arslan
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Personality Psychology, Georg Elias Müller Institute of Psychology, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, [email protected]@[email protected]://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/arslanhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/borellhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/penke Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Christoph J. von Borell
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Personality Psychology, Georg Elias Müller Institute of Psychology, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, [email protected]@[email protected]://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/arslanhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/borellhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/penke Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, 37077 Göttingen, Germany Research Training Group 2070 – Understanding Social Relationships, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Julia Ostner
Affiliation:
Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, 37077 Göttingen, Germany German Primate Center Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, 37077 Göttingen, Germany Department of Behavioral Ecology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, [email protected]://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/164051.html
Lars Penke
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Personality Psychology, Georg Elias Müller Institute of Psychology, Georg August University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, [email protected]@[email protected]://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/arslanhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/borellhttps://www.psych.uni-goettingen.de/en/biopers/team/penke Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Abstract

Burkart et al. suggest that social learning can explain the cognitive positive manifold for social animals, including humans. We caution that simpler explanations of positive trait intercorrelations exist, such as genetic load. To test the suggested explanation's specificity, we also need to examine non-social species and traits, such as health, that are distal to cognitive abilities.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arden, R., Bensky, M. K. & Adams, M. J. (2016) A review of cognitive abilities in dogs, 1911 through 2016: More individual differences, please! Current Directions in Psychological Science 25:307–12. doi: 10.1177/0963721416667718.Google Scholar
Arslan, R. C. & Penke, L. (2015) Evolutionary genetics. In: Handbook of evolutionary psychology, vol. 2, ed. Buss, D. M., pp. 1047–66. Wiley.Google Scholar
Colom, R., Román, F. J., Abad, F. J., Shih, P. C., Privado, J., Froufe, M., Escorial, S., Martínez, K., Burgaleta, M., Quiroga, M. A., Karama, S., Haier, R. J., Thompson, P. M. & Jaeggi, S. M. (2013) Adaptive n-back training does not improve fluid intelligence at the construct level: Gains on individual tests suggest that training may enhance visuospatial processing. Intelligence 41:712–27. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2013.09.002.Google Scholar
Deary, I. J. (2012) Looking for “system integrity” in cognitive epidemiology. Gerontology 58:545–53. doi: 10.1159/000341157.Google Scholar
Hagenaars, S. P., Gale, C. R., Deary, I. J. & Harris, S. E. (2016a) Cognitive ability and physical health: A Mendelian randomization study. bioRxiv, 84798. doi: 10.1101/084798.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagenaars, S. P., Harris, S. E., Davies, G., Hill, W. D., Liewald, D. C. M., Ritchie, S. J., Marioni, R. E., Fawns-Ritchie, C., Cullen, B., Malik, R., METASTROKE Consortium, International Consortium for Blood Pressure GWAS, SpiroMeta Consortium, CHARGE Consortium Pulmonary Group, CHARGE Consortium Aging and Longevity Group, Worrall, B. B., Sudlow, C. L., Wardlaw, J. M., Gallacher, J., Pell, J. McIntosh, A. M., Smith, D. J., Gale, C. R. & Deary, I. J. (2016b) Shared genetic aetiology between cognitive functions and physical and mental health in UK Biobank (N=112 151) and 24 GWAS consortia. Molecular Psychiatry 21:1624–32. doi: 10.1038/mp.2015.225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, W. D., Davies, G., Harris, S. E., Hagenaars, S. P., The neuroCHARGE Cognitive Working Group, Liewald, D. C., Penke, L., Gale, C. R. & Deary, I. J. (2016a) Molecular genetic aetiology of general cognitive function is enriched in evolutionarily conserved regions. Translational Psychiatry 6(12):e980.Google Scholar
Houle, D. (2000) Is there a g factor for fitness? In: The nature of intelligence (Novartis Foundation Symposium 233), ed. Bock, G., Goode, J. & Webb, K., pp. 149–70. Wiley.Google Scholar
Jacob, F. (1977) Evolution and tinkering. Science, 196:1161–66. doi: 10.1126/science.860134.Google Scholar
Johnson, W., Penke, L. & Spinath, F. M. (2011) Heritability in the era of molecular genetics: Some thoughts for understanding genetic influences on behavioural traits. European Journal of Personality 25:254–66. doi: 10.1002/per.836.Google Scholar
Noack, H., Lövdén, M. & Schmiedek, F. (2014) On the validity and generality of transfer effects in cognitive training research. Psychological Research 78:773–89. doi: 10.1007/s00426-014-0564-6.Google Scholar
Paap, K. R., Johnson, H. A. & Sawi, O. (2015) Bilingual advantages in executive functioning either do not exist or are restricted to very specific and undetermined circumstances. Cortex 69:265–78. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.04.014.Google Scholar
Penke, L., Borsboom, D., Johnson, W., Kievit, R. A., Ploeger, A. & Wicherts, J. M. (2011) Evolutionary psychology and intelligence research cannot be integrated the way Kanazawa (2010) suggested. American Psychologist 66:916–17. doi: 10.1037/a0024626.Google Scholar
Penke, L., Denissen, J. J. A. & Miller, G. F. (2007) The evolutionary genetics of personality. European Journal of Personality 21:549–87. doi: 10.1002/per.629.Google Scholar
Redick, T. S. (2015) Working memory training and interpreting interactions in intelligence interventions. Intelligence 50:1420. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2015.01.014.Google Scholar
Solovieff, N., Cotsapas, C., Lee, P. H., Purcell, S. M. & Smoller, J. W. (2013) Pleiotropy in complex traits: Challenges and strategies. Nature Reviews Genetics 14:483–95. doi: 10.1038/nrg3461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornton, A. & Lukas, D. (2012) Individual variation in cognitive performance: Developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 367:2773–83. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0214.Google Scholar