I was just skimming a new paper by Deary in Intelligence about processing speed, but it's pretty technical and not very interesting. Does he have another paper coming up? He's a one man scientific publishing industry, just look at his publications list. He publishes one or two papers every week. How does he do it? It does not seem that he's just adding his name to his students' papers.
"Ian Deary is currently engaged in a 10-year study into the effects of ageing on mental ability using the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey...
Among his findings are that possession of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE-ε4) is associated with intelligence at age 79 but not age 11, in the same people"
I would predict that the new paper is about estimating IQ heritability by measuring the actual extent of genetic sharing between siblings. Alternatively, it's about the successful identification of some genetic variants that influence IQ differences.
My guess: they will demonstrate that IQ is mostly determined by rare, deleterious alleles/mutations of large effect. Or at minimum, they will be able to show that these alleles control at least 0.20 of the variance.
(But of course, they will not be able to provide a list of all the extremely numerous alleles that do this. Probably just a few hundred, which will turn out to be like 0.01% of all the important ones in the world, or something.)
This is something which, IMO, can already be considered very likely indeed to be true. But it will still be fascinating to see it demonstrated more directly.
Among his findings are that possession of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE-ε4) is associated with intelligence at age 79 but not age 11, in the same people
Off-topic, but it's difficult to imagine a medical breakthrough that we need more urgently than a treatment [if not a cure] for Alzheimer's [and other age-related dementia].
As someone who has spent the last half-decade just scouring through the demographic data, I can assure you that if Grandpa loses his mind at age 75, but continues to live until age 90, then figuring out how to care for him during his final 15 years of life is going to be an unmitigated hell-on-earth disaster for his 3.0 to 3.5 caucasian grandchildren [if he even has that many to call upon].
The paper's out. It basically confirms what we already know: IQ differences are mainly caused by the additive effects of lots of gene differences, each contributing very little on its own. It shows that genetic differences are associated with IQ differences, but does not manage to pinpoint the relevant genetic variants.
From the abstract:
We estimate that 40% of the variation in crystallized-type intelligence and 51% of the variation in fluid-type intelligence between individuals is accounted for by linkage disequilibrium between genotyped common SNP markers and unknown causal variants. These estimates provide lower bounds for the narrow-sense heritability of the traits. We partitioned genetic variation on individual chromosomes and found that, on average, longer chromosomes explain more variation.
09 Aug 2011 I cannot forbear noting that today's media coverage contains a fairly lengthy direct quotation from Al Gore about how much bull**** he perceives to have been injected into the science of climate change by those who are not recognized experts and how there is, accordingly, a lack of shared reality about this issue. It is stark how (with minor word changes) the outcry from Gore is apt declaration about the science of "g" and how MSM distortions and PC repressions, etc, have delayed and prevented (at least in a timely fashion) a shared reality about "g" and about the sad fact of life that "g" has been very unfairly allocated by human evolution and social stratification (and, also, as CHRIS BRAND has noted by the whole-hog legal proscription of polygamy for those persons able enough to sustain it productively to serve eugenic purposes ) BTW, Deary studied under Brand at Edinburgh University before Brand was martyred and forced out. Brand's 1996 book,THE "g" FACTOR (full text accessible now online ) is surely emblematic of the fact that Deary's outstanding accomplishments arise not merely within himself but also upon the shoulders of earlier giants. Now, to await (for how much longer??) the "shared reality" from which a consensual social policy can take shape from the "g" facts of life.
Social repression being what it is, and such repression being compounded by MSM misinformation and PC indoctrination, it is interesting in actual practical decison-making to observe the schisms between what is done, on the one hand, and what is verbally professed, on the other. Reportedly, sperm donor banks all over the Western world, provide information on donor IQ or give reasonably abaundant information for an estimate of such, but they usually do so in a most delicate and oblique way. They do so becasue experience quickly indicates that this information is keenly sought but not easily solicited by clients. There's little need to get excited by new research in a world like this.
I was just skimming a new paper by Deary in Intelligence about processing speed, but it's pretty technical and not very interesting. Does he have another paper coming up? He's a one man scientific publishing industry, just look at his publications list. He publishes one or two papers every week. How does he do it? It does not seem that he's just adding his name to his students' papers.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia:
ReplyDelete"Ian Deary is currently engaged in a 10-year study into the effects of ageing on mental ability using the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey...
Among his findings are that possession of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE-ε4) is associated with intelligence at age 79 but not age 11, in the same people"
I would predict that the new paper is about estimating IQ heritability by measuring the actual extent of genetic sharing between siblings. Alternatively, it's about the successful identification of some genetic variants that influence IQ differences.
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDeleteMy guess: they will demonstrate that IQ is mostly determined by rare, deleterious alleles/mutations of large effect. Or at minimum, they will be able to show that these alleles control at least 0.20 of the variance.
(But of course, they will not be able to provide a list of all the extremely numerous alleles that do this. Probably just a few hundred, which will turn out to be like 0.01% of all the important ones in the world, or something.)
This is something which, IMO, can already be considered very likely indeed to be true. But it will still be fascinating to see it demonstrated more directly.
When do most papers come out - time of day? I think it's afternoon for at least a few journals but that's all I know.
ReplyDeleteAmong his findings are that possession of the e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE-ε4) is associated with intelligence at age 79 but not age 11, in the same people
ReplyDeleteOff-topic, but it's difficult to imagine a medical breakthrough that we need more urgently than a treatment [if not a cure] for Alzheimer's [and other age-related dementia].
As someone who has spent the last half-decade just scouring through the demographic data, I can assure you that if Grandpa loses his mind at age 75, but continues to live until age 90, then figuring out how to care for him during his final 15 years of life is going to be an unmitigated hell-on-earth disaster for his 3.0 to 3.5 caucasian grandchildren [if he even has that many to call upon].
OT, or is it really?
ReplyDeleteI've just called Eric Holder to voice my stern displeasure at the lack of diversity within this group.
Keep an eye out for what? For the press to not mention the latest non-PC IQ study?--they never mention any of them!
ReplyDeleteHow'd you get this information Steve?
ReplyDeleteI've been disappointed by Steve's previous teases of this sort. I'm waiting for the big BGI IQ study.
ReplyDeleteThe paper's out. It basically confirms what we already know: IQ differences are mainly caused by the additive effects of lots of gene differences, each contributing very little on its own. It shows that genetic differences are associated with IQ differences, but does not manage to pinpoint the relevant genetic variants.
ReplyDeleteFrom the abstract:
We estimate that 40% of the variation in crystallized-type intelligence and 51% of the variation in fluid-type intelligence between individuals is accounted for by linkage disequilibrium between genotyped common SNP markers and unknown causal variants. These estimates provide lower bounds for the narrow-sense heritability of the traits. We partitioned genetic variation on individual chromosomes and found that, on average, longer chromosomes explain more variation.
Here's The Guardian on the paper.
09 Aug 2011 I cannot forbear noting that today's media coverage contains a fairly lengthy direct quotation from Al Gore about how much bull**** he perceives to have been injected into the science of climate change by those who are not recognized experts and how there is, accordingly, a lack of shared reality about this issue. It is stark how (with minor word changes) the outcry from Gore is apt declaration about the science of "g" and how MSM distortions and PC repressions, etc, have delayed and prevented (at least in a timely fashion) a shared reality about "g" and about the sad fact of life that "g" has been very unfairly allocated by human evolution and social stratification (and, also, as CHRIS BRAND has noted by the whole-hog legal proscription of polygamy for those persons able enough to sustain it productively to serve eugenic purposes ) BTW, Deary studied under Brand at Edinburgh University before Brand was martyred and forced out. Brand's 1996 book,THE "g" FACTOR (full text accessible now online ) is surely emblematic of the fact that Deary's outstanding accomplishments arise not merely within himself but also upon the shoulders of earlier giants. Now, to await (for how much longer??) the "shared reality" from which a consensual social policy can take shape from the "g" facts of life.
ReplyDeleteSocial repression being what it is,
ReplyDeleteand such repression being compounded by MSM misinformation and PC indoctrination, it is interesting in actual practical decison-making to observe the
schisms between what is done, on the one hand, and what is verbally professed, on the other. Reportedly, sperm donor banks all over the Western world, provide information on donor IQ or give reasonably abaundant information for an estimate of such, but they usually do so in a most delicate and oblique way. They do so becasue experience quickly indicates that this information is keenly sought but not easily solicited by clients. There's little need to get excited by new research in a world like this.