TITLE:
Husband-Wife Correlations in Neurocognitive Test Performance
AUTHORS:
C. Thomas Gualtieri
KEYWORDS:
Computerized Test; Spousal Correlation; Processing Speed; General Mental Ability; Assortative Mating
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.10,
October
23,
2013
ABSTRACT: Spousal correlations are known to have a
number of physical and mental characteristics, among which general mental
ability is one of the strongest. IQ tests have ordinarily been used in studies
of assortative mating, but in neurocognitive tests, less frequently. In this
study, we examined spousal correlations in 76 husband-wife pairs using a
computerized neuropsychological test battery. Significant spousal correlations
occurred in the two most highly g-loaded tests, shifting attention and symbol
digit coding, but not in the other tests or in any of the reaction time
measures. The correlation between husbands and wives on the neurocognitive
index, a summary score based on the individual tests and analogous to the IQ
score, was even higher (r = .717). The pattern of spousal correlation described
in IQ tests is thus replicated in a battery of neuropsychological tests. In a
previous paper we reported positive correlations between first-degree relatives
who were administered the CNT battery, and which occurred primarily in tests of
complex information processing, SDC and SAT (Hervey, Greenfield, &
Gualtieri, 2012). In this paper, we note that the same two tests contribute
more strongly than any other tests to the high spousal correlation for neurocognition.
There is a certain symmetry, then, between the cognitive skills that play into
spouse selection and the cognitive skills that are inherited. A better word
than symmetry might be inevitability.
The findings of these studies suggest that computerized neurocognitive testing
is an appropriate tool for studies of the genetics of cognition, that measures
of processing speed are particularly salient and that the CNT is a suitable
instrument. The advantages of computerized neurocognitive tests like the CNT
include speed and efficiency, standard administration, suitability for repeated
measures and elimination of scoring and transcription errors. Tests that are
Internet-based like the CNT are amenable to centralized data collection and
have flexibility in administration in different settings, even permitting the
collection of data from remote sources. In genetic studies of cognition, where
large numbers of subjects are necessary, this technology may also be
inevitable.