LONGITUDINAL TWIN STUDY OF EARLY READING DEVELOPMENT

拟议的研究将评估个体 前阅读和早期阅读发展的差异及其协变 注意力/多动症的个体差异。 我们将 对608对同卵和异卵双胞胎进行纵向研究， 从4岁开始，一直持续到他们的早期阅读 幼儿园、一年级和二年级结束时的发展。双 数据将用于探索遗传、共享环境 和非共享环境的影响，以个体差异的重要性， 学前儿童的阅读技巧和注意力，以及遗传和 学龄前行为和随后的阅读之间的环境联系 在早期阶段的发展和注意力。学前教育措施 孩子们将包括一个“动态”评估他们的学习能力 对单词中音素的敏感性，以及其他语言技能的测量 以及注意力/多动症，这些都被认为在早期阅读中很重要 发展具体的环境影响将使用父母 教师问卷和家庭观察。 我们计划呼叫 结合拟议的美国双胞胎研究样本和较小的数据， 这些研究人员在一项平行研究中纳入了一对澳大利亚双胞胎样本 将使用相同的测量和采样程序。而统计 美国样本的力量将足以解决核心问题 关于个体差异，美国和澳大利亚的合并样本将 允许评估遗传和环境影响是否 类似于异常组成员资格（即，阅读障碍，注意力 缺陷障碍）与正常范围内的个体差异。 这些独特的纵向数据来自年轻的双胞胎，包括动态和静态 预读技能的措施，环境措施，注意力措施，将 提供了关于遗传和环境病因学的重要新证据， 从学前到阅读发展关键时期的个体差异 一直到二年级

The proposed research would assess the etiology of individual differences in prereading and early reading development, and their covariation with individual differences in attention/hyperactivity. We will conduct a longitudinal study of 608 identical and fraternal twin pairs, beginning at 4 years of age, and continuing through their early reading development at the end of kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. The twin data will be used to explore the contributions of genetic, shared-environmental and non-shared environmental influences to individual differences in important pre-reading skills and attention in preschoolers, as well as genetic and environmental links between preschool behavior and subsequent reading development and attention in the early grades. Measures for the preschool children will include a "dynamic" assessment of their ability to learn sensitivity to phonemes in words, as well as measures of other language skills and attention/hyperactivity that are believed to be important in early reading development. Specific environmental influences will be explored using parent and teacher questionnaires and home observations. We plan calls for combining the data from the proposed U.S. twin study sample and a smaller sample of Australian twins included in a parallel study by these investigators that will use the same measures and sampling procedures. While the statistical power of the U.S. sample will be sufficient to address the central questions regarding individual differences, the combined U.S. and Australian samples will allow the assessment of whether genetic and environmental influences are similar for deviant-group membership (i.e., reading disability, attention deficit disorder) versus individual differences across the normal range. These unique longitudinal data from young twins, including dynamic and static measures of prereading skills, environmental measures, and attention measures, will provide important new evidence regarding the genetic and environmental etiology of individual differences across a critical period of reading development from preschool through second grade.