Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29083200›Full record

ReviewPsychological bulletin2018

The paradox of intelligence: Heritability and malleability coexist in hidden gene-environment interplay.

Bruno Sauce, Louis D Matzel

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Psychological bulletin, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
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  8. Consent and its discontents: the case of UK Biobank.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Assessing harmonized intelligence measures in a multinational study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Understanding Sensitive Period Effects in Musical Training.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2022
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Bruno SauceDepartment of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience, Rutgers University.
Louis D MatzelDepartment of Psychology, Program in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience, Rutgers University.ORCID 0000-0003-0462-7188

Funding

Dopamine D1 Dynamics and General Cognitive AbilityR03MH108706 · NIMH · RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J. · PI MATZEL, LOUIS D · 2016 to 2017
$150k
NIMH NIH HHS R03 MH108706
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Intelligence can have an extremely high heritability, but also be malleable; a paradox that has been the source of continuous controversy. Here we attempt to clarify the issue, and advance a frequently overlooked solution to the paradox: Intelligence is a trait with unusual properties that create a large reservoir of hidden gene-environment (GE) networks, allowing for the contribution of high genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in IQ. GE interplay is difficult to specify with current methods, and is underestimated in standard metrics of heritability (thus inflating estimates of "genetic" effects). We describe empirical evidence for GE interplay in intelligence, with malleability existing on top of heritability. The evidence covers cognitive gains consequent to adoption/immigration, changes in IQ's heritability across life span and socioeconomic status, gains in IQ over time consequent to societal development (the Flynn effect), the slowdown of age-related cognitive decline, and the gains in intelligence from early education. The GE solution has novel implications for enduring problems, including our inability to identify intelligence-related genes (also known as IQ's "missing heritability"), and the loss of initial benefits from early intervention programs (such as "Head Start"). The GE solution can be a powerful guide to future research, and may also aid policies to overcome barriers to the development of intelligence, particularly in impoverished and underprivileged populations. (PsycINFO Database Record

Indexed as

Gene-Environment InteractionHumansIntelligence

Identifiers

PMID29083200
PMCPMC5754247

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.