title: A critique of Plomin and Foch's "A Twin Study of Objectively Assessed Personality in Childhood".
abstract: Plomin and Foch's (1980) study of objectively assessed personality in childhood is critiqued on five points: (a) conceptual validity of the measures, (b) stability of the measures for the population age range, (c) comparability of populations, (d) accuracy of literature review, and (e) appropriate interpretation of broad heritability data. The Plomin and Foch study contains major errors; it is theoretically and methodologically flawed. Their report is especially significant because it is representative of problems critical to the study of the genetic correlates of personality.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005824:Genetics, Behavioral; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010551:Personality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology*; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000523:psychology; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000523:psychology