Overview of Behavioural Genetic Interactive Modules
Behavioural Genetic Interactive Modules
, written by Shaun Purcell, are designed to accompany
the appendix in the Behavioral Genetics text (Plomin et al, 2001).
Each module consists of a textual tutorial
and a downloadable Windows program.
Taken together, the tutorials aim to guide the newcomer from the basics
of descriptive statistics (e.g. calculating variance to describe
sample characteristics) to multivariate model fitting on genetically
informative data, with focus on the twin method.
No special mathematical or genetic knowledge
is assumed.
The first four modules introduce some of
the basic statistical concepts used in
behavioural genetic methods.
The next three modules focus on the biometrical
model (e.g. variance due to additive effects of
genes) and show how the model can help
to quantify similarities we might observe
between related individuals.
The next two modules introduce the model-fitting
approach, in the context of the ACE twin model.
Most of the remaining models focus on various extensions
to the basic twin model: such as multivariate
analysis, modelling interactions and DeFries-Fulker
extremes analysis.
QTL linkage and association are briefly introduced
in the final module.
Miscellaneous Behavioural Genetic Resources
Currently 'under-construction', this section will hopefully provide
a useful base of on-line resources and further modules.
- An introduction to Mx
- Guide to basic genetic analysis in statistics packages such as SPSS
- Simulated datasets
- Electronic glossary
- Genetic and statistical links
- Online twin dataset simulation
- Online probability function calculator
- Introductory primer on maximum likelihood estimation
- Linkage and linkage disequilibrium module
The key to the main contents page is as follows :
-
- These are the on-line tutorials and other textual resources. Clicking on
these will link to a web page that will describe how to use the module
and explain some of the concepts involved.
-
- These are the links to download the modules. The modules, written in Delphi,
are designed to run on Windows 95/98/2000/NT machines. Clicking on the link
should instruct your web-browser to begin downloading the program. If not,
try pressing your right mouse button over the computer symbol as choose 'Save As...'
or 'Save Target As...' (this will vary depending on the browser you are using).
Clicking on the downloaded .exe should begin the module.
-
- These are the links to on-line demonstrations - that is, these will not be
downloaded onto your hard drive, but will run on your web-browser.
-
- Each module has between 1 and 3 green diamond symbols
to represent the difficulty of the module, the more
involved modules having 3 diamonds. For beginners,
therefore, it is advisable not to look at the more
involved modules before reviewing the more basic
modules.
All the modules can be
downloaded in a single
Zip file (v1.01), or can be individually downloaded from
the main page.
Have fun!
Main Page
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