Free Will, Determinism, and Intuitive Judgments About the Heritability of Behavior.

The fact that genes and environment contribute differentially to variation in human behaviors, traits and attitudes is central to the field of behavior genetics. Perceptions about these differential contributions may affect ideas about human agency. We surveyed two independent samples (N = 301 and N = 740) to assess beliefs about free will, determinism, political orientation, and the relative contribution of genes and environment to 21 human traits. We find that lay estimates of genetic influence on these traits cluster into four distinct groups, which differentially predict beliefs about human agency, political orientation, and religiosity. Despite apparent ideological associations with these beliefs, the correspondence between mean lay estimates and published heritability estimates for the surveyed traits is large (r = .77). Belief in genetic determinism emerges as a modest predictor of accuracy in these lay estimates. Additionally, educated mothers with multiple children emerge as particularly accurate in their estimates of the genetic contribution to these traits.

Supercompensated glycogen loads persist 5 days in resting trained cyclists.

Research data indicates a persistence of elevated muscle glycogen concentration 3 days post-supercompensation in resting athletes. This study expands our earlier findings by determining whether muscle glycogen remains elevated 3, 5, or 7 days post-supercompensation. Seventeen trained male cyclists underwent one bout of exhaustive exercise to deplete muscle glycogen. This was followed by a 3-day consumption of a high carbohydrate/low protein/low fat diet (85:08:07%). Three post-loading phases followed with subjects randomly assigned to either a 3-day, 5-day, or 7-day post-loading maintenance diet of 60% carbohydrate and limited physical activity. Biopsies (50-150 mg) of the vastus lateralis were obtained pre-load (BASELINE), at peak-load (PEAK), and either at 3-day, 5-day, or 7-day post-load (POST). On average, PEAK to POST muscle glycogen concentrations decreased 34, 20 and 46% respectively for the 3-, 5-, and 7-day POST groups. Only the 7-day post-load group's PEAK to POST mean muscle glycogen concentration decreased significantly. In addition, multi-regression analysis indicated that the PEAK glycogen level was the main determinant of the number of days that glycogen levels remained significantly greater than BASELINE. Thus, trained athletes' supercompensated glycogen levels can remain higher than normal for up to 5 days post-loading. The amount of carbohydrate consumed, the level of physical activity, and the magnitude of the glycogen supercompensation determine the interval for which the glycogen levels are elevated.