Preview

twin studies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1156 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
twin studies
ARTICLE REVIEW
Separated Twins and the Genetics of Personality Differences: A Critique
Author(s): Jay Joseph

EDP 1002 : THEORIES OF PERSONALITIES

Introduction
Throughout history, across all cultures, people have been fascinated with twins. In addition to interest in the close emotional ties and biological similarities that twins may share, reports of special twin languages and twin extrasensory perception (ESP) help people to explore ideas of what it means to be human. How similar or different are they to each other? How important are genes and environment for development? Because identical twins share all of their genes, it is the environment—rather than genetics—that accounts for any differences between them. In a study design that includes both identical and fraternal twins, a researcher can estimate the relative influence of genes and environments on behavioral differences among people.
Identical, or monozygotic, twinning occurs when one egg is fertilized by one sperm then splits after conception into two genetically identical halves. These twins share all of their genes and are the same sex. Fraternal, or dizygotic, twinning occurs when two eggs are released by the mother and fertilized by two separate sperm. Fraternal twins share on average half of their genes, just like typical siblings. They can be the same sex or opposite sex. About two-thirds of all twins are fraternal.

Summary This article discusses about twins separated and the genetic of personality differences and concentrated on studies that have been made in 1979 by the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA). In this research, the researcher focused on two aspects of cognitive and personality. However, in this article the discussion limited to discuss about the personality and behavioral differences only. The study conducted by Minnesota is to support the existence of an important genetic component in behavioral and personality differences.



References: TWIN STUDIES http://social.jrank.org/pages/666/Twin-Studies.html Richard M.Ryckman , Theories of Personality, Ninth Edition. 2008, 2004 Thomson Wadsworth, a part of The Thomson Corporation

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    CH 43 Review Assessment

    • 1599 Words
    • 13 Pages

    The similarity in the behavior of identical twins, even if separated at birth, is evidence that behavior is due to environmental influences.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychodynamic Worksheet

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Scientists who study behavior would also show interests in the two women who were separated at birth. They have the same job and have the same love for a movie though not influence by one another. These attractions for films were developed before they met one another. Do they share a gene that makes them behave like the other? Since they are identical twin they probably do share the same gene because they are identical twins meaning they share the same embryotic sack and then DNA strands will match. The real question remains, does gene affect our behavior?…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    PSY 330 Week 2 DQ2

    • 524 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the goals of behavioral genetics is to identify the heritability of a particular behavior. Heritability is the amount of variance in observed behaviors among people that can be explained by genetics. Review this week’s reading and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of some of the methods used to determine heritability in humans. Address the use of adoption studies and twin studies, as well as shared environmental factors and unique environmental factors.…

    • 524 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Genes; are inherited from parents. Many psychological disorders occur more frequently in identical (monozygotic or MZ) twins than they do in non-identical (dizygotic or DZ) twins, and other disorders appear to run in families. The environment may also lead to these disorders and so it is important to estimate the degree to which a disorder is due to genetic influences (nature) and the degree to which it is caused by the environment (nurture). Comparing identical twins with non-identical twins for rates of heritability can help answer the nature-nurture question.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2009). Theories of Personality (9th ed.). Belmont, CA:Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -Twin studies are valuable in behavioral genetics research because of the argument of nature versus nurture. If 2 twins, particularly identical twins, raised the exact same way turn out very differently, it is because there is something different in them genetically that determines their differences.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Conjoined twins have fascinated people for centuries. They have been worshiped as gods and feared as monsters. They play a role in our myths and are marveled at in circus sideshows. Once called "monstrosities". Conjoined twins are increasingly accepted into our everyday lives as we grow to understand their usual physical and emotional bond and learn more about the science behind their development.(www.zygote).…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Module 11

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Temperament refers to a person’s stable emotional reactivity and intensity. Identical twin express similar temperaments, suggesting heredity predisposes temperament…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When it comes to cognitive development, several theories have been put forth by many different philosophers, psychologists, and other scientists. The two most significant theories, which were first explored by the Greeks, were later debated between John Locke, and Rene Descartes. John Locke, a seventeenth-century English philosopher, argued against the belief that human beings are born with certain ideas already in their minds. He claimed that, on the contrary, the mind is a tabula rasa (in Latin, a "blank slate") until experience begins to "write" on it. He was quoted in saying: "the human mind begins as a white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas." (The Blank Slate, n.d.)…

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conjoined Twins

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The condition that causes conjoined twins is very rare, but has a powerful impact. The surgery process is long and overwhelming. When performing surgery, there can be a team of up to 50 surgeons. Babies get conjoined when a single fertilized ovum has divided imperfectly. In some cases twins make it out alive, but in others they die before they have a chance to get surgery.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Personality Analysis

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality, Seventh Edition [University of Phoenix Custom Edition eBook]. New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill Company.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dizygotic /dīzīˈɡädik/; twins derived from two separate fertilized eggs, making every chromosome different within the genetic makeup. From the second my life was formed, her life was formed - I was “Baby A”, she was “Baby B”. They gave me the pink stuff and her the blue stuff. Difference was a quality that was born into our DNA; a quality that has played into my life of 17 years, one that makes me who I am today. But whether we were two separate zygotes or “non-identical”, being a twin is an aspect in my life that completes my identity and a part of me I couldn’t live without.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twin Studies

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A twin is one of two children produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be identical (monozygotic) which means that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or they can be fraternal (dizygotic) which means that they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two different sperms. Identical twins do have the same DNA, but they can be expressed in a different way. The environment the twins are exposed to determines the fine physical characteristics. Identical twins do not have the same fingerprint, and as they get older, more differences usually develop. The chance of having twins is 0.4% which is 1 in 250. Fraternal twins have an extremely small chance of having the same chromosome profile, they can look completely different then each other and they can be of the same sex or of the opposite sex. This review will detail information on how twin characteristics are genetically dispersed, or if it is due to the environment. This paper will review a number of articles, and various secondary sources published by professors, and psychologists in the field of twin studies.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identical twins are natural clones. Because they start out with the same genes, they can be used to investigate how much heredity contributes to individual people. This is the nature vs nurture question.Studies with twins have been quite interesting. If we make a list of characteristic traits, we find that they vary in how much they owe to heredity. For example:…

    • 1404 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics