TITLE
A Brief History of Twin Studies
DESCRIPTION
After astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year in space, the results of his tests (physical and psychological) were compared with his identical twin brother Mark’s tests. Mark was earth bound while Scott was in space. Psychologist have been fascinated with the “nature-nurture” question and have devoted over 100 hundred years of research investigating the question looking at identical vs fraternal twin studies. This article provides a history of these studies beginning with Francis Galton’s initial but flawed studies of human intelligence through modern research studies of Bouchard and database twin registries. The article provides an interesting background to the textbook chapters on human development.
SOURCE
smithsonian.com, March 4, 2016, by Ker Than
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) http://tinyurl.com/zzhvd2q
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
•What is the nature-nurture controversy?
•How have twin studies been used to study the are as to whether human psychological traits are derived from genetics or the environment?
•According to the article, what error did Galton make in his conclusions regarding Nature-Nurture and intelligence? What do we now understand about the relative contributions of genetics and environmental influences on intelligence?
•What are some of the startling and fascinating findings about identical twins found from Bouchard’s research?
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