Are You A Natural Summary

One of the oldest debates in the history of Psychology is about Nature versus Nurture. Today, we know that both play a significant role in human’s life. Some people believe that it is genes which affects our way of life and some people believes that it is none other but our environment that greatly influences our lifestyle and some believe that both has tremendous impact on one’s way of life. Indeed in certain cases both our nature (our genes) and our environment roughly play an equal role in human life.

In the reading, “Are You “A Natural”? by Bouchard and Lykken was a study of the current and continuing essential changes in the way psychologists interpret an individual’s nature in its range of open-minded logic. The debate is whether which is more dominate nature or nurture when it comes to why or how an individual is the way they are. Is it the genes or the environmental factor that influences an individual to behave and reason the way they do? The proposition was to hypothetically take monozygotic twins, identical twins that have the same hereditary complex. Locate sets of twins who were detached at an early stage in their life, grown apart for most of their lives and then united as adults. Once these twins were located they were tested to confirm that they were certainly monozygotic

The idea that they came up with was finding identical or fraternal twins in order to draw a comparison between the behaviors that they share. The most common similarities between the twins (after multiple meetings with pairs of twins) can be concluded as genetic, and other factors could be considered due to the environment, like learning a language. In 1983, Bouchard and Lykken brought together these twins who participated in the study. First, they needed to gather identical twins who were separated at birth. The researcher 's’ goal was to gain as much information as possible on these twins within one week. They had fifty hours of studies on many levels. These studies included personality trait scales, aptitude, IQ tests and occupational interest tests.

Twin studies are a mainstay of the nature verse nurture debate because they allow researchers to conduct “natural experiments” on human beings. When researchers try to determine the relative importance of genetics and environment with regard to a certain condition, they have a hard time because they cannot generally get people with the same genes. This is where twin studies come in. Twins studies are part of the method used in behaviour genetics, which includes all data that are genetically informative. E.g. siblings, adoptees, pedigree data etc. Researchers use this method to estimate the heritability of traits and to quantify the effect of a person 's shared environment (family) and unique environment (the individual events that shape a life) on a trait.

The Minnesota Twin Registry started in 1983 and its goal was to establish a registry of all twins born in Minnesota from 1936 to 1955 to be used for psychological research.., T.J. Bouchard, working in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, started exploring the similarities and differences in characteristics like personality, career interests, and a variety of personal interests between identical twins who were reared apart. Research was conducted on twins from all over the world. The Minnesota Twin study gave scientists a new insight of the role of nature vs. nurture on human development and personality; it was the hope that twin studies would be able to tie genes to specific behaviors. From the study, we understand that twins who were separated at birth and raised in different families

The theory to this study was that if you take two people with exactly the same genes, separate them at birth, and put them in completely different environments, the behavioral and personality characteristics that they share as adults can only be explained through genetics. Participants in the study were specifically monozygotic twins who were separated at birth, lived apart from each other for a significant span of their lives, and reunited as adults. Each twin underwent a series of tests and interviews individually so that it was impossible for them to influence their answers.

The main focus of this study is whether nature or nurture is stronger. The researches wanted to see if twins who were separated at birth would still grow up to be similar. I believe the results will be that the twins will share some interests and similarities, like all siblings do, but because of the separation they will not be as similar as that might have been if they had been kept together. From my experience, people are born with a personality. There are certain traits that we are born with that the environment we grown up in can influence, but cannot completely change. With that said, the environment we grow up in does play a large role in the people we become and what are opinions are. As we talked about with the sociological imagination, outside influences make a huge impact on our

Methods: The researchers needed a way to study a person who developed in a certain environment and how similar or different that person would be having been raised in a different environment. They came up with an experiment using monozygotic (identical) twins. Half of the pairs of twins were reared together (MZT); the other half were reared apart (MZA) and separated early in life. Each twin was individually given numerous surveys and

Twin studies are a vitally important tool for dissecting the nature versus nurture argument. Twins provide a naturally occurring experiment and they are most likely the best indicator of determining whether biology effects traits and psychopathology in human beings. Researchers are seeking circumstances involving twins providing evidence of known variations in the extent of genetic similarity or environmental stability. The key factor in utilizing twin studies to determine biological basis for personality differences exist among identical twins and fraternal twins. These studies provide data among the individuals that are genetically identical but yet, display visible differences that may be attributed to environmental differences. Additionally, researchers used such studies involving

Twin studies have been a large part of the growing debate on whether genetics or environment (nature v. nature) is responsible for the cognitive, socio-cultural and biological development. In order to properly assess twin studies it is important to know why and how they are relevant in psychology. Identical twins are especially effective in research particularly in the field of developmental psychology and behavioral genetics due to the monozygotic genes which means they originate from a single zygote (fertilized egg) which essentially means they share 100% of the same genes. Due to this exact copy of genes between twins means this can be efficiently be used in order to observe the impact of

To test this general agreement, various research experiments have and are currently being conducted. Of these, the Bogota Twins Project happens to be one of the most popular. Dr. Nancy L. Segal, professor at California State University and current director of the Twin Studies Center (in which she founded), gathered eight days of research on two sets of twins from Bogota, Columbia. The reason Dr. Segal specifically chose these two sets of twins, was because they happened to switched at birth. William Velasco was separated from his twin brother Jorge, while Carlos Castro was separated from his twin Wilbur. Jorge and Wilbur were raised with the correct family, while Carlos and William were not. Prior to their eventual reunion, both pairs carried on with their lives. Jorge and Carlos grew up in a more urban environment and were strongly financially supported. Wilbur and William, on the other hand, were raised in a more

In this study, they are used several type of method, one of the technique is used two or more test instrument to ensure the adequate coverage, for example the participants were given a battery of personality and mental ability tests, interest and value inventories and psychomotor tests. In addition, separate of examiners administer the IQ test, life history interview, psychiatric interview and sexual life history interview. The twin also complete questionnaire independently under the constant supervision of the staff members. Twin studies are valuable to researchers because identical twins share 100% of their genes and fraternal twins share, on average, 50% of their genes. Both identical and fraternal twins share certain aspects of their environment (e.g. religious practices in the home). This allows researchers to estimate the heritability of certain traits. Participants are asked about academic ability, personality, and interests; family and social relationships; mental and physical health; physiological measurements. Of interest to researchers are prevalence of psychopathology, substance

Scientists and psychologists everywhere study twins. The argument most commonly studied is nature versus nurture. The focus of this essay, however, is whether or not to separate twins in schools. Some believe the separation is demeaning and traumatic to the twins. The side about to be proved however that is this separation is a necessary step in the individualization of twins. Often, separation sparks the path to individualization.

From these studies, researchers have found that twins who have grown up in the same household share similarities in the way they think, act, dress, speak, etcetera. However, with the first type of twin studies, researchers could not differentiate whether the similarities were due to them having identical/similar genetic makeups or growing up in the same environments. Therefore, in order for psychologists to know whether similarities in twins are genetic or socially influenced, they studied twins who grew up in completely different households and environments. The study showed that despite growing up with a different family and in a different environment, they still had noticeable similarities in fashion, interests, and thought processes (K.W. Brown, personal communication, August 29, 2017). Twin studies, as well as other studies, have greatly contributed to our understanding of overall role that genes play in the development of psychological traits and behavior.

Some psychological models assert that a proportion of our personality is inborn and permanent (Hollander, 1971), that a psychological core at the center of our personality gives us enduring, inner characteristics. Hans Eysenck (1965) suggests that our motivation and emotion are related to biological differences in brain function and proposed that 75% of our personality is based on genetic influence and 25% on environmental influence. Research by Peter Whybrow (1999) on identical twins separated at birth examined how their different environments shaped their personalities. He found that around 40% of personality should be credited to genetics, with 60% determined by outside factors.