Identical twins (also called monozygotic twins) are derived from a single egg fertilized by a single sperm, creating a zygote that later divides into two. Because identical twins originate from a single zygote, they are genetically identical. Caroline Loat and her colleagues examined nine measures of social, behavioral, and cognitive ability in 1000 pairs of identical male twins and 1000 pairs of identical female twins (C. S. Loat et al. 2004. Twin Research 7:54–61). They found that, for three of the measures (prosocial behavior, peer problems, and verbal ability), the two male twins of a pair tended to be more alike in their scores than were two female twins of a pair. Propose a possible explanation for this observation. What might this observation indicate about the location of genes that influence prosocial behavior, peer problems, and verbal ability?
Identical twins (also called monozygotic twins) are derived
from a single egg fertilized by a single sperm, creating a zygote that later
divides into two. Because identical twins originate from
a single zygote, they are genetically identical.
Caroline Loat and her colleagues examined nine measures of social,
behavioral, and cognitive ability in 1000 pairs of identical male twins
and 1000 pairs of identical female twins (C. S. Loat et al. 2004. Twin
Research 7:54–61). They found that, for three of the measures (prosocial
behavior, peer problems, and verbal ability), the two male twins of a pair
tended to be more alike in their scores than were two female twins of a
pair. Propose a possible explanation for this observation. What might
this observation indicate about the location of genes that influence
prosocial behavior, peer problems, and verbal ability?
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