what kind of general question do you think researchers hope to answer by studying twins which are raised apart

Question

why do identical twins makes such a good subject? what do the results suggest? what are the potential pitfalls of this research? what abuses might occur if the studies are not evaluated critically and if the results are carelessly cited in support of a articular social agenda?

Answer 1

General question may be the difference between nature and nurture, that is, determining which factor affects human behavior and characteristics the most: Genes, or the environment.

Identical twins make good subjects because they are genetically almost 100 percent identical, so raising them in different environments would be the only variable and so comparisons could easily be made.

The results would suggest that a persons environment indeed affects his/her personality, behavior, emotional characteristics, etc.

Potential pitfalls include emotional loss to the child, distrusting the environments the child is exposed to, leading to psychological damage, etc

Abuses may include people willfullly exposing twins to entirely different, and perhaps damaging environments, and therefore hurt the child at least emotionally (similar to previous answer)

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

For decades scientists have quarreled over the stereotypical question of "nature vs. nurture". Scientists have used twin studies to understand heredity and environmental influences on behavioral development. Twin and adoption studies can tell the extent to which family resemblance is due to shared genes and the extent of shared environment. Because of the identical genes carried by monozygotic twins (identical) they have an appeal to scientist. With the website, www.modcult.brown.edu/students/angell/psychology.html it discusses that there is a strong genetic link to the development of psychological disturbances and drug dependencies. These findings have added the studies of the relative importance between heredity and environment in an individual's development. In the case of the human brain development, some researchers are convinced that genetic predispositions are what lead people to what they are. On the other hand, there are many others that promote the factor of the environment, stating that outside forces are what impact the lives of humans and shape them as they grow. Both genetics and the environment alter the synaptic organization of the brain. By using the nature vs. nurture debate, many studies have been done on twins, including ones that were raised together and raised separately, to try to come to an outcome. This topic has been studied intensely, and many scientists try to use schizophrenia disorder as a means to try to understand why one twin might have the disease and the other might not.

Answer 3

One of the most timeless questions is studied using identical twins raised separately. Nature v Nurture. If good and bad is inherent in our nature, or in our DNA, then it should show up in both twins when raised separately. If not, and we see one twin good and the other bad, then nurture plays a bigger role. There have been some really good black and white movies about this subject, one in particular shows a girl who was adopted was raised in a good home but killed people, so it shows nature winning over nurture.

Answer 4

The want to find out if nature or nurture plays a greater role in determining how you develop as a person.