Twins Reared Apart
An Analysis of the Minnesota Study of Twin Reared Apart
Abbie Barnes
The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared apart (MINSTRA) marked an important moment in in the field of developmental psychology. The academic environment surrounding the study was focused on the question of nature versus nurture. This question spurred interest in twins because of their unique nature of having the same or very similar genes. In February of 1979 “the Jim twins” were reunited. These identical twins were separated at birth but shared an alarming number of similarities such as same occupation and hobbies. This sparked public interest into this topic and was ultimately responsible for the start of the MISTRA (Segal, 2012, p. 13). This analysis will discuss …show more content…
It will then discuss my own critique of the MISTRA including ideas on further research.
The MINSTRA: What was Done and How?
The MINSTRA was a thorough analysis of reared apart fraternal (DZA) and identical (MZA) twin pairs. Thomas J. Bouchard Jr, a psychologist with the University of Minnesota, started the MISTRA in March of 1979, and it lasted for twenty years (Segal, 2012, p. 3). Over the span of the 20-year study, thorough psychological and behavioral assessments of eighty-one MZA (monozygotic) and fifty-six DZA (dizygotic) reared apart twin pairs were conducted (Segal, 2012, p. 8). The goal of the study was to identify associations between differences in the twins’ life development and in the twins’ behavior (Segal, 2012, p. 3). If the MZA twin were more similar than DZA twins in certain behaviors, this was evidence of the influence …show more content…
Findings for the study were unexpected in the degree to which personalities between the MZA (reared apart) twins and MZ twins reared together were similar. The study largely found that there was little affect of being reared apart for the personality characteristics of the twins. Overall, Bouchard 's study had three main conclusions. The first was that general intelligence is strongly affected by genes; he concluded this by calculating that the IQs of the MZA twins correlated at .70 meaning that 70% of the IQ could be attributed to genes (Bouchard, 1990, p. 227). The second conclusion was that outside influences such as parents and society do not greatly confine personality differences. The third conclusion was that MZA twins are similar because their genes effect their developmental environments similarly (Bouchard, 1990,pm 227). These finding were impressive, but not immune to
Abbie Barnes
The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared apart (MINSTRA) marked an important moment in in the field of developmental psychology. The academic environment surrounding the study was focused on the question of nature versus nurture. This question spurred interest in twins because of their unique nature of having the same or very similar genes. In February of 1979 “the Jim twins” were reunited. These identical twins were separated at birth but shared an alarming number of similarities such as same occupation and hobbies. This sparked public interest into this topic and was ultimately responsible for the start of the MISTRA (Segal, 2012, p. 13). This analysis will discuss …show more content…
It will then discuss my own critique of the MISTRA including ideas on further research.
The MINSTRA: What was Done and How?
The MINSTRA was a thorough analysis of reared apart fraternal (DZA) and identical (MZA) twin pairs. Thomas J. Bouchard Jr, a psychologist with the University of Minnesota, started the MISTRA in March of 1979, and it lasted for twenty years (Segal, 2012, p. 3). Over the span of the 20-year study, thorough psychological and behavioral assessments of eighty-one MZA (monozygotic) and fifty-six DZA (dizygotic) reared apart twin pairs were conducted (Segal, 2012, p. 8). The goal of the study was to identify associations between differences in the twins’ life development and in the twins’ behavior (Segal, 2012, p. 3). If the MZA twin were more similar than DZA twins in certain behaviors, this was evidence of the influence …show more content…
Findings for the study were unexpected in the degree to which personalities between the MZA (reared apart) twins and MZ twins reared together were similar. The study largely found that there was little affect of being reared apart for the personality characteristics of the twins. Overall, Bouchard 's study had three main conclusions. The first was that general intelligence is strongly affected by genes; he concluded this by calculating that the IQs of the MZA twins correlated at .70 meaning that 70% of the IQ could be attributed to genes (Bouchard, 1990, p. 227). The second conclusion was that outside influences such as parents and society do not greatly confine personality differences. The third conclusion was that MZA twins are similar because their genes effect their developmental environments similarly (Bouchard, 1990,pm 227). These finding were impressive, but not immune to