Twin Studies Flashcards
What are twin studies?
Set of twins where one of them has a specific characteristic (e.g. Schizophrenia)
To see how likely it is that if one twin has the disorder so will the other one
Researchers will use a variety of strategies to ensure the allocation to MZ or DZ is accurate
(e.g., DNA testing).
What are Monozygotic twins?
Identical 100% DNA and environment
What are Dizygotic twins?
Non-identical, only 50% DNA
Why are concordance rates compared in twin studies?
To see if it gives evidence that the amount of genetic material shared indicates the likelihood of both suffering from e.g. schizophrenia
What do twin studies help us determine?
Whether a behaviour is due to nature
or nature so it is useful in helping us determining why a behaviour may occur
What is a weakness of using twins?
Relatively rare in the population so results from the twins may not be generalisable to the wider population
How is DNA testing beneficial in twin studies?
Determines if the twin is MZ or DZ so findings regarding twins would be more valid
What is a weakness of MZ and DZ twins in twin studies?
Assumed that the difference between MZ and DZ twins is the amount of DNA that they share so many cases MZ twins may
be treated more similarly than DZ twins
What is a strength of twin studies regarding validity?
They often use triangulation of data to measure a specific trait so results on the twin study will be more valid
What is a weakness of twin studies historically?
It has been hard to determine whether twins are MZ or DZ so findings may not be valid
