Describe and evaluate theories and empirical studies in the Biological Perspective.

Authors Avatar

Describe and evaluate theories and empirical studies in the Biological Perspective

        This essay will be dealing on the topic of empirical studies, and will be discussing them and also evaluating them. The study that will be discussed are the Twin Studies.

        On the discussion of the twin studies, we know that monozygotic twins (MZs) share 100 per cent of their genes, and we also know that dizygotic twins (DZs) only share 50 per cent of their genetic material on average, this is the basis of the twin study. The first type of twin study there is involves the comparing the similarity of MZs and the DZs, which have experienced a similar environment. A reason for this being a study is because if the MZs, who share all their genes as well as having a similar environment, are more similar than DZs, showing that this is influential evidence pointing towards the important of genes. Such a study that has taken place can be Gottesman’s (1991), who compared the Concordance (refers to the probability of both twins sharing a characteristic like schizophrenia) rates of MZs and DZs for schizophrenia, which is a serious mental disorder characterised by hallucinations, delusions and difficulty in thinking logically or rationally. The results from this test came out to be that MZs have a 48 % concordance for schizophrenia and DZs have a 17 % concordance for schizophrenia, showing that MZs have a much higher probability of sharing schizophrenia then DZs. This information indicates that there is at least a partially a result of genetic factors in the study. Undoubtedly if schizophrenia was entirely a product of genes than we would expect all MZ suffers of schizophrenia to have the condition. The possible reason for why it is not like this could range from dysfunctional families to a difficult birth and this may be the reason the accounts the difference between the MZs.

Join now!

          In the second twin study we compare the similarity once again, but this time it is with only MZs that have grown up in the same family or in different environments and see whether or not those who have grown up together are more alike than those that have grown up apart. The study came to an end resulting in that MZs that grew up together were more similar than those that grew up apart from each other. This just shows the importance of the environment in wich tey grow up in. But a real interesting fact in this ...

This is a preview of the whole essay