Are twins more similar who grow up together than twins raised apart?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Are twins more similar who grow up together than twins raised apart?

- Introduction

Sigelman & Rider (2003) stated that it is clearly evident that genetic influences are consistent throughout the development of identical twins.

However, Matlin (1999) argues that environmental factors encounter for half of these characteristics.

Exploring both of these arguments I will investigate the development of identical twins being raised together and raised apart, comparing these results with the development of fraternal twins.

Identical twins originate from a single fertilised egg, when the cell divides they are an exact replica of each other. Fraternal twins originate from two different eggs and are fertilised by a different sperm cell (Gleitman, 1999).

Sigelman et al (2003) stated that measuring differences of identical and fraternal twins, raised together or raised apart, showed no varying correlation's at birth. Although correlation's between the both were visible in their early teens.

Gender is not an issue in this essay, as identical twins are always of the same sex, although fraternal twins may be of the opposite sex. Throughout this essay I will only focus on twins of the same gender.

This study can be