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biological psychology > Twin and adoption studies > Flashcards

Twin and adoption studies Flashcards

(54 cards)

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1
Q

what is a monozygotic twins?

A

genes are the same and they developed from 2 fertilised eggs

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2
Q

what is a dizygotic twin?

A

share 50% of genes

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3
Q

What is the assumption of twins?

A

the more genes 2 people share, the more similar their behaviour/characteristics should be

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4
Q

What would we expect to see in MZ twins in observing a specific trait?

A

A 100% concordance rate

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5
Q

define concordance

A

the similarity of a certain trait

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6
Q

Which type of twin would show a higher concordance rate if a particular behaviour is more genetic than environmental?

A

Monozygotic

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7
Q

What is are the 2 strengths of the twin studies?

A
  • enables researchers to investigate the influence of genes because it’s assumed MZ and DZ twins share the same environments
    -large sample and the data is likely representitive
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8
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of the twin studies?

A

-may overestimate genetic influence: some of the estimated similarity is due to a shared environment
-can’t identify the specific genes involved

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9
Q

What was the aim of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study of schizophrenia?

A

investigate the extent schizophrenia is genetic and the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences of schizophrenia by comparing MZ and DZ twins

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10
Q

How many twins were tested?

A

57

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11
Q

How many MZ twins were tested?

A

24

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12
Q

How many DZ twins were tested?

A

33

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13
Q

What was the age range?

A

19-64

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14
Q

Where were the twins from?

A

the Moudsley and Bethtem Royal Joint Hospital

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15
Q

How were the twins tested for zygosity?

A

blood tests
finger prints
visual appearance

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16
Q

What other methods was used to provide a record of behaviour?

A

A self - report questionnaire
Interview with the twins/ parents

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17
Q

How was disordered thinking measured on twins/parents?

A

a personality test

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18
Q

How was concordance assessed?

A

Through 3 different grades

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19
Q

What was Grade 1 concordance?

A

Both client and co-twin have been hospitalised and diagnosed with schizophrenia

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20
Q

What was Grade 2 concordance?

A

Both client and co-twin have psychiatric hospitalisation but the co-twin has a different diagnosis

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21
Q

What was Grade 3 concordance?

A

co-twin has the same psychiatric abnormality

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22
Q

What were the findings of grade 1 in MZ and DZ twins?

Study These Flashcards
A

42% of MZ twins
9% of DZ twins

23
Q

What were the findings of grade 2 in MZ and DZ twins?

Study These Flashcards
A

12% of MZ twins
9% of DZ twins

24
Q

What were the findings of grade 3 in MZ and DZ twins?

Study These Flashcards
A

25% of MZ twins
27% of DZ twins

25
What was the conclusion of Gottesman and Shields (1966) study?
Genes appear to play an important role in schizophrenia because the concordance rate is high in MZ twins than DZ twins. However, environmental factors must also be important as the concordance rate is not 100%
26
How was the Gottesman and Shields (1966) generalisable? (G.r.a.v.e)
- large sample of 57 twins -follow up study used 45,000 psychiatric patients which covered a range of ages -50/50 mix of men and women -high proportion of 'rare' MZ twins
27
What was a weakness in terms of reliability of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.R.a.v.e)
Assigning zygocity by physical appearance and fingerprints isn't accurate without DNA testing.
28
What is a weakness in terms of schizophrenia diagnosis in the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.R.a.v.e)
it's become a more biologically-based diagnosis and the classification of schizophrenia has changed 4x since the study
29
What is a strength in the inter-rate reliability of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.R.a.v.e)
its a replication of 11 previous small-scale studies and got still got similar results
30
How can the results of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study be applied as a warning? (g.r.A.v.e)
allows people to know they have a genetic predisposition to avoid triggers
31
How can the results of Gottesman and Shields (1966) be applied for doctors? (g.r.A.v.e)
Doctors can monitor at risk patients for early symptoms that might go unnoticed- harmfulness can be reduced if its recognised early
32
How does the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study have concurrent validity? (g.r.a.V.e)
findings tie in with earlier research and Rosenthals theory of diathesis- stress model
33
What is a weakness in the validity of Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.r.a.V.e)
Vague and unclear concepts in research: findings that MZ probably have twins with disorders similar to schizophrenia might be an illusion
34
What is a concern with the ethics of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.r.a.v.E)
concerns with consent from the mentally ill patients who may be incompetent to understand and agree
35
What is a strength in terms of consent of the Gottesman and Shields (1966) study? (g.r.a.v.E)
they were mostly adults who agreed to take part knowing what was being researched
36
What do the adoption studies suggest?
genetic factors implicated if children are more similar to their biological parents (but not the same environment) whom they share gems and environmental factors are implicated if the reverse is true
37
What are 2 strengths of the adoption studies?
+ removing extraneous variables of environment- environment is not shared neither is biology + shows twin studies overestimate genetic factors- a study by Eley et al using adoption studies to research depression found environmental factors are more important whereas twin studies detected a greater role of genetics
38
What are 2 weaknesses of the adoption studies?
+ selective placement - children may be adopted to families similar to their biological families therefore environmental influences may be similar + may not be generalisable- people who adopt other people's biological offspring are unusual (better educated, lower rates of mental illness & come from high socioeconomic groups) so are unlikely to be representative of the population
39
What was the aim of Tienari et al (1994) study?
to test the hypothesis that genetic factors moderate susceptibly to the environmentally mediated risks associated with rearing- family functioning
40
where were the sample of Tienari et al's (1994) study from?
Finland
41
What did the genetic offsprings mothers have in common?
schizophrenia
42
How was adoptive rearing assessed?
using family rating scales based upon extended family observations at initial assessment
43
When were the adoptees independently re-diagnosed?
After a median interval of 12 years and then a follow up after 21 years
44
What were the results of Tienari et al's (1994) study?
Lifetime schizophrenia risk for adopted children of biological Mother's who had schizophrenia was 9.4% Adopted children of unaffected biological parents was 1.2%
45
What was the conclusion of Tienari et al's (1994) study?
Adoptees at high genetic risk are significantly more sensitive to adverse V.I 'healthy' rearing patterns in adoptive families than are adoptees at low genetic risk
46
How was the adoption study low in generalisability in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (G.r.a.v.e)
Ethnocentric- Finnish
47
How was there a low chance in making a type 1 error in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (G.r.a.v.e)
large sample of 155 index offspring and 186 matched control adoptees without the genetic risk
48
How was the research longitudinal in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (g.R.a.v.e)
re-evaluation after 12 years- consistency of subject overtime
49
how was the research standardised in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (g.R.a.v.e)
all subjects tested/observed in the same way
50
How can the findings of Tienari et al's (1994) study be applied to help families? (g.r.A.v.e)
to aid family planning and those at risk can put affective treatments in place
51
How can the results of Tienari et al's (1994) study be useful? (g.r.A.v.e)
It's useful to know about a biological risk of schizophrenia to raise awareness
52
How could validity have been compromised in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (g.r.a.V.e)
potential experimenter bias- adoptive rearing was rated using rating scales using observations
53
How are ethics considered in Tienari et al's (1994) study? (g.r.a.v.E)
socially sensitive to study risk of a mental health condition
54
how could the Tienari et al's (1994) study be harmful? (g.r.a.v.E)
self-fulfilling prophecy

biological psychology (18 decks)

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