Explain+why+twin,+adoption,+and+family+studies+are+important+for+the+argument+of+genetic+makeup+versus+environmental+influences?

Mostly, internal and external variables combine to create individual personalities and behaviors supposedly unique to every human being. The argument of genetic makeup versus environmental influences, however, has researchers working to determine what really shapes us. Some say genotypes control how people think, feel, and behave. Others believe it is the environment alone that is responsible for molding humans into who they are. There is much unknown in this field, but the investigate and review of twin, adoption, and family studies is a significant stepping stone in better understanding this topic. Even today, the sole sculptor of human personality, behavior, and psychopathology remains unknown; modern research indicates that a combination of biology and environment constructs us all.


 * Twin studies** are a vastly important tool in dissecting the nature versus nurture argument. Identical twins, or monozygotic twins, are siblings whose genotypes are duplicates of each other. They are most likely the best indicator of whether biology affects traits and psychopathology in human beings. For example, if one twin has dark hair, then the other twin has dark hair as well; this concept of identical genes would ideally distribute itself toward the phenotypes of behavior and personality of identical twins.

A very significant portion of studying heredity and environmental effects on human traits is devoted to **adoption studies**. Adoption studies are important because they include two sets of factors that may account for differences in behavior, personality, and psychopathology: biological parents and environmental parents. Of course, any links between the biological parents and the child that is given away is usually explained by genetics, and any links between the adoptive, or environmental parents, to the adopted child is usually attributed to environment.


 * Family studies** are not as oft cited as twin and adoption studies, but nonetheless they are still a valid and important piece in the puzzle of heredity versus the environment. Family studies are mostly used to identify the degree of risk of relatives developing mental disorders that other family members suffer from. Case-control family studies are employed, including estimates of relative risk and population relative risk of a mental illness. Relative risk compares how large the likelihood is that one relative of a person with a mental disorder will also develop the disorder than the relative of a person with no mental disorder. Population relative risk calculates approximately how much risk there is that the relatives of a person suffering from mental illness will also be affected as opposed to relatives of a person who does not suffer from any mental illness.

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