I saw the new documentary movie, Three Identical Strangers, and I’m wondering what others in Psychology, especially Developmental Psychology and Behavioral Genetics think? Peter Neubauer conducted the twin study (with one triplet set) at the center of the movie, but unfortunately he never published the results. What strikes you about the movie?
In Developmental Psychology and Introductory Psychology classes, I teach about twin studies. I’ve always thought it was researchers capitalizing on the happenstance of how the adoption agencies placed children (i.e., quasi-experimental design of identical versus fraternal twins, reared together or apart). But it was striking that Peter Neubauer had control over the random assignment of children to condition. At least that’s how the movie presents it. Would anyone be able to clarify the extent to which researchers have had control over the placement of children in twin studies? This is the ethical quandary of the movie.
I’ve always understood twin studies as focused on systematic comparisons of the “nature" (i.e., identical vs. fraternal) while leaving “nurture” on a more coarse level (i.e., together or apart). (Spoiler Alert) Neubauer’s study did something really fascinating and totally unlike anything I’ve seen! He appears to have systematically placed identical twins into families based on prior measurements of adoptive family SES and parenting style. He also appears to have measures of the biological mother, especially her mental illness. Does anyone know of any twin studies that did something like this? Does anyone know if there are any more detailed accounts of Neubauer’s study, such as preliminary results in a conference presentation or details about a control group?
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Psychology