Jay Joseph

A new look at a standard of conventional wisdom. The author examines the twin studies upon which so many of our assumptions about genetic pre-disposition of behavior is based. He starts with the earliest studies, done in the nineteenth century, and reviews them one at a time, including the disgraced Cyril Burt study. He then finishes with the Minnesota Study that is often touted by people making recommendations about policy. The results might suprirse you. The book is well researched and show more thorough, and the author writes in an easy to read manner, though you might need a bit of patience for all the acronyms (fortunately, he does tell you what they mean; he leaves it up to you to remember them). A copious bibliography and appendixes to address some specifics complete this important work. He also explains the actual meaning of those percentages that are constantly thrown around, and sheds some light on probability theory for people who are in the dark about how scientists use that. Should be required reading for all psychology and education majors, or for anyone who goes around acting like they understand what the twin studies are about. show less