Twin Mythconceptions: False Beliefs, Fables, and Facts about Twins

by Nancy L. Segal

Twin False Beliefs, Fables, and Facts about Twins sheds new light on over 70 commonly held ideas and beliefs about the origins and development of identical and fraternal twins. Using the latest scientific findings from psychology, psychiatry, biology, and education, the book separates fact from fiction. Each idea about twins is described, followed by both a short answer about the truth, and then a longer, more detailed explanation. Coverage includes embryology of twins, twin types, intellectual growth, personality traits, sexual orientation of twins, marital relationships, epigenetic analyses, and more. Five appendices cover selected topics in greater depth, such as the frequency of different twin types and the varieties of polar body twin pairs. This book will inform and entertain behavioral and life science researchers, health professionals, twins, parents of twins, and anyone interested in the fascinating topic of twins.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens, Psychology

334 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2017

About the author

I am a Psychology Professor at California State University, Fullerton, with a special interest in twin studies--I am a fraternal twin myself! I have always been fascinated with the differences between my sister and myself, as well as the similarities and differences between identical twins. My career has been informative, and so much fun! And I am very excited about my recent books.

When I am not being an academic you can find me swing dancing or watching old films.

Reviews

[Rachel Younger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an academic psychologist and a parent of twins, and I'd recommend this book to anyone in either of those groups who wants to better understand the evidence about twins. The book is written at two levels of detail, so you can read just the short answer to your question or delve into the details to understand the ideas better.

So many other books for twin parents are focused on the first year of a child's life, and this one is much better for questions about whether to separate twins in kindergarten, etc. It also distinguishes between research in which twins are studied to learn more about humans vs to learn more about twins, specifically. This is particularly helpful because it can be so difficult to use academic databases to find the "twin for twin" research.

Who should read this--or parts of this? Parents of twins, adult twins, midwives, OB/GYNs, pediatricians, and clinical psychologists, and school administrators.

An important caveat: the book includes language about sexual orientation and gender identity that the APA identifies as outdated and offensive*, due to historical connotation with mental illness. The content is affirming, so I suspect the author didn't intend to offend, but the manuscript would have benefited from more up-to-date terminology. I wouldn't assign the text to students without pointing this out.

*starting in the 6th edition of APA style, which came out before this book was published